My current system has an RX 5700 XT, Ryzen 5 3600, 64GB of 3600MHz RAM, and a B450 Tomahawk Max motherboard. I bought a Ryzen 5 5600X3D for $170 and am wondering whether it will provide noticeable gaming improvements, since I do not plan to replace the rest of the system anytime soon. I mainly play OSRS, iRacing, Le Mans Ultimate, WoW, FFXIV, Monster Hunter: Wilds/Rise/World, Valorant, Overwatch, and Path of Exile 2. Should I expect meaningful FPS gains, or will the RX 5700 XT limit the upgrade?
4 Answers
The 5600X3D is generally a better gaming choice than a standard 5800X because the extra cores on the 5800X do not help most games much. A 5800X3D would be faster, but the additional cost is difficult to justify unless you want the strongest possible final AM4 upgrade.
The upgrade will be most noticeable in simulation and MMO-style games, competitive titles, and anything where the Ryzen 5 3600 struggles to maintain consistent frame rates. Do not expect much improvement in OSRS specifically, and games that are already GPU-bound will show only modest gains.
Your graphics card is probably the main limitation in many newer or graphically demanding games, so a GPU upgrade would produce a bigger average-FPS increase. Still, $170 is a good price for the 5600X3D, and it is a strong gaming CPU for the AM4 platform.
It should be a worthwhile upgrade, especially for CPU-heavy games and smoother frame times. The 5600X3D may not dramatically increase average FPS when the RX 5700 XT is already running at full load, but it can improve 1% lows and reduce stuttering. It also gives you more headroom for a stronger graphics card later.
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