I recently upgraded to an RX 9070 XT but I'm still using an AM4 system with a Ryzen 5 5600X. I can buy a Ryzen 7 5800X3D for about $498 AUD and I'm wondering whether it's a worthwhile gaming upgrade, or if I should keep my current CPU or consider another option. I'm running 32GB of RAM and plan to play at 1440p.
4 Answers
The 5800X3D is a strong upgrade for an AM4 gaming system, especially with a high-end GPU. Compared with the 5600X, it should improve average frame rates in CPU-limited games and make the 1% lows noticeably smoother. At 1440p the GPU will still be the main limit in many titles, but the extra CPU performance can help in newer, CPU-heavy games.
Before paying that much, check the price of the Ryzen 7 5700X3D. It is usually quite a bit cheaper while offering very similar gaming performance, so it may be the better value upgrade for AM4. The 5800X3D only makes more sense if the price gap is small or you want the fastest possible drop-in CPU.
Your 5600X may be perfectly adequate if you mostly play GPU-bound games at 1440p, but it can bottleneck a 9070 XT in high-refresh gaming and newer CPU-heavy AAA titles. If you play competitive games at high frame rates, upgrading to an X3D chip will be more noticeable than it would be for casual 60 FPS gaming.
That’s also why the resolution and refresh rate matter. At 1080p or with a standard 60Hz display, I’d be less eager to upgrade immediately.
A Ryzen 7 7800X3D would be faster and gives you a newer platform, but it requires a new motherboard and DDR5 memory. For a simple AM4 upgrade, the 5700X3D or 5800X3D makes much more sense and lets you keep the rest of your system.
I’m moving to a 1440p monitor and already have 32GB of RAM, so I’m mainly trying to avoid the 5600X holding the card back.