I'm considering replacing my Ryzen 5 3600 with either a Ryzen 7 5700X for about €210 or a Ryzen 7 5800X3D for around €360. My motherboard only supports AM4, and I recently picked up an AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT, so I'm concerned the CPU may now be limiting performance. Would either upgrade provide a noticeable improvement, especially for gaming? Is the 5800X3D worth its high price, or would it make more sense to keep my current system for a while and move to a new AM5 platform in a few years?
4 Answers
The upgrade from a 3600 to a 5800X3D can definitely be noticeable, but the €360 price changes the value calculation. Selling the current AM4 parts and putting that money toward an AM5 motherboard, CPU, and DDR5 memory gives you a longer upgrade path. If you don’t need more performance right now, keeping the 3600 and moving to AM5 later is also perfectly reasonable.
The 5800X3D would be a major step up from the 3600 in CPU-limited games, particularly if you’re aiming for high frame rates. However, €360 is a very steep price for an older AM4 processor. It makes sense only if you want to keep the rest of the system for several more years and can comfortably afford it.
I’d lean toward the 5700X, especially if you mostly play at 1440p. It gives you two extra cores and a substantial improvement over the 3600 without spending as much on a platform that is already at the end of its upgrade path. A used or tray 5700X may be worth checking for a better price.
That’s probably the best value option. At 1440p, the GPU will usually matter more, so the 5700X should be enough unless you’re targeting very high refresh rates.
If you can find a 5700X3D at a reasonable price, it would be an excellent middle ground between the 5700X and 5800X3D. Its gaming performance is close to the 5800X3D, but availability and pricing can be inconsistent, so I wouldn’t overpay for one.
I had a similar upgrade and the performance jump was obvious, but I still wouldn’t pay €360 unless avoiding a full platform replacement is the priority. A reasonably priced 5700X is easier to justify.