I'm looking to upgrade my CPU from a 3700X, but I'm having trouble finding a reasonably priced 5700X3D right now. The lowest price I've seen is about $270 on eBay from a seller in China, but with taxes and shipping, it could end up being over $300. Plus, I'm concerned about the lengthy shipping time and potential issues if I need to return it. On Amazon, I can get a brand new 5900XT for $265. I'd prefer to stick with AM4 since upgrading to AM5 would require more spending on a new motherboard and RAM, which just isn't in my budget right now. I already have a 3080 GPU, and while I don't play a lot of FPS or AAA games, I do run VMs occasionally for specific tasks. Given all this, would the 5900XT be worth it as a backup option?
5 Answers
For gaming, consider that even the 5600XT can match the performance of the 5900XT for less cash. More cores don't automatically mean better gaming performance since most games still only utilize around 6 cores effectively.
I’d recommend seeing if you can grab an R7-5700X, or even an R5-7600 if you’re open to AM5. The R5-7600 is particularly powerful for gaming. It really depends on your main use case.
The 5900XT is basically a downclocked 5950X, which is a strong performer, but if you're focused on gaming, there might be better options. Just keep in mind that the 5700X3D shines at 1080p.
The 5900XT can be a solid choice, especially if you also do productivity tasks that benefit from its 16 cores and 32 threads. But for pure gaming, check out the 5800XT—it’s available for around $120 and competes closely with the 5700X3D in benchmarks.
Consider saving your money for now instead of upgrading. The 3700X is still a capable CPU, and it’s worth holding off for a more meaningful upgrade in the future when AM5 CPUs get cheaper. Don’t rush into spending $300 on something that might lose value quick.
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