I'm having trouble running newer games smoothly. My current system often only meets minimum requirements, but I'd like to play recent releases at smoother settings, ideally medium to high graphics. I have around $800 to spend and would prefer to start with the graphics card, though I'm open to upgrading other parts if needed. My current hardware is an AMD Ryzen 5 3600, ASUS TUF Gaming X570 Wi-Fi motherboard, GeForce GTX 1660 Super, and 32 GB of RAM. What upgrade combination would offer the best improvement, and should I stay on AM4 or consider rebuilding on AM5?
4 Answers
Since you already have an X570 motherboard and 32 GB of memory, staying on AM4 is probably the sensible choice for an $800 upgrade. A Ryzen 7 5700X or a gaming-focused X3D chip combined with an RX 9070 would give you a very capable system without the extra cost of a new motherboard and DDR5 memory.
The best graphics card depends on your resolution. An RX 9060 XT makes sense for 1080p, an RX