I'm considering upgrading from a Ryzen 5 7500F to a Ryzen 7 9700X. I play at 1440p with an RX 9060 XT 16GB, but I've been told the 7500F may struggle with newer games. Is the upgrade worthwhile, especially for upcoming titles, or would my graphics card limit the difference anyway?
3 Answers
For 1440p gaming, the upgrade probably isn’t worth the money. With an RX 9060 XT, you’ll usually be GPU-limited before the 7500F becomes a serious problem, and the 9700X would provide little noticeable improvement in most games.
The 7500F is still a capable gaming CPU. A 9700X might help in some CPU-heavy or high-refresh-rate situations, but the average improvement is likely modest. I’d keep the current setup and upgrade the graphics card and CPU together later, rather than replacing the processor now.
If you regularly play CPU-limited games, an X3D processor would make more sense than a standard 9700X. By the time a CPU upgrade is truly needed, newer X3D options may be available.
I wouldn’t worry about buying new games with the 7500F. If you eventually run into CPU limits, look at an X3D chip instead. Even a lower-tier X3D model could be a stronger gaming upgrade than the 9700X, but there’s no urgent reason to upgrade right now.
I was mainly worried that newer games would make the 7500F obsolete, especially titles like Dawnwalker or Onimusha.