I'm building my first dedicated gaming PC and I've been looking into which CPU to choose. I'm mainly considering the 7800X3D and 9600X for my build, which includes a 5070 Ti and aims to run games at 1440p on high or ultra settings. There are a lot of mixed opinions out there on whether the 7800X3D really makes a significant difference, especially since it seems many current games are GPU bound at this resolution.
I've heard that the 7800X3D offers advantages in performance, particularly with 1% lows, but I'm not convinced it's worth the extra cost. Given that I'm not focused on eSports titles and will be playing single-player games like Cyberpunk, Elden Ring, and more, would I see any meaningful gains with the 7800X3D over the 9600X, considering I'm already overbudget?
2 Answers
You'd probably be okay with a 9600X, especially if your monitor's refresh rate is around 144Hz to 180Hz. I only upgraded to a 7800X3D because I mainly play CPU-heavy esports titles. For AAA games, the difference might be negligible, especially if you're focusing more on visuals than frames per second.
If you're mainly gaming at 1440p high/ultra, a 9600X should do just fine. I run a 7600X with a powerful GPU, and it handles most scenarios without breaking a sweat. For most people playing AAA games at that resolution, you won't feel a major difference!
Exactly! For heavy GPU titles like Cyberpunk, the 9600X should hold up well since it mostly relies on the graphics card.