I'm considering a small upgrade to my AM4 gaming PC. It currently has a B450 motherboard, Ryzen 5 3600, Radeon RX 6700 XT, and 16GB of DDR4-3200 memory. I'm getting severe microstuttering in games such as Black Ops 6, the upcoming Black Ops 7, Warzone, and even some less demanding games. A Ryzen 7 5700X is currently available for about €150 in Germany, and adding another 16GB of DDR4-3200 would bring the total upgrade cost to roughly €200. Does this sound worthwhile for keeping the system comfortable for the next couple of years, or should I consider another AM4 processor or troubleshoot the stuttering first? I'm not planning to move to AM5 anytime soon.
3 Answers
That would be a worthwhile and fairly inexpensive upgrade. The 5700X gives you two extra cores and smoother multitasking, while moving to 32GB should help prevent memory pressure in newer games. If you can find a good deal on a used 5700X or 5800X, that could make the upgrade even better. Just confirm that your B450 board has a BIOS version that supports the processor.
If gaming performance is the main goal, look at the 5700X3D or 5800X3D as well. Their extra 3D cache can noticeably improve frame-time consistency and CPU-limited performance, but the used prices need to be reasonable. Paying €350–400 for one may not be attractive compared with simply using a 5700X and saving for a future platform upgrade.
The CPU and RAM upgrade makes sense, but it may not cure the microstuttering by itself. Since the problem also happens in casual games, first check graphics drivers, shader compilation, background programs, temperatures, and whether the RAM is running in dual-channel mode with the correct memory profile enabled. Radeon cards can also have game-specific shader or driver stutter, so try a clean driver installation and compare different driver versions. Avoid changing several advanced BIOS and driver settings at once; test each change carefully so you know what actually helps.
The X3D chips I’ve found are around €320–400 used, so I’m not sure the extra cost makes sense for my system. The 5700X at €150 seems much easier to justify.