HLLAMD8C/16TCPU is the bottleneck

Is the Ryzen 7 3700X good for HLL?

The Ryzen 7 3700X is the bottleneck in HLL

HLL (Unreal Engine 4) is CPU-bound at competitive framerates — simulation, player updates, and draw-call submission land on a few fast threads, so single-thread speed matters more than core count. The Ryzen 7 3700X (8C/16T, 2019) caps your framerate well before the GPU does. Settings can claw some of it back, but the honest fix at high refresh rates is the CPU.

GPU pairing

Keep GPU spend proportionate: with the Ryzen 7 3700X, an entry/mid GPU is the right partner — and your next upgrade dollar should go to the CPU side in CPU-bound titles like this one.

Settings that actually help a Ryzen 7 3700X in HLL

Cap your framerate just under your realistic ceiling

An uncapped, wildly-swinging framerate costs frametime consistency. A cap a touch below your CPU ceiling gives flatter frametimes and better input feel.

Lower simulation-adjacent settings (crowds, physics, effects detail)

These run on the CPU. Shadow and texture quality mostly do not — cutting the wrong settings does nothing for a CPU bottleneck.

Enable the upscaler even at native-looking quality levels

Upscalers cut GPU load — useless for CPU limits — BUT their frame-generation modes can double perceived FPS on CPU-bound rigs where base latency is already low.

Close background CPU thieves

Browser tabs with video, overlays, and RGB software steal exactly the single-thread time this game needs. Windows Game Mode helps schedule around them.

Get the full HLL playbook for your exact rig

Free, personalized to your Ryzen 7 3700X + your GPU + your monitor — every setting ranked by FPS impact, with a testable FPS prediction.

Looking for GPU-specific numbers instead? HLL settings by GPU · measured HLL benchmarks