I mainly play CPU-bound games at 1080p on the lowest settings and care almost exclusively about maximizing FPS. My current system has a Ryzen 5 2600, a Biostar B450MHP motherboard, 16GB of DDR4 memory, and an RX 580 8GB. I'm considering spending about $340 on a Ryzen 7 5800X3D from Micro Center, but I'm not sure whether that makes sense with the rest of my hardware. Should I buy it, choose a cheaper AM4 processor, or put the money toward a broader upgrade?
3 Answers
A sensible upgrade order would be CPU first, then GPU, then memory. A Ryzen 5 5600 should remove much of the CPU limitation from the 2600, while moving from the RX 580 to a newer midrange card would produce the biggest visual and FPS improvement. Upgrading to 32GB of DDR4 is useful, but it should come after the main CPU and GPU upgrades unless your current memory is causing stutters.
For a cost-effective upgrade, look at a Ryzen 5 5600 or a similar inexpensive AM4 chip, then put the remaining money toward a used RX 6700 XT or another substantially faster GPU. That combination would provide a much larger overall gain than pairing the 5800X3D with the RX 580.
The 5800X3D is an excellent gaming CPU, but it is badly unbalanced with an RX 580 for this budget. A Ryzen 5 5600 or 5700X would already be a major improvement over the 2600 and leave money available for a stronger graphics card and possibly 32GB of RAM. Update the motherboard BIOS before changing CPUs, and check that your power supply and BIOS support the new processor.
A 5800X3D would be like putting a high-end engine in a car whose other parts still need replacing. Spend the money where it improves the whole system instead of buying the fastest AM4 chip immediately.