I'm planning a new PC mainly for competitive Fortnite at 1720×1080 using low settings and Performance Mode, while also streaming or recording. My current parts list is a Ryzen 5 7600X, 16GB of TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB DDR5-6000 CL38, and an Intel Arc B580. I'm aiming for roughly 240–260 FPS in Creative, though I understand endgame performance will be lower.
I found a used 32GB kit consisting of two 16GB DDR5-5600 CL38 sticks, but it may take about a month to arrive and I'm concerned about buying used RAM. After playing competitive Fortnite for the next few months, I'll mainly use the PC for coding, 3D modeling, and computer science projects. I'll also dual-boot Linux, using Windows mostly for Fortnite and recording. Would 16GB be enough for that workload, or should I prioritize 32GB for better longevity?
My alternative would be buying a used Ryzen 5 7600X3D for better Fortnite performance while staying with 16GB of RAM. Which upgrade makes more sense?
3 Answers
The Arc B580 should be more than capable at 1720×1080, especially with low settings and no ray tracing. At that resolution and your target frame rate, Fortnite may become more CPU-limited, so an X3D chip could improve competitive performance, but it’s still a specialized upgrade. I’d start with the 7600X and 32GB of RAM, then consider a CPU upgrade later if benchmarks show that the processor is holding back your frame rate.
I’d choose 32GB of RAM before upgrading to the 7600X3D. Modern games, browsers, streaming software, and development tools can use more than 16GB surprisingly quickly, and 32GB is a more comfortable baseline for a new system. For your planned coding and 3D work, the extra memory will also be useful. If possible, buy a reliable new 2×16GB kit rather than taking a risk on questionable used memory.
For your use case, 16GB might work today, particularly if Windows is mainly for Fortnite and you keep background programs limited. However, it leaves little headroom for streaming, development environments, virtual machines, or 3D applications. Since the memory kit is difficult to return and may take a month to arrive, I wouldn’t depend on that particular used deal. Look for a reasonably priced new 32GB DDR5 kit instead and keep the 7600X.
At 240–260 FPS, the CPU matters more than the graphics card in many Fortnite situations, but having only 16GB could become inconvenient once you’re running the game, recording software, browsers, and other programs together.