What CPU do I need for the GeForce RTX 4070?

At 1440p, the Ryzen 5 4600G is the slowest processor that keeps the GeForce RTX 4070 fully fed. At 1080p the card can run faster, so you need more: the Core i7-10700K or better.

Is the GeForce RTX 4070 good for 1440p?

Yes. It averages around 91 FPS at 1440p on high settings in our model, enough for a high-refresh monitor in most games.

Is 12GB of VRAM enough on the GeForce RTX 4070?

For 1440p, yes. 12GB handles high textures at 1440p today; at 4K with ray tracing a few games already want more.

Is the GeForce RTX 4070 faster than the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB?

They are effectively tied, within 1% at 1440p in our model. Price, memory (12GB against 16GB) and features should decide it.

GeForce RTX 4070 CPU pairing and bottleneck

Model frame rate limits of 120, 91 and 54 FPS at 1080p, 1440p and 4K, assuming the processor never gets in the way.

The GeForce RTX 4070 is a high-end graphics card in our database and built for 1440p, and comfortably past 100 FPS at 1080p in most games.

Its 12GB of memory is comfortable at 1440p today, with less headroom at 4K.

Its closest AMD rival is the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB, which lands within a few percent of it at 1440p.

Estimated FPS in Popular Games

Game (settings)	1080p	1440p	4K
Cyberpunk 2077 (High, no ray tracing)	~95	~75	~45
Fortnite (High, DirectX 12)	~155	~120	~70
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (High)	~140	~105	~60
Counter-Strike 2 (High)	~290	~220	~130

Modelled estimates with a processor fast enough not to hold the card back, rounded to the nearest 5 FPS. Counter-Strike 2 is usually limited by the processor well before these figures. See the methodology for how they are produced.

The slowest CPU that will not hold it back

Resolution	Minimum processor	Estimated FPS
1080p	Core i7-10700K	116
1440p	Ryzen 5 4600G	88
4K	Ryzen 5 1600	54

Notice how the requirement drops as resolution rises. At 4K this card is working so much harder per frame that a far slower processor keeps up without trouble. The search starts at four cores and eight threads: below that a game stutters whatever the average frame rate says.

The processors it lands closest to

The 24 processors whose frame rate limit sits nearest this card's, fastest first. The tag after each number says which part hits its limit first. For any other combination, use the calculator.

Processor	1080p	1440p	4K
Core i5-11400	109 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Core i5-11400F	109 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Ryzen 5 5500	108 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Core i5-10600K	107 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Ryzen 7 3800X	107 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Core i7-8700K	105 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Ryzen 7 3700X	105 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Ryzen 5 3600X	103 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Core i5-9600K	100 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Ryzen 5 3600	98 cpu	91 gpu	54 gpu
Ryzen 3 3300X	95 cpu	91 even	54 gpu
Core i5-10400	94 cpu	91 even	54 gpu
Core i5-10400F	94 cpu	91 even	54 gpu
Core i7-7700K	94 cpu	91 even	54 gpu
Ryzen 5 3500X	93 cpu	91 even	54 gpu
Ryzen 7 2700X	92 cpu	91 even	54 gpu
Core i3-10100F	91 cpu	91 even	54 gpu
Core i5-9400F	89 cpu	89 even	54 gpu
Ryzen 5 4600G	88 cpu	88 even	54 gpu
Core i5-8400	87 cpu	87 even	54 gpu
Ryzen 5 4500	86 cpu	86 cpu	54 gpu
Ryzen 3 3100	86 cpu	86 cpu	54 gpu
Ryzen 5 2600	82 cpu	82 cpu	54 gpu
Core i3-9100F	81 cpu	81 cpu	54 gpu

GeForce RTX 4070 Compared

RTX 4070 vs RX 7800 XT — The RX 7800 XT is about 11% faster than the RTX 4070 at 4K and 10% faster at 1440p.
RTX 4070 vs RTX 3080 — The RTX 3080 is about 15% faster than the RTX 4070 at 4K and 12% faster at 1440p.

Specifications

Manufacturer	NVIDIA
Series	NVIDIA RTX 40 Series
Video memory	12 GB
3DMark Time Spy (graphics)	16,870
PCI Express	4.0 ×16
Released	2023

GeForce RTX 4070