I'm still fairly new to PC building and am trying to decide whether to make a small upgrade now or wait for a complete rebuild in about 1.5–2 years. My current system has a Ryzen 5 2600, an ASUS B450 motherboard, 16GB of DDR4 memory, a 650W power supply, and an RTX 2070 Super. I'm using a 1080p TV as my display.
I mainly play iRacing, American Truck Simulator, Minecraft, some single-player games, and Rainbow Six Siege. I'd also like to run larger Minecraft modpacks. The system works reasonably well, but heavily modded Minecraft struggles and I occasionally notice FPS dips.
Because my budget is limited, I'm wondering whether it makes sense to buy an inexpensive CPU upgrade now, or simply keep saving for a future upgrade involving the CPU, motherboard, RAM, and case. Would my current processor bottleneck the RTX 2070 Super enough to justify upgrading immediately?
4 Answers
A Ryzen 5 5600X3D would be a great budget-focused choice if you can find one at a good price. Otherwise, a regular Ryzen 5 5600 is still a substantial upgrade and may be the better value. I wouldn’t buy a temporary motherboard, RAM kit, or case now if you already plan to replace those parts in a couple of years—save those purchases for the full build instead.
The CPU upgrade is likely to make more difference than replacing the graphics card in your situation. A Ryzen 7 5800X3D or 5700X3D can extend the life of the system considerably, but check the specific B450 board’s BIOS support and power delivery first. Some weaker boards may struggle with sudden CPU power demands, so a six-core Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600X is the safer inexpensive option.
Your AM4 platform gives you some excellent inexpensive upgrade options, so you probably don’t need to replace the whole system yet. A Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600X would be a major improvement over the Ryzen 5 2600 and is usually one of the best-value upgrades for this socket. It should help with FPS dips and simulation games while keeping your existing motherboard and DDR4 memory.
If you want the strongest possible gaming upgrade, look at an X3D chip such as a 5600X3D where available, or a reasonably priced used 5700X3D. Those CPUs are especially strong for games like iRacing, American Truck Simulator, and Minecraft. Before buying, check your exact motherboard model and supported BIOS versions, then update the BIOS while the Ryzen 5 2600 is still installed. Also confirm that your board’s VRM cooling is adequate, particularly for higher-end eight-core chips.
Since you’re not having major problems right now, waiting and saving is also perfectly reasonable. Buying parts early only makes sense if you find an unusually good deal, since you may want different hardware by the time you build the new system. Avoid going into debt for the upgrade and buy the parts you actually want when the budget is ready.
That helps a lot. Does a B450 motherboard generally support these AM4 processors as long as I update the BIOS first?