I'm using an older AM4 system with a Ryzen 5 3600, RTX 5060 Ti, 16 GB of DDR4, and a BIOSTAR B450MH motherboard. I play at 1080p 60Hz, use a 4K 60Hz TV, and occasionally play VR through a Meta Quest and Virtual Desktop. My current flatscreen and VR games run smoothly, including Battlefield 6, but I'm wondering whether the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 could expose a CPU bottleneck.
I was considering a Ryzen 7 5700X3D, but it was discontinued last year and is now difficult to find new. Would it make sense to buy one used, choose another AM4 processor, or simply keep the Ryzen 5 3600 for another year and save for a complete platform upgrade?
4 Answers
A regular Ryzen 7 5700X is another practical temporary upgrade if it costs much less than an X3D chip. It gives you more cores and stronger overall performance, though the X3D processors are generally better for gaming. I’d avoid overpaying for a 5800X3D simply because it is one of the last high-end AM4 options.
If your games are already running smoothly, keeping the Ryzen 5 3600 for another year is probably the sensible choice. Since you’re planning a full platform upgrade anyway, spending a premium on a hard-to-find AM4 chip may not be worthwhile unless you’re actually seeing stuttering, poor frame times, or a clear CPU bottleneck.
A 5700X3D is arguably the best drop-in gaming upgrade for AM4, but availability and used pricing matter. If you find a reasonably priced, tested chip, it could extend the life of the system considerably. Make sure the B450 motherboard has a compatible BIOS before buying.
You could also look at the other X3D options, such as the 5500X3D or 5600X3D, depending on what is available where you live. They offer a substantial improvement over the Ryzen 5 3600, and the performance gap between the different AM4 X3D models is relatively small for gaming.
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