I use this PC almost exclusively for World of Warcraft. In the WoW Forever beta, performance drops to about 30 FPS in crowded cities and group content, while solo questing stays locked at 60 FPS on maximum settings. That made me suspect a CPU limitation rather than a GPU limitation.
My current system is an Intel i5-9400F on an ASUS ROG Strix B360-F Gaming motherboard, with 16GB of DDR4-2666 memory, an RTX 3070, Corsair TX650M 650W PSU, NVMe storage, and a Corsair Carbide SPEC-DELTA case. I play at 3440×1440 ultrawide resolution.
I am considering spending about €1,146 on a Ryzen 7 9800X3D, ASUS TUF Gaming B650E-PLUS WIFI motherboard, 32GB of DDR5-6000 CL38 memory, and an Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360. I would keep the RTX 3070, PSU, case, and storage, with a GPU upgrade possibly coming in two or three years.
Does this look well balanced for a CPU-heavy MMO, or is anything excessive or unsuitable? I am also wondering whether the 9800X3D is worth paying extra for over the Ryzen 7 9700X when World of Warcraft is essentially the only game I care about.
4 Answers
The platform choice is sensible, but the 360mm liquid cooler is unnecessary for these CPUs. A good dual-tower air cooler should handle the 9700X, 9800X3D, or similar processor, usually for less money and with fewer long-term failure points. DDR5-6000 is an appropriate target for AM5; 32GB is plenty for WoW and general gaming.
Before buying anything, verify that this is actually a CPU bottleneck. Several players are seeing a serious VRAM or memory-management issue in the beta: VRAM gradually fills, GPU usage drops, and frame rates collapse in cities. Relogging, returning to character selection, or reloading can temporarily restore performance. If the frame rate comes back after doing that, a new CPU will not fix the underlying problem.
Keeping the RTX 3070 is reasonable at 3440×1440, especially if you are currently CPU-limited. The 650W Corsair PSU should generally be adequate for this combination as long as it is in good condition, though its age is worth considering before carrying it into another build. I would put the saved money toward a future GPU rather than an X870E motherboard or premium PCIe features that will not improve WoW performance.
If the issue is a genuine CPU limitation, the X3D chips are a strong choice for World of Warcraft and other MMOs. The 9800X3D should outperform the 9700X in crowded, CPU-heavy situations, but the difference may not justify the full premium if you only need stable performance. A 7800X3D can also be excellent value if it is substantially cheaper, while a 9700X or even a 9600X should still be a large upgrade over the i5-9400F.
WoW does benefit noticeably from extra 3D cache, so I would prioritize a discounted X3D processor over paying for a more expensive motherboard.
This can look exactly like a CPU limit because the GPU usage falls sharply when the problem occurs. Check VRAM usage and CPU/GPU utilization during the slowdown.