NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 remains an incredibly popular graphics card (GPU) for mid-range desktop gaming PCs, capable of covering both 1080p and 1440p resolutions in your favorite titles.
A GPU is nothing without a processor (CPU) to match its performance and price, which is why I recommend AMD's Ryzen 5 7600X. You're not overspending at about $207, and it will easily keep up with the RTX 3060.
The Ryzen 5 7600X might not quite be what you're looking for, and I've also included five other options from Intel and AMD — many of which we've reviewed here at Windows Central — with different levels of performance, hardware compatibility, and pricing.
Recent updates
December 4, 2024: I removed some of the extra buying advice I offered for Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping events. — Cale Hunt
Best overall
The Ryzen 5 7600X is a six-core Zen 4 processor with 12 threads and a boost clock up to 5.3GHz. It uses the AM5 platform (still in use by newer Ryzen 9000 chips), reducing the likelihood of a full system upgrade when you eventually want to replace it. The best price I found is about $207, making it a perfect match for the RTX 3060.
Upgrade AMD pick
Want more processing power? The Ryzen 7 7700X can deliver thanks to two extra cores and four more threads compared to the Ryzen 5 7600X. It too uses the AM5 socket for easier upgrades in the future, and at about $269 you're still not outspending the RTX 3060.
Future-proof AMD
The Ryzen 5 9600X is from AMD's latest Zen 5 lineup, released in August 2024. It boasts six cores, 12 threads, and a boost clock up to 5.4GHz, all at a modest 65W TDP. You'll spend more at about $247, but it's a great option if you want the latest from Team Red.
Budget AMD
The RTX 3060 offers some of the best value for money in the graphics card space, and the Ryzen 5 5600X does the same for processors at only about $130. It's a great choice for a 1080p system, but do note that it's still on the AM4 platform. If you upgrade to a newer AMD chip in the future, a motherboard swap will be required.
Best Intel
The Intel Core i5-12600K is an incredible mid-range CPU that beats older Ryzen 5 competitors in most benchmarks. DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0 support are still here with the same LGA 1700 socket. For about $168, this will make an excellent pairing with the RTX 3060 if you stick with Intel.
Upgrade Intel
The i7-12700K beats older Ryzen 7 chips in most benchmarks, but you'll pay about $214. The DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0 support set it up nicely for the future, but you'll need a motherboard to accommodate the LGA 1700 socket. It's a little more powerful than it needs to be for the RTX 3060, but the price is fair.
I've been building and upgrading desktop and gaming PCs for two decades, with plenty of experience testing and reviewing AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA hardware. If you need a new processor for your NVIDIA RTX 3060, you can't go wrong with the six picks I've collected here.
I still use NVIDIA's RTX 3060 GPU in my gaming PC, and it handles all of my favorites natively at 1440p or with a bit of DLSS upscaling magic. Picking a CPU to match is easy since I've tried so many over the years.
Choosing the best CPU for NVIDIA RTX 3060
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I specifically built a modest gaming desktop with NVIDIA's RTX 3060 graphics card because I don't play anything too demanding. My monitors don't exceed 1440p resolutions, though they can reach up to 240Hz. While I paired my RTX 3060 with a Ryzen 5 5600X, AMD's next-gen Ryzen 5 7600X is now the go-to chip for most people.
In our AMD Ryzen 5 7600X review, former Windows Central Senior Editor Rich Edmonds remarked:
"If you're looking to build a new gaming PC or a machine for doing some work and browsing websites, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X offers more than enough performance headroom. Even more demanding PC games and software will be able to take advantage of the higher clock speeds, so long as you have adequate cooling."
The chip might run a bit hot and it requires an AM5 motherboard — an upgrade if you're coming from a Ryzen 5000 CPU — but at about $207 it's a perfect pairing for the RTX 3060.
AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X is a step up if you want more processing power. It only costs about $60 more than the Ryzen 5 7600X, and it adds a couple of cores, four threads, and a slightly higher boost frequency. We reviewed the Ryzen 7 7700X, with Edmonds noting:
"If you do take the plunge and pick up the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, you won't be disappointed. The performance is amazing. Pair it up with a capable AIO and a 240mm radiator and you'll have one impressive gaming machine."
Be sure to pair the Ryzen 7 7700X with some proper RAM for the best results.
The Ryzen 5 5600X and the Ryzen 5 9600X are also on the list, and they lean toward different users. The former is great if you want to spend as little as possible and don't mind sticking with an older AM4 platform, coming in at around $130. On the other hand, the Ryzen 5 9600X is one of the latest AM5 CPUs from AMD, setting you up well for the future for about $247.
Where are Intel's 13th and 14th Gen CPUs in this list?
Intel acknowledged in July 2024 that it had found the root cause of 13th and 14th Gen desktop CPU instability, which had been plaguing users for years. The issue caused the chips to draw too much power, resulting in irreversible degradation leading eventually to complete failure.
Intel's fix began rolling out to motherboard vendors in August, and it does seem to have prevented the issue from happening to undamaged CPUs. You might not have any issues, especially after the fix, but you might also run into similar problems. In any case, the 12th Gen Core i5-12600K and Core i7-12700K remain solid options that use the LGA 1700 socket, and they'll easily keep up with the RTX 3060 in your favorite games.
Windows Central Editor-in-Chief Daniel Rubino reviewed the Intel Core i5-12600K, saying:
"Designed for an all-around good gaming PC, the Core i5-12600K is a superb choice. It's unlocked, allowing you to push the processor further if allowed by the motherboard and cooling capacity."
What about AMD's Ryzen X3D chips?
It's tough not to mention AMD's Ryzen CPUs with 3D V-Cache in the PC gaming discussion. Chips with AMD's 3D V-Cache, like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D we reviewed, deliver impressive gaming performance thanks to the stacked L3 cache, though you won't see much of an improvement outside of gaming.
Something like the Ryzen 7 7800X3D currently costs about $459, which isn't too far above its regular pricing despite its popularity. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D (and the newer 9800X3D) is definitely overkill for the RTX 3060.
Nevertheless, its use of the AM5 socket means you won't have a tough upgrade route for AMD's more recent chips, and it could serve as a great placeholder while you wait for a big GPU deal.
Is NVIDIA's RTX 3060 good for 1440p gaming?
NVIDIA's RTX 3060 is perfectly capable of playing games at 1440p even more than three years after its launch. However, there are some caveats.
You're not going to be able to max out in-game settings, especially in demanding titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077, but with some tweaks in less demanding titles, you'll be able to enjoy triple-digit framerates. That's especially true when you can take advantage of NVIDIA tech like DLSS.
The RTX 3060 comes in 12GB and 8GB VRAM variants, so if you're concerned about current and future memory demands, I'd spend a bit extra on the 12GB model. Games are increasing their demand for VRAM all the time, so the extra 4GB shouldn't go to waste.
Former Senior Editor Rich Edmonds reviewed the NVIDIA RTX 3060, saying:
"It's more than capable of handling PC games at high settings and 1080p, even some at 1440p, but you'll see the limitations of the slower memory and fewer cores to handle more demanding tasks, especially if you enable ray tracing."
