GTX 1070 is one of the best gaming cards to play games and do multitasking. However, a powerful gaming card alone cannot provide a smooth gaming experience unless you pair it with a high-end CPU. Our comparison chart will help you choose the best CPUs for GTX 1070 according to your budget.
![5 Best CPUs for GTX 1070 to Maxout Performance [2021]](https://idealcpu.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Best-CPUs-for-GTX-1070-to-Maxout-Performance.jpg)
To find out which CPU is good to pair with GTX 1070, you have to go through many details. Here we have done all the research for you; all you need to do is to choose your favorite processor.
Top 5 Best CPUs for GTX 1070
Below are some of our top picks when it comes to pair CPUs with GTX 1070.
1. Intel Core i7-8700K | Best All-Rounder CPU
CPU Socket: LGA 1151
Cores, Threads & Speed: Six-cores/12-Threads & Speed up to 4.7 GHz
Cache: 12 MB
Intel desktop processors have always been a great combination when it comes to playing games at 4K resolution. Intel i7-8700K is a beast when it comes to performance.
With overclocking speed up to 5 GHz and six cores, this CPU is great for gaming, video editing, and multitasking. To us, it stands out as the winning product on our list. The Intel Core i7-8700K is the best Intel CPU for GTX 1070 video cards at the moment.
It is one of the most economical CPUs that does not need any liquid cooling. The good thing about this CPU is that it does not bottleneck anywhere while playing modern game titles at max settings.
It is an ideal CPU for someone who owns a GTX 1070 and tests the limits of gaming. Features like overclocking, low power consumption (95W), and hyper-threading make it a perfect CPU to pair with a gaming card.
As you can see in the graph above, we’ve tested i7-8700K CPU with Nvidia GTX 1070 on different resolutions while playing Battlefield 6. Even we pushed the game to ultra-high settings, there wasn’t any lag at all. The CPU temperatures spiked up a little bit, but it didn’t affect the performance at all.
Core i7-8700K is one of the best processors from Intel so far. It is an excellent choice for gamers due to its six cores, 12 threads, and exceptional overclocking speed.
![5 Best CPUs for GTX 1070 to Maxout Performance [2021]](https://idealcpu.com/wp-content/plugins/mighty-pros-cons/assets/icons/thumbs-up-regular.svg){kind=icon}
Pros
- 6 hyper-threaded cores
- Intel Octane Supports
- Turbo Boost
- Six Cores
- Overclocking up to 5 GHz for an incredible gaming experience
![5 Best CPUs for GTX 1070 to Maxout Performance [2021]](https://idealcpu.com/wp-content/plugins/mighty-pros-cons/assets/icons/thumbs-down-regular.svg){kind=icon}
Cons
- Supports Intel Z-Series chipset only
2. Ryzen 5 1600 AF | Best Runner up for GTX 1070
CPU Socket: Socket AM4
Cores, Threads & Speed: 6 Cores/12-Threads & Speed up to 3.6 GHz
Cache: L3 12 MB
Ryzen CPUs are one of the most recommended gaming CPUs in the market due to their affordable price and high-end performance. If you are looking for the best CPU to pair with GTX 1070, then Ryzen 1600 AF is the one you need.
Based on 12nm architecture, Ryzen 5 1500 AF is a cheaper processor for gamers who are tight on budget. In the community of PC builders, Ryzen 5 1600 AF is a good choice to save a decent amount of cash.
Price under $100, this is the most powerful CPU you can get with six cores and 12-threads. We found Ryzen 1600 AF similar in performance to Ryzen Plus 2600.
Ryzen 1600 AF is not intended to overclock, however, you may overclock it a little bit if you want. But still, it is a no match to the mighty i7 8700K on our list.
While gaming, it does not bottleneck, which is quite good for a cheap entry-level CPU. When combined with GTX 1070, this CPU delivers 60+ fps on many modern game titles at high settings.
It is the best value CPU for gamers who want high-end performance at a lower price. But apart from overclocking and power consumption, it is an ideal CPU for the money.
Pros
- Excellent Performance
- Best Value for the Price
- 12-Threads
Cons
- Memory Overclocking
3. AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Processor | Best For the Money
CPU Socket: Socket AM4
Cores, Threads & Speed: 8 Cores/16-Threads & Speed 3.7 GHz (Boost 4.3 GHz)
Cache: 20 MB Combined
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X is a powerful processor that delivers outstanding performance when combined with GTX 1070. We found this CPU one of the best to handle multitasking and gaming at the same time.
It comes with a base speed of 3.7 GHz with a Turbo Boost up to 4.3 GHz. It’s an affordable processor with a clocking feature, 16-threads, and 20 MB Combined Cache for fast processing.
The package comes with an RGB Wraith Prism LED cooler to keep things normal under load. By the way, RGB Wraith is one of the best CPU coolers with silent and exceptional thermal performance.
If your main aim is to multitask, then this AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU is meant for you. You will experience smooth performance while streaming videos and playing games.
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X with Turbo Boost and GTX 1070 is a killing combination for gaming geeks. This GTX1070 CPU pairing delivers unbeatable performance in gaming.
