I'm planning to buy a 32-inch 4K OLED monitor for gaming. My current system has a Ryzen 7 5700G, RTX 4070, 48GB of RAM, and an MSI B450 Carbon motherboard. Would moving to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D be a worthwhile upgrade? I realize average FPS at 4K may stay similar because the RTX 4070 will often be the limiting factor, but I'm wondering whether the extra cache would noticeably improve 1% lows, especially when using DLSS or ray tracing. I'd also like the monitor to work well with my PS5 Pro and Switch 2, while remaining useful when I eventually upgrade to a stronger graphics card.
5 Answers
A 4K monitor makes sense if you want one display for the PS5 Pro, Switch 2, and future GPU upgrades. Just expect to use DLSS or reduced settings in demanding PC games with the RTX 4070. A 1440p ultrawide would be easier for the 4070 to drive, but 4K is still a reasonable choice if versatility and future-proofing matter more than maximum PC frame rates.
I’d wait until you have the new monitor and test your actual games. Check GPU usage, CPU usage, average FPS, and 1% lows. If the GPU is sitting near full usage, a CPU upgrade probably won’t change much at 4K. If the GPU has headroom while your frame rate or lows are inconsistent, the 5800X3D becomes a more attractive upgrade.
For gaming, use the 32GB 2x16GB kit rather than mixing it with the extra 2x8GB kit. Four mixed DIMMs can sometimes require lower memory speeds or create stability issues, and 32GB is generally enough for current games. Selling the spare kit and keeping the matched pair is a sensible choice.
The 48GB comes from a 32GB 2x16GB kit plus an extra 2x8GB kit that I believe is identical. I’ll probably remove the extra sticks and stay with the matched 32GB kit.
The 5700G is a weaker gaming chip than its core count suggests because it uses the Cezanne design and has much less cache. A 5800X3D is the biggest gaming upgrade available on AM4, but only buy one if the price is reasonable. A cheaper Ryzen 5 5600 or 5700X could also be worth considering if you mainly play GPU-limited 4K games, though neither will match the X3D chip in CPU-sensitive titles.
The 5800X3D can be a meaningful upgrade from the 5700G, even though the average FPS difference at native 4K may be limited by the RTX 4070. The 5700G only has 16MB of L3 cache, while the 5800X3D has 96MB, which can improve CPU-limited performance and 1% lows. The difference is more likely to show up when using DLSS, lower internal resolutions, high refresh rates, or ray tracing. Make sure your B450 motherboard has a BIOS version that supports the 5800X3D.
That’s why I’m leaning toward 4K. I want one monitor that works with my consoles now and still makes sense after I eventually upgrade the graphics card.