A friend upgraded his graphics card to a 4070 but we're not satisfied with the results.
A friend upgraded his graphics card to a 4070 but we're not satisfied with the results.
My friends' build featured a 1050ti processor paired with a Ryzen 5 3400g before this upgrade to the 4070. The BIOS needed updating prior to installation, which was handled by visiting a nearby PC repair shop. We're really underwhelmed by the performance and are seeking advice. We think the RAM speed might be the problem, but it's hard to confirm if the GPU is truly limiting things. We've tried several fixes: reinstalling drivers, turning on hardware acceleration in Windows, updating the OS, and resetting all games and NVIDIA software. At 1080p resolution:
- Cyberpunk demos showed mostly medium to high frames with DLSS Performance mode active.
- Cyberpunk 2077 frame rate was around 84 FPS (average 25, max 141), though in-game it hovered near 30-40 in open areas and 70-90 indoors.
- With RT off, the in-game benchmark averaged 51 FPS (min 13, max 85), which still felt lower than the actual gameplay.
- When Frame Gen and RT were off, FPS was 43 (min 7, max 60).
- Riders Republic with ultra settings and AA medium gave an average of 43 FPS (min 7, max 60).
- Fortnite at Epic settings stuttered, with noticeable lag between 30 and 60 FPS and long load times.
- Apex Legends ran smoothly at max settings with triple buffering, high FPS boosts, and stable performance.
- Spiderman Miles Morales struggled, often taking over 30 seconds to climb out.
In all cases, the CPU was consistently around 100% utilization while the GPU stayed at 30-50%. The issue seems to stem from mismatched settings or insufficient GPU power for the workload. We're hoping someone can help diagnose this or confirm if these specs are causing the problem.
The Ryzen 5 3400g can limit performance when paired with the 4070. Upgrading to a faster CPU and RAM will significantly boost overall speed.
The CPU only works with PCIE 3, not PCIE 4. My current CPU matches that, but my GPU (RX 6650 XT) supports PCIE 4 while PCIE 3 is sufficient for it. Possibly V-Sync or G-Sync limits performance, and the CPU temperature around 71°C suggests it’s nearing thermal throttling. There might be background processes affecting this.
The quad-core processor isn't great, but checking it out shows 3400G is Zen+ which feels worse than Skylake. Upgrading to a new CPU would be more important than buying more RAM. I'm currently using a 4070 on the system I'm responding from, and it only supports PCIe 3—nothing to worry about.
I suggested checking the CPU performance using a bottleneck calculator, which indicated a 30% limitation. I'm curious about the expected speed with the 5800x3d.
Avoid relying on bottleneck calculators. They're not reliable. Check YT videos from reputable reviewers to see how similar specs compare. Then decide based on that info. Probably, they compared the 5800x3d to a 2600, which is close to 3400g. Or just examine 5800x3d plus 4070 in different games to gauge performance. Short version: It's significantly worse than the 3xxx lineup. The 5xxx series is much higher-end and jumps ahead of the 3xxx range.
The GPU is limited by the CPU. This was clearly shown when I first assembled my PC—my Ryzen 5 5600G with the 3080 caused major performance limits. Switching to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D eliminated those issues completely. I suggest he upgrade his CPU to a more recent model for better results.