NKD wrote on Oct 9, 2024, 07:21:
CPUs have always been reviewed at lower resolutions because people want to know how much headroom they have to not be bottlenecked by it in the future. Just because two CPUs give you the same FPS at 1440p or 4k now, doesn't mean that'll be true when you buy a new GPU next year.

Interesting. Out of curiosity, I tried this technique:

Comparing AMD 3700X to Intel 11900K:

• 2020 review from TPU (using 3080 10GB) showed negative performance deficit from 11900K to 3700X as:
  -20% 720p
-14% 1080p
-9% 1440p
-2% 4K
• 2024 review from TPU (using 4090 24GB) showed negative performance deficit from 11900K to 3700X as:
  -19% 720p
-18% 1080p
-12% 1440p
-5% 4K

I think that aligns with your hypothesis, even with different GPUs and games being tested (although Cyberpunk is in both). The performance gap from 11900K to 3700X has widened by 3-4% over those 4 years (except at 720p) as the 11900K is better at leveraging a much faster GPU with newer titles.

But I think the margins are still too small to matter, compared to the gains offered with a GPU upgrade. The 3700X user would have been better off upgrading to 3080 or 3080ti in 2021 instead of a new CPU, for gaming at 1080p or higher. And I think that rings true today with Ryzen 7000/9000 series and Intel 13th/14th gen... most gamers are better off getting discounted and bundled Ryzen 5000 or Intel 12th gen and the fastest graphics card they can buy.

This comment was edited on Oct 9, 2024, 13:43.