Pros
- Multitask
- 8 Cores & 20 MB Cache
- Precision Boost
- Overclocking
- Highly Affordable Price
Cons
- Power Hungry
4. Intel Core i5-8400 Desktop | Best Budget CPU
CPU Socket: LGA 1151
Cores, Threads & Speed: 6-cores/6-threads, Speed up to 4.0 GHz
Cache: 9 MB
Core i5 processors have been one of the top performers in the league of gaming and PC building. Intel’s Core i5-8400 is one of the wallet-friendly CPUs to pair with GTX 1070.
At 4.0 GHz, this chip delivers incredible performance for multitasking and gaming. It’s a budget-friendly CPU for users who have already spent hundreds of dollars on buying a GTX 1070.
With 6 cores & threads, this CPU offers fantastic value for the money. Moreover, Core i5-8400 is a true performer when it comes to gaming or office works.
Furthermore, it is a powerful processor for handling content creation tasks, video streaming, photo & video editing. We found this CPU to be more efficient with upper-mid range graphics cards like GTX 1060 and above.
i5-8400 is good for someone who needs high performance at a low cost. It comes with a high base speed and can be overclocked to 5.1 GHz without any issue.
Pros
- Overclocking up to 5.1 GHz
- Cheap Price
- Excellent for Multitasking
- Delivers stable fps for 4K Gaming
Cons
- Support 300-Series Intel chipset only
5. AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core | Most Affordable Choice
CPU Socket: Socket AM4
Core, Threads & Speed: 6-cores, 12-Threads & Speed up to 4.2 GHz
Cache: 35 MB Game Cache When Overclocked
Users who bought this powerful processor from AMD were amazed by its peak performance. Even at 4.2 GHz, AMD Ryzen 5 3600 remains stable due to its AMD Wraith Stealth cooler.
This processor has been tested with some popular game titles like PUBG to deliver over 100+. Its six cores and 12-threads deliver smooth performance when it comes to multitasking.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU is a beast. It’s a perfect example of revolutionary computer engineering and is the best value chip on the market. In some gaming tests, it performed even close to Intel’s 9900K.
It is one of the best CPUs for GTX 1070 to play games and multitask. If you are looking for a PC that can last for a few years, then AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is for you.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 has been rated as one of the top gaming processors in the gaming community. Pairing this high-end processor with upper-mid range gaming cards like GTX 1070 will deliver an outstanding gaming experience.
Pros
- Outperforms many high-end Intel processors
- Improved gaming performance
- Affordable Price
- Backward compatible
Cons
- No Integrated graphics
How to Choose the Right CPU for GTX 1070?
Intel or AMD
Intel processors are highly compatible with most graphics cards out there in the market. If you are buying a CPU for your GTX 1070 or GTX 1070 Ti to play games, then you must choose Intel over AMD.
Intel CPUs, on the other hand, are expensive than AMD CPUs. If you are a professional video editor or animation designer, then AMD processors with more threads & cores will be best for you.
Clock Speed
CPUs are advertised with clock speeds and cores. The more the clock speed and cores, the better is the performance of the processor. Many advanced CPUs in the market come with base and turbo speeds.
Such kind of processors adjusts their speed automatically to stable the performance. The best CPU for GTX 1070 must have a base clock speed of over 3.2 GHz.
Core
Cores are tiny processors within the main CPU. Modern CPUs come with up to 32 cores. However, a good gaming CPU can have cores ranging between four to eight.
Threads
Threads are the individual processes that a chip can handle at a given time. Intel refers to this with Hyper-threading while AMD calls it Multi-threading.
Many power-demanding programs like video editing, coding, and gaming require more threads to work faster and smoother.
Cache
This is the most neglected term that people miss out on when buying a high-quality CPU for gaming. The cache acts like the RAM of a processor.
Many advanced CPUs come with cache up to L3 or L4. The L3 cache of 8MB is better than the L3 cache of 6MB.
Recommendations
PC builders and gaming enthusiasts need to have a powerful processor that works perfectly with their graphics cards. Graphics cards from Nvidia’s GTX Series deliver excellent performance when combined with six-core processors from Intel and AMD.
The Intel Core i7-8700K stands out on the list for being the highly compatible CPU for Nvidia GTX 1070. It has more cores and you can easily overclock this CPU up to 5 GHz for better performance. Though we have 11th gen CPUs from Intel in the market right now, this 8th gen processor shows up a great deal for a high-end CPU like GTX 1070.
And if you really want to grab more cores, there isn’t a better choice than the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X. This CPU gives you the best bang for your buck if you want to max out your gaming performance.
FAQs
What is the best CPU to pair with a GTX 1070 for gaming?
If you are buying a CPU for gaming to work perfectly with GTX 1070, then you must choose Intel i7-8700K. It is one of the highly recommended processors for gaming with six cores, 4.7 GHz clock speed, and 12 MB of cache.
What’s a good CPU to pair with a GTX 1070 8GB?
You can choose from the list below:
- Intel i7-8700K
- AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
- Core i5-8400
Are these CPUs compatible with a GTX 1070 Ti as well?
Yes, all of these CPUs are highly compatible with a GTX 1070 Ti graphics card. The Ti Series is more powerful and you will see many improvements in fps while playing demanding AAA titles.
