I'm considering a CPU upgrade while staying on the AM4 platform for the foreseeable future. My current system has a Ryzen 5 3600, 16GB of DDR4, a Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite motherboard, and an RTX 2070 Super. I play at 1080p and mainly aim for a steady 60 FPS in games such as Path of Exile 2, Street Fighter 6, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and future Guild Wars titles. I'd also like to play games including Red Dead Redemption 2, Crimson Desert, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Dragon's Dogma 2. I found a Ryzen 5 5600 locally for about $80, while a Ryzen 5 5500X3D would cost around $186 shipped. Is the X3D chip worth paying roughly $100 more, or would the Ryzen 5 5600 be enough for this system and target frame rate?
4 Answers
The upgrade depends heavily on what is limiting performance. With an RTX 2070 Super and a 60 FPS target, many of the more demanding games will be GPU-limited, so the 5500X3D may not provide enough extra performance to justify $100. The biggest gains from X3D are more noticeable at higher refresh rates or when trying to maintain very high minimum FPS. For your stated use, save the difference for a future graphics card or a broader platform upgrade.
For a 60 FPS target, the $80 Ryzen 5 5600 is probably the better value, especially with an RTX 2070 Super at 1080p. It should be a noticeable improvement over the Ryzen 5 3600 without spending money on a premium AM4 chip that may be overpriced right now. Make sure the local listing is legitimate and update the motherboard BIOS before swapping CPUs.
The 5500X3D is the stronger gaming upgrade, particularly in CPU-heavy games like WoW, Guild Wars 2, and Path of Exile 2, where extra cache can help with frame-time consistency. However, $186 is a lot for it. If you plan to stay on AM4 for several more years and can comfortably afford it, it makes sense as an end-of-platform upgrade; otherwise, the 5600 should meet a 60 FPS goal well.
I’d also check prices for a Ryzen 7 5700X or a reasonably priced used 5800X. They offer two additional cores and can be useful for multitasking and future games, but don’t overpay just because AM4 X3D processors are popular. At current prices, a 5600 for $80 is a very sensible stopgap, while an X3D chip is only worth it if you specifically want the best gaming performance your current platform can provide.
That’s what I’m worried about—the better AM4 chips seem inflated in price locally. I may go with the 5600 now rather than pay nearly $200 for an X3D part.