I've been holding off on a CPU upgrade for a while, and I'm finally ready to upgrade my aging Ryzen 7 2700X. My current setup includes an AM4 Prime X470-Pro motherboard, 64GB of RAM, and a 2080 Ti. While my CPU temps are solid (50-60°C) and my GPU temps are good too (70-80°C under full load), I'm facing performance bottlenecks, especially since I'm mostly using my PC for coding and running virtual machines and not gaming as much anymore. I've heard good things about the 5800X3D and the 5700X3D, but now that they're discontinued, I'm curious what other reliable options are out there. Should I stick with AM4 or consider moving to AM5?
5 Answers
For a budget-friendly lift, consider any Zen 3 Ryzen 7 or 9 that's not an APU. You might want to snag it used, too. Avoid the X3D models unless gaming is your priority, as they may not be the best fit for your current workload. This upgrade should keep you running smoothly until we see AM6 chips come around.
I do a mix of gaming and tasks like video encoding, which is why I opted for the Ryzen 5950X, and it's been fantastic. If that's too high-end for your needs, even the 5800X will serve you well for several years to come.
I made the jump from a 2700X to a 5700X a few months back and haven't looked back since—great performance for the price! Didn't feel the need to dive into AM5 just yet with the X3D chips being so pricey in my area.
The 5800X3D is still a solid option if you can find one on the used market, and it should last you another 3-5 years, especially if your focus is both coding and occasional gaming.
If you can't get your hands on the X3D models, a Ryzen 5700X would still be a great choice. I recently built a PC with one for a budget gaming rig and I'm really satisfied with its performance.
Agreed! I paired a 5700X with a 3070 recently and it performed beautifully. For most gaming experiences, especially on a 4K TV, the GPU is the main bottleneck anyway.