I'm looking to upgrade my processor. I currently have a Ryzen 7 2700X and a B450 Aorus M motherboard, but both are on loan because my original hardware was damaged by a voltage surge. I can buy the motherboard for €40 if I stay with AMD, then upgrade to a Ryzen 5 5500 for around €80. The alternative is switching to an Intel Core i5-11400F, which would require buying a new motherboard.
My current graphics card is an RX 580 8GB. I may eventually replace it with a GTX 1660 Super or RTX 2060, but the processor and motherboard are my immediate priority. Since the Ryzen 5 5600 would cost over €130, it is outside my budget. Which option makes more sense, especially if I keep using the RX 580 for now?
2 Answers
I’d stay with AMD. For roughly €80 plus the €40 motherboard cost, the Ryzen 5 5500 gives you a straightforward upgrade while letting you keep your existing RAM. Your B450 board should support it after a BIOS update, although you may need to update the BIOS before installing the new CPU.
The i5-11400F can perform similarly or a little better in some situations, but buying a new motherboard makes the total cost harder to justify. Both platforms are effectively at the end of their upgrade paths, so the cheaper route is the better choice here.
The 5500 is an upgrade over the 2700X, but keep your expectations realistic. It uses a smaller-cache design than the Ryzen 5 5600 and lacks PCIe 4.0, so it can have weaker frame-time performance in some games. Even so, with an RX 580, the graphics card will usually be the bigger limitation, and the 5500 is a sensible budget choice.
Also be careful with the planned GPU change: the GTX 1660 Super and RTX 2060 are faster than the RX 580, but both have only 6GB of VRAM instead of your card’s 8GB. They may still improve performance, but consider an RX 6600 if it is available at a similar price, since it offers a stronger overall upgrade and 8GB of VRAM.
That’s what I was thinking too. The Ryzen 5 5600 would be better, but at more than €130 it is outside my current budget. I’m mainly trying to improve the processor first and deal with the graphics card later.