My current PC has a B450 Tomahawk Max motherboard, Ryzen 5 3600, RTX 4070 12GB, and 16GB of RAM. I'm considering spending about $350 on a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, while a full AM5 upgrade would cost roughly $1,000 where I live in Greece. I mainly play games such as Diablo IV and World of Warcraft, along with other less demanding titles. I also use the system to stream to a small client PC in my living room. Would the 5800X3D make a noticeable difference right now, or would it be better to save for a complete AM5 upgrade?
4 Answers
A full AM5 build isn’t necessarily $1,000 everywhere, since bundles can sometimes cost around $500–$750, depending on the CPU, motherboard, and memory. However, if prices in Greece put the upgrade close to $1,000, it’s hard to justify for your relatively modest gaming demands. Your RTX 4070 should pair well with a strong AM4 X3D chip.
The 5800X3D is a good way to extend the life of this system, and you can wait for a later AM5 generation before rebuilding. AM5 gives you a future upgrade path, but moving platforms now would mean paying for a motherboard and DDR5 memory that won’t necessarily improve your experience enough to justify the cost.
AM5 is also the platform used by the newer generations, so waiting could make the eventual rebuild more worthwhile rather than spending heavily just to move platforms today.
For your games and current graphics card, I’d stay on AM4. A 5800X3D would be a substantial upgrade from the Ryzen 5 3600 without requiring a new motherboard and memory. It should give you smoother frame rates and better minimums, especially in CPU-heavy games like World of Warcraft. I’d also consider upgrading to 32GB of RAM if your budget allows.
If you can find a Ryzen 5 5600X3D locally at a good price, that’s another sensible option. Some people also look at the 5500X3D through overseas sellers, but availability, warranty, and shipping can make that less attractive. Either way, keeping your current motherboard is the main advantage.
I’m in Greece, and after checking local prices, the complete AM5 upgrade really does come out close to €1,000 for the parts I’d want.