I'm planning an upgrade for my current gaming PC, which has an Intel i5-8600, an RTX 2080 Super, and 16GB of DDR4-3200 memory. In games such as Apex Legends, Rocket League, Fortnite, Overwatch, and Deadlock, the CPU is often at or near full usage while the GPU still has plenty of headroom.
I'm considering a Ryzen 5 5500 for around $150 NZD, but I'm unsure whether it would be enough for the 2080 Super. Would it be worth spending roughly another $100 NZD on a Ryzen 5 5600, 5600X, or Intel i5-12400F? I'm also planning to replace my ASUS Prime H310M-K, since it limits my memory to DDR4-2666. Ideally, I'd like a cost-effective platform that can use my DDR4-3200 kit and leave some room for future upgrades.
4 Answers
Before buying anything, check CPU and GPU usage while gaming, but your description does suggest the six-thread i5 is holding things back. A used i7-8700 or 8700K would be a straightforward upgrade if you could find one cheaply, and it would avoid buying a new motherboard. However, your current board and its DDR4-2666 limitation reduce the appeal of putting much money into that older platform.
Look at benchmarks for the 5500, 5600, 5600X, and 12400F in the specific games you play. The 5600X is a little faster than the 5600, but it usually isn’t worth paying a large premium for the relatively small difference. The best value is likely a Ryzen 5 5600 with a sensible B550 board, or a 12400F with a B660 or B760 DDR4 board if that combination costs about the same. Also compare your current i5-8600 at DDR4-2666, since faster memory may improve minimum frame rates somewhat, though it probably won’t fix the core and thread limitation by itself.
The main limitation is probably the i5-8600’s six cores and six threads, especially in Apex and Deadlock. A Ryzen 5 5500 would add threads, but it has only 16MB of L3 cache and is noticeably less appealing than the Ryzen 5 5600 for CPU-heavy games. If the price difference is manageable, the 5600 is the better AM4 choice. The i5-12400F is also excellent, but compare the total cost of the CPU and motherboard rather than just the processor price.
My CPU is usually maxed out while the 2080 Super has plenty of unused capacity, so I’m leaning toward replacing the board rather than staying on the current platform. I’ll still watch for a reasonably priced used upgrade if one appears.
The Ryzen 5 5500 and i5-12400F would both be capable with an RTX 2080 Super, but the 5500 is closer to a Ryzen 5 3600 in performance. The Ryzen 5 5600 has more cache and is generally worth the extra money for CPU-heavy games. AM4 can also be attractive because inexpensive used upgrades are common, though make sure the motherboard has a decent VRM if you might eventually install a higher-end processor.
Used 8700-series chips are difficult to find where I live, and I’d prefer to move to a board that can run my memory at 3200MHz, so I’m mainly comparing newer platforms now.