I currently have an ASRock B450M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 motherboard, a Ryzen 5 2600, a GTX 1060 6GB, and 16GB of RAM. I'd like to upgrade the processor as far as this motherboard can reasonably support without replacing the board or RAM. I've been considering CPUs such as the Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 5 5500X3D. What would be the best choice for my current system and future upgrades?
4 Answers
Your 16GB of RAM can stay for now, although moving to 32GB would help with newer games and multitasking later. For the current GTX 1060, I’d prioritize a reasonably priced Ryzen 5 5600 or 5500X3D rather than paying a large premium for the 5800X3D. A future GPU upgrade will make the faster CPU more worthwhile.
A Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600X would already be a substantial upgrade from the Ryzen 5 2600 and is probably all you need while using a GTX 1060. If you plan to upgrade to a much faster graphics card later, a 5500X3D or another AM4 X3D processor gives you more headroom, especially in CPU-bound games and for better 1% lows.
The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is technically the best gaming processor available for AM4, but it can be difficult to justify its price. The Ryzen 5 5500X3D or 5600X3D offer much of the gaming benefit for less, depending on local pricing. With a GTX 1060, though, you’ll usually be GPU-limited, so an X3D chip may not provide much extra performance right away.
For the absolute maximum gaming performance on this platform, choose the 5800X3D if you can find one at a reasonable price. Otherwise, the 5500X3D is a sensible value option, while the 5600X3D can be attractive if it is available locally. Check the motherboard’s CPU support list and update the BIOS before swapping processors.
Price matters a lot here. In some regions the 5500X3D can actually cost less than a 5600 or 5600X, making it a better gaming value. It should also improve frame-time consistency in CPU-heavy games.