Intel Core i9-9960X @ 3.10GHz + GeForce RTX 4090
Intel Core i9-9960X @ 3.10GHz
GeForce RTX 4090
The Intel Core i9-9960X @ 3.10GHz paired with the GeForce RTX 4090 produces a 20.4% bottleneck. The CPU is the limit, so it finishes its share of each frame last and the other component waits. A gap this size is worth planning an upgrade around.
Estimated FPS at 1080p, high preset
Ranges, not exact figures: identical builds vary by roughly a quarter in real use depending on drivers, thermals and background load. Bars are scaled against the fastest title here, and each row states which component sets its ceiling.
Every title here is CPU-limited on this pairing.
Method: estimated from measured GPU baseline framerates and PassMark CPU scores, capped by whichever component limits first. Workload factors derived from the OpenML "fps-in-video-games" dataset (CC-BY, Sven Peeters).
Intel Core i9-9960X @ 3.10GHz and GeForce RTX 4090: FPS by game and resolution
High preset. Each cell is a range; the label marks which component sets the ceiling. Blank cells mean this pairing has no measured data for that combination, and nothing is estimated in.
| Game | 720p | 1080p | 1440p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fortnite | 190-317 CPU | 262-436 CPU | 194-323 CPU |
| CS:GO | 286-477 CPU | 341-568 CPU | 301-502 CPU |
| PUBG | 107-179 CPU | 137-228 CPU | 124-207 CPU |
| GTA V | 96-160 CPU | 116-194 CPU | 105-174 CPU |
| Apex Legends | - | 128-213 CPU | - |
| Overwatch | - | 233-388 CPU | 182-303 CPU |
| League of Legends | - | 256-426 CPU | - |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 | - | 144-240 CPU | - |
| Battlefield 1 | - | 150-251 CPU | - |
| Battlefield 4 | - | 366-610 CPU | - |
| Rust | - | 77-128 CPU | - |
| Minecraft | - | 478-796 CPU | - |
| World of Tanks | - | 106-177 CPU | - |
| ARK: Survival Evolved | - | 115-192 CPU | - |
How quality settings affect this build: Fortnite at 1080p
Dropping settings only helps while the GPU is the limit. Once the label reads CPU, lowering quality stops buying frames on this pairing.
Every preset here is CPU-limited, which is exactly why the bars barely move.
Bottleneck by resolution
Raising resolution shifts load from the CPU to the GPU, so the balance of this pairing changes with the display it drives. Note this measures imbalance, not speed: the lowest figure is usually the lowest resolution, which is not the one to play at. Read it alongside the limiting part.
On this chart a longer bar is worse: it measures imbalance, not speed.
How these parts rank
Position within the 1,255 processors and 268 graphics cards in our database, by the same benchmark scores this calculator runs on.
Upgrade options
ASUS ROG Strix NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 4070 Ti
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Intel Core i7-13700K
Compare these parts head to head
This page holds your two components together. These compare one of them against a rival with the other side held constant, so the part is the only variable.
GeForce RTX 4090 compared
Related pairings
Other processors with the GeForce RTX 4090
Other graphics cards with the Intel Core i9-9960X @ 3.10GHz
Try a different pairing
Swap either component and see how the balance moves. Changing the resolution alone often matters more than changing a part.