Though your low-powered CPUs like a Pentium Gold & Athlon can run a powerful GPU like RTX 3070 Ti, the CPU can never use the full potential of that graphics.
However, the iGPU offered by Intel & AMD called UHD / irishXe & Vega is easy to handle by any CPU that comes with it. Other than those, you have to choose your CPU according to your GPU’s minimum requirement to avoid bottlenecks.
So let’s find compatible CPUs that can handle the graphics workload efficiently.
How to Tell if Your CPU is Capable of Utilizing Your GPU?
A stress test can easily show which part of your PC is the burden of the maximum state. If your CPU has maxed out by hitting the 100% ceiling, but your graphics unit is still roaming at average headroom, it’s definitely your CPU’s fault. Indicating your GPU has a bottleneck that represents performance inequity.
For better understanding, you can imagine your friends are going on a bike rally with several motorbikes & you own a cycle. Can you cope with the rally?
Undoubtedly, you can’t. So your biker friends must diminish their motorbike speed to stay near and accompany you. Now place your CPU into the cycle’s position and GPU to a Biker friend.
You see, this is how your GPU underperforms, as your CPU can’t perform further anymore.
No matter how much you spend on your Graphics Card, an improper CPU will squeeze the GPU’s throat, limiting its enhanced performance.
You can spot the inferior defect, even if you have a decent CPU. Start rendering a high-res video or an intensive resource-hungry game and mirror the result with the expected performance from the internet.
To get the result from your CPU, stress testing is important. You can go through this article to stress test your CPU very easily.
But everyone doesn’t mandate such intensive tasks. Then why would I need graphics on my PC? 一 They might ask.
The answer is not simple, so I’ll uncover graphics demand scenarios varies over specific user bases.
Can You Run the CPU Without Graphics?
Modern computers use Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and many more operating systems with User Interfaces for easy operating. Even web-based operating systems like Chrome OS need moderate graphics intensity to function smoothly.
Therefore a consumer-level computer can only be usable with graphics output. Your system won’t even boot or show anything if you run your PC without graphics.
But you might ask how your PC is running since your PC has no graphics card.
The answer is your processor has built-in graphics such as UHD, irishXe, or Vega to run your PC without any dedicated graphics card. You will not need a separate Graphics Card if your Processor has such graphics built-in, known as iGPU or integrated graphics.
However, you don’t need a dedicated GPU if you aren’t gaming or doing graphical intensive tasks. The iGPU of your processor will work fine in most of the light programs and also in some games.
As you may find iGPU or integrated graphics confusing with a dedicated Graphics card, the following sections will help you understand easily.
Does a CPU have Graphics built into It?
Most of the processors from Intel have UHD or irishXe graphics built into them, except the F series CPUs. And AMD Ryzen processors With the G in the SKU prefix & Athlon Processors come with Vega / RDNA graphics.
The processors are meant to handle integrated graphics as the manufacturers merge iGPU according to their capability. Therefore, your integrated graphics are smoothly functional in most cases.
However, some iGPU like Vega / irishXe / RDNA is powerful enough to run heavy graphics programs & games, but UHD is comparatively basic. Such processors with powerful iGPU were introduced formerly by AMD as APUs.
Though some powerful iGPUs called Vega & RDNA is conquering the midrange GPU demanding market, dedicated GPUs are still considered dependable choice. But what if your Dedicated graphics is way more powerful than your current CPU can handle?
I’ll briefly explain the issue in the continuous section, with appropriate examples and scenarios.
Go through our epic guide on do all CPUs have Integrated Graphics Card?
Does Every CPU handle Dedicated Graphics?
The Dedicated graphics are installed separately in the PCIe X16 slot, which requires extra wattage from your PSU(Power Supply Unit) through separate 6 / 8 pin connectors or via the motherboard circuit.
The difference between iGPU and dedicated GPU is massive, it’s utterly necessary to have a dedicated one to perform well in programs.
From a wide variety of graphics cards, most users prefer to spend on the higher-grade ones, as the basic to moderate workloads are already fillable with iGPUs. In that case, people often make mistakes by adding high-end GPUs with their low-powered CPUs.
For example, consider your system has a graphics card of RTX 3070 Ti with an Intel® Pentium® Gold G7400 Processor of 6M Cache, 3.70 GHz Clocks speed. Your system will waste the potential of the RTX 3070 Ti Graphics Card.
Your Graphics Card requires at least an Intel Core i5-12600K Alder Lake CPU to perform at its maximum state power. Or else your GPU will bottleneck, and the experience you paid the price for will show a poor result.
A moderately heavy load will lag the system, such as a Low FPS in the game and slow rendering. And graphics-based programs will brutally leave your system freezing.
In the worst case, your CPU will run into BSOD(Blue Screen of Death) because it can’t convey a large data queue to your GPU.
Luckily there are solutions to such problems, you can follow the rest of this article to find a generative solution to this bottleneck.
How to Fix GPU Bottleneck?
Bottlenecks can occur both ways, between CPU & GPU. In total, one of those will be accountable for the performance inadequacy.
Identifying the bottleneck isn’t a hectic job. You can look at the processor behavior and tell if the CPU is bottlenecking the GPU.
You can simply adjust these two components to achieve the most out of your rig. Firstly look for the best-fit CPU that your GPU manufacturer preaches. Buy a similar spec processor, or at least near performing one.
Secondly, you should regulate your other PC components by adding more RAM if it’s too low, using more wattage PSU found in the GPU spec recommendation, and a motherboard with a powerful VRM is prolific.
Lastly, you can push the performance to the next level by overclocking the components. Moreover, the PCIe version significantly maximizes the power, hence choosing the latest such as PCIe 5.0 X16 mobo. Try it & you’ll notice a day & night difference if you follow these instructions while building a PC.
FAQs
Does RAM affect GPU performance?
Of Course, insufficient RAM inevitably drops the total PC’s performance. Because any program you run on your PC stays on RAM.
Can a CPU replace a GPU?
It’s not possible in any way to replace the GPU with the CPU. GPU is crucial for graphics-intensive workloads, which only the CPU can’t handle.
Is A GPU faster than a CPU?
Although GPUs can’t work without a CPU, GPUs are more powerful than CPUs as they hold lots of cores and memory bandwidth.
Is the GPU cheaper than the CPU?
The price depends on the model of a CPU or GPU, but GPUs are more expensive than CPUs in the recent market.
Final Words
Running a GPU isn’t the same as utilizing the GPU. Specific CPUs are capable of handling some distinct GPUs.
So, it’s always better to pick your GPU or CPU according to your budget and remaining components. Also, avoid following the trend that makes you spend recklessly.
Do try to leave your opinionated comment if you find this article beneficial.
