The i5-4570 in 2026: what you’re working with
The i5-4570 is a 4-core, 4-thread Haswell CPU from 2013. It still handles eSports titles and older AAA games reasonably well, but it has no hyperthreading and tops out around 3.6 GHz. That means it will bottleneck any mid-range or better GPU in CPU-heavy games — think large open worlds, MMOs, and anything with lots of physics or AI. The goal here isn’t to buy the fastest card you can afford. It’s to buy the fastest card your CPU can actually feed.
Spend past roughly the GTX 1660 Super / RX 6600 tier and you’re paying for frames the processor can’t deliver. Below that line, though, there’s real value — especially used.
Quick recommendations
| GPU | Typical use | 1080p performance | PSU need | Bottleneck risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTX 1650 (GDDR6) | eSports, light AAA | Medium-high settings, 60fps | None (75W, no power cable) | Low |
| RX 580 8GB | Budget AAA gaming | High settings, 60fps | 450W+, 8-pin | Low-moderate |
| GTX 1660 Super | The sweet spot | High-ultra, 60-90fps | 450W+, 8-pin | Moderate in CPU-heavy games |
| RX 6600 | Upper limit of sensible | Ultra, 80-100fps | 450W+, 8-pin | Noticeable — wasted headroom |
| RTX 3050 6GB | No-PSU-upgrade option | Medium-high, 60fps | None (70W) | Low |
If your PSU is weak or prebuilt: GTX 1650 or RTX 3050 6GB
A lot of i5-4570 systems are old Dell, HP, or Lenovo office towers with 280-300W power supplies and no PCIe power cables. If that’s you, your options narrow to cards that draw everything from the slot. The GTX 1650 (get the GDDR6 version, not the original GDDR5 — it’s roughly 10% faster) is the classic drop-in upgrade. The RTX 3050 6GB is newer and slightly faster but usually costs more than it’s worth in this bracket.
Failure mode to watch: some prebuilt towers are small form factor or use proprietary PSU connectors, so check physical clearance and whether your board even has a full-length x16 slot before ordering.
Best value used: RX 580 8GB
The RX 580 remains the budget king on the used market. It regularly sells for a fraction of a 1660 Super and still runs most games at high settings, 1080p60. The 8GB of VRAM keeps it viable in titles where 4-6GB cards stutter on textures.
The catches: it’s an older Polaris chip that pulls ~185W, runs hot, and many used units were mining cards. Buy from sellers with returns, repaste it if temps are bad, and make sure your PSU is a real 450W+ with an 8-pin connector. If you want to browse current listings, here’s an RX 580 8GB search — though honestly, local used markets often beat Amazon pricing on this card.
The ceiling of sensible: GTX 1660 Super / RX 6600
The GTX 1660 Super is where I’d draw the line for this CPU. In GPU-bound games you’ll see 60-90fps at 1080p high, and in CPU-bound games the i5-4570 limits you to whatever it can push — maybe 50-70fps with dips in busy scenes. The RX 6600 is a bit faster and more efficient, but on a PCIe 3.0 platform it also loses a few percent from its x8 lane configuration. Either works; buy whichever is cheaper in your market.
Anything above this — RTX 3060, RX 6650 XT, RTX 4060 — spends money on performance the CPU can’t use, except in one case: if you’re planning a full platform upgrade within a year and want to carry the GPU forward. That’s a legitimate reason to overspend, just go in knowing you’re bottlenecked now.
Don’t forget the rest of the system
The GPU isn’t the only weak link. Two things matter almost as much:
- RAM: 8GB of DDR3 is the minimum; 16GB in dual channel smooths out stutter noticeably. Single-channel memory cripples this platform.
- Storage: If you’re still on a hard drive, a cheap SATA SSD will improve your experience more than any GPU upgrade — load times, texture streaming, general responsiveness.
If your system has 8GB single-channel and an HDD, fix those before touching the graphics card.
Which one should you buy?
Office tower, no PSU cables: GTX 1650 GDDR6. It’s the easy answer and performs well for what it is.
Cheapest possible 1080p60: Used RX 580 8GB, accepting the power draw and mining-card risk.
Best balanced pick: GTX 1660 Super or RX 6600, whichever is cheaper. This is the top of what the i5-4570 deserves.
If you find yourself wanting more GPU than that, the honest move is saving toward a platform upgrade — a cheap Ryzen or 12th-gen Intel board will transform the experience far more than any card you bolt onto Haswell.
FAQ
Will an RTX 3060 or RX 6600 XT work with an i5-4570?
It’ll run, but you’ll waste money. In CPU-heavy games the i5-4570 caps you well below what those cards can do. Only buy at that tier if a full platform upgrade is coming soon.
Is PCIe 3.0 a problem?
Not for most cards — the bandwidth loss is 1-3%. The exceptions are x8-lane budget cards like the RX 6600 and RTX 4060, and especially x4 cards like the RX 6500 XT, which you should avoid on this platform entirely.
Do I need to upgrade my power supply?
If it’s an OEM 280-300W unit with no PCIe connectors, yes — or stick to slot-powered cards like the GTX 1650. A decent 450-550W PSU covers every card recommended here.
Is it worth upgrading the CPU instead?
An i7-4770 or Xeon E3-1231 v3 drops into the same socket and adds hyperthreading, which helps in modern games. If you can find one cheap used, it’s a worthwhile stopgap — but don’t pay much for a dead platform.
