I'm considering replacing my Ryzen 5 7500F with a Ryzen 7 9700X. I mainly play at 1440p and use an RX 9060 XT with 16GB of VRAM. Is the upgrade worthwhile for current and upcoming games, or would my money be better spent elsewhere?
3 Answers
For 1440p gaming, the upgrade probably isn’t worth it with that graphics card. In most games, the RX 9060 XT will be the limiting component before the 7500F becomes a serious problem. Your current CPU and GPU are already a sensible pairing.
If you eventually upgrade to a much faster graphics card or regularly play high-refresh-rate, CPU-heavy games, an upgrade could make sense. In that situation, an X3D processor would likely be a better gaming choice than the 9700X. Otherwise, keep the 7500F and save the money for a future GPU or platform upgrade.
A 9700X would only provide a noticeable improvement in games where you’re specifically CPU-limited, and even then the gain may be around 10% rather than a dramatic change. I wouldn’t upgrade just because newer games are coming out—the 7500F should still be capable for quite a while.
If you really want a non-X3D upgrade now, a Ryzen 5 9600X may offer better value than the 9700X, depending on local pricing. The performance difference between those two CPUs is usually small in gaming.