I'm currently running a Ryzen 7 3700X with an RTX 3070, but I'm not getting the FPS I want in competitive games. I'm aiming for a stable 300+ FPS and am deciding between upgrading to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D on my existing AM4 platform or moving to a Ryzen 5 7600X3D on AM5. The AM5 option would cost roughly $150 more once the motherboard and memory are included. I'd also like the CPU to remain capable if I eventually upgrade to a GPU such as an RX 9070 XT. Is the 5800X3D still the better value, or is moving to AM5 worth the extra cost?
4 Answers
If you can find a reasonably priced 5600X3D or 5700X3D, those are also worth considering for an AM4 system. They offer a strong gaming uplift from the 3700X without requiring a new board and memory. The 5800X3D is faster, but the value depends heavily on its current price and availability.
Make sure the AM5 package actually includes two memory modules, or plan to buy another matching stick. A single 16GB stick runs in single-channel mode and can hurt gaming performance and create worse stuttering. For a new AM5 build, 2x16GB DDR5 would be a much safer setup than relying on one 16GB module.
If you want to keep your current motherboard and DDR4 memory, the 5800X3D is the straightforward upgrade. It should be a substantial improvement over the 3700X in competitive games, especially for frame-time consistency and 1% lows. It also leaves more of your budget available for a future GPU upgrade.
Moving to AM5 gives you a better upgrade path and should be the stronger long-term choice, particularly if you plan to replace the RTX 3070 with a high-end card later. However, with an RTX 3070, the 5800X3D is likely enough for now. At 300+ FPS, the result will also depend heavily on the specific game, graphics settings, and whether your monitor can display that refresh rate.
That’s what I was worried about. I’m trying to keep the cost down, but stable frame times matter more to me than just the highest average FPS.