I'm planning a PC upgrade with an RTX 4060 and was considering a Ryzen 5 7600X, but switching to AM5 would also require buying DDR5 memory, which is outside my budget. My current system uses an Intel Core i7-4770 with DDR3, so keeping the existing motherboard and RAM isn't really an option. Would a Ryzen 5 5600X or another AM4 processor be a good match for the RTX 4060? I'm also open to other affordable CPU and platform suggestions, including how much DDR4 memory I should get.
4 Answers
If you can find one locally at a good price, a Ryzen 5 5600X3D offers excellent gaming performance on AM4. Availability can be limited, though, so the regular 5600X is usually the easier recommendation.
The Intel Core i5-12400F is another option worth checking. It performs well with the RTX 4060 and can be paired with a DDR4-compatible motherboard, letting you avoid the cost of DDR5.
Since your current i7-4770 platform uses DDR3, you probably can’t upgrade the CPU meaningfully without replacing the motherboard and memory too. A new AM4 board, Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600X, and 16–32 GB of DDR4 would be a sensible low-cost rebuild.
The Ryzen 5 5600X is a solid budget pairing for an RTX 4060. You’d need an AM4 motherboard and DDR4 memory, but 16 GB is workable and 32 GB is preferable if you can fit it into the budget.
That makes sense. I was hoping to reuse the old parts, but moving to a newer motherboard and DDR4 seems unavoidable.