I'm planning a PC upgrade focused mainly on the graphics card and case, with a possible CPU cooler replacement. My current system has an RX 6700 XT, Ryzen 5 5600, and 32GB of DDR4-3200 memory. I regularly experience stuttering, lag, and FPS drops in games such as Marvel Rivals, Elden Ring, Wuthering Waves, Arknights: Endfield, and Zenless Zone Zero. I also want to play Cyberpunk 2077 and upcoming games like Tides of Annihilation.
My main display is a 1440p 144Hz monitor. I don't need maximum settings or extremely high frame rates, but I would like to play at high settings around 120–160 FPS when possible. I also do some 3D slicing, although my current setup handles that well.
I'm considering an RX 9060 XT or RX 9070. I know the RX 9070 is faster, but I'm unsure whether the extra performance is worthwhile for my needs. Used prices are about €460 for an RX 9060 XT and €630 for an RX 9070; new prices are roughly €530 and €750 respectively. There are many attractive-looking RX 9060 XT cards available second-hand, while RX 9070 cards are difficult to find. Appearance and RGB matter to me as well.
I may eventually upgrade from the Ryzen 5 5600 to a Ryzen 7 5700X3D, or move to AM5 once DDR5 memory becomes more affordable. Should I stay on AM4 and install a 5700X3D later, or save for a complete platform upgrade? Would the RX 9070 be a much better long-term choice, or is the RX 9060 XT sufficient for 1440p high-refresh gaming?
4 Answers
I wouldn't rush into AM5 yet. You already have an AM4 motherboard and 32GB of DDR4, so upgrading the graphics card first makes more sense. The RX 9070 is clearly faster, but €630 used versus €460 for the RX 9060 XT is a substantial difference. Since you're targeting 1440p rather than maximum settings, the 9060 XT could be reasonable while leaving money available for a later CPU upgrade. If you find a good RX 9070 deal, though, I would prioritize the stronger GPU over changing platforms right now. And choosing a card you actually like the appearance of is a perfectly valid bonus.
Before replacing anything, verify that the stutters are actually caused by the GPU. Check CPU and GPU temperatures, clock speeds, utilization, frame-time graphs, and whether lowering graphics settings changes the problem. If the GPU is already near 90–100% utilization while the CPU sits around 30–40%, a faster GPU should improve average FPS, but it may not fix shader compilation stutter, game optimization problems, or CPU-related frame-time spikes. A GPU staying below 70°C doesn't rule out a performance limit; it may simply be working normally at full load.
The RX 9060 XT is not necessarily a worthwhile upgrade from an RX 6700 XT unless the performance difference in the games you play is large enough to justify the cost. Likewise, a Ryzen 7 5700X3D is a meaningful improvement for CPU-limited games, but it is not a night-and-day upgrade in every workload. Check independent benchmarks at 1440p for your specific games, and consider upgrading the GPU first. The Ryzen 5 5600 can still be used temporarily, though it may limit very high refresh rates in some titles; a 5700X3D would be a sensible final AM4 upgrade if you want to postpone buying DDR5 and a new motherboard.
I've watched several comparisons, but I'm still unsure how significant the gains are in practice. I was also concerned that the Ryzen 5 5600 might bottleneck an RX 9070, so I'm trying to work out whether a 5700X3D or a full AM5 upgrade would be the better follow-up.
The RX 9070 may be the better value if you can afford the extra cost. Paying around 40% more for roughly 50% more performance is unusual, and the additional GPU headroom could help the card remain useful for several years. The RX 9060 XT may look attractive now, but buying too little performance can lead to wanting another upgrade relatively soon.
My temperatures are usually below 70°C, and the GPU is commonly at 90–100% utilization while the CPU stays around 30–40%. In Arknights: Endfield, changing the graphics settings doesn't always help when I target 120 FPS because the game still reports that the GPU is overloaded. That's why I suspected the graphics card, although some of these games may simply be poorly optimized.