GC makes it easier to write, but not necessarily better. Modern state-of-the-art Java GCs operate a global heap, so you often pay for what you do not use. In languages like Rust or C++ your can build small locally GCed heaps, where you can limit GC overhead to just a few particular structures that need GC, not everything. Therefore other structures like caches don't affect GC pause times.

And the "hardness" of writing lockless structures is strongly offset by libraries, so unless you're doing something very exotic, it is rarely a real problem.