240fps is a CPU problem

Why the CPU decides your frame rate

At the low, uncapped settings competitive players actually use, the GPU spends most of each frame waiting on the CPU to finish game logic and draw calls — that's the definition of a CPU-bound title. AMD's X3D chips (extra 3D V-Cache) post the highest single-core / gaming-calibrated index in our scoring model — the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D leads the field. Pairing that CPU with a 240Hz+ or 360Hz+ monitor is what actually turns a high frame rate into a competitive advantage; the GPU can be surprisingly modest.

That doesn't mean the GPU is irrelevant — a build around a AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with a weak GPU can still bottleneck in busy scenes — but for these four titles, upgrading the CPU moves the needle more than upgrading the GPU once you're past an entry-level card.

Counter-Strike 2

Source 2 is a single-thread-heavy engine — CS2 will happily run 400+ fps on a fast X3D chip even on a mid-range GPU. The bottleneck is almost always the CPU or the monitor, never the graphics card.

Valorant

Deliberately lightweight to run at very high frame rates on modest hardware. The ceiling here is monitor refresh rate and CPU single-core speed, not GPU horsepower — a budget GPU paired with a fast CPU outperforms the reverse.

Fortnite

Competitive settings (low/performance mode) shift load heavily onto the CPU. Building-heavy fights are where single-core speed and cache size (the X3D advantage) show up as fewer 1% low stutters.

Call of Duty: Warzone

The heaviest of the four — large maps and 100+ player lobbies mean Warzone leans on both CPU and GPU more than the others, but a CPU bottleneck still shows up first in 1% lows during big fights.

Build an esports rig

Start from an X3D CPU and a high-refresh monitor, then size the GPU to your budget — our builder checks compatibility as you go.