Check your processor's age and performance to see if it's outdated.
Check your processor's age and performance to see if it's outdated.
Recently during gaming sessions with friends (and using Discord) I've noticed frequent lag spikes and the CPU manager reports my i5 4460 is at full capacity. Battlefield 1 and 5 are the biggest issues—they become unplayable when Discord or other programs run, while other games like Sea of Thieves and The Forest occasionally show some lag with around 85% CPU usage. My friend built his PC at the same time as me and has a slightly newer i5 from the same lineup without many problems. Is my CPU simply old or should I attempt a fix? Since I have a GTX 1070, I don’t think that’s the main problem. Any advice on how to improve performance or troubleshoot? I’m planning to get a laptop soon for university and just wanted to know if there’s a simple solution to make gaming more stable during these months.
Four essential non-HT/SMT parts are quite outdated. You'll face challenges with them alongside your CPU's slow speed. In certain games the 1070 might be the main constraint, while in many newer games and some categories (MMOs) your CPU becomes the bottleneck.
Your CPU is outdated and isn't a K-compatible model, so it's not worth keeping. The performance drops you noticed might stem from insufficient RAM. Your GPU performs well and isn't limiting the CPU. It would be best to upgrade to a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM. Consider a Ryzen 1600AF or Ryzen 2600 (or X version), MSI B450 Tomahawk or ASUS ROG Strix B450 for gaming, along with some 3200MHz RAM CL16.
I suggest upgrading to a Ryzen processor and installing dual-channel high-speed RAM. For a motherboard, choose one that supports PCIe Gen4 if you plan to overclock or use the latest components. If you don’t intend to overclock or use PCIe Gen4, any standard motherboard will work. You should definitely get an SSD if you haven’t already.
The issue stems from needing two sticks of RAM to ensure stability. One stick operates at half speed, so using two at 1600MHz together avoids performance drops. Applications and games often consume more than 8GB, making dual RAM necessary to prevent crashes.