My current PC has a TUF X470-PLUS GAMING motherboard, Ryzen 5 5600X, Radeon RX 5600 XT, 32GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM, and a 600W Gold-rated power supply. I have about $1,000 to spend and want to improve its lifespan for modern games at 1440p on high settings, ideally around 100+ FPS.
I'm considering either an RX 9070 XT with an 850W power-supply upgrade, or a Ryzen 7 5800X3D paired with an RX 9060 XT. My preference would be to upgrade only the graphics card if the 5600X won't hold it back too much, but I'm willing to upgrade the CPU if that would provide a better overall result. The games I care about most are Cyberpunk 2077, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Oblivion Remastered.
4 Answers
Your 5600X is still a capable gaming CPU and shouldn’t be a major problem outside of especially CPU-heavy simulation games. I’d prioritize the GPU and keep the current processor for now. After that, the next major platform upgrade would be the motherboard, CPU, and RAM, but you can probably wait another generation before making that jump.
The 5800X3D and RX 9060 XT would be the more balanced pairing, but the weaker GPU means your goal of 1440p high settings at 100+ FPS—especially with ray tracing—will be difficult. A more realistic target for demanding games is roughly 1440p high settings with upscaling and around 60–75 FPS.
Consider a Ryzen 7 5700X3D or 5500X3D with an RX 9070 or 9070 XT if you want to maximize the remaining life of the AM4 platform. Another option is the non-XT RX 9070, which can be undervolted and have its power limit adjusted for lower consumption. That said, check your specific power supply and system stability before relying on a 600W unit with a high-end card.
For your stated resolution and games, the GPU upgrade will make the biggest difference. The 5600X may limit extremely high frame rates in some CPU-heavy titles, but it should still pair reasonably well with a 9070-class card at 1440p. Just keep in mind that 100+ FPS at high settings in every demanding game, particularly with ray tracing, isn’t a realistic guarantee.
That target may be more ambitious than I realized unless I build around something like a 5090. Thanks for the input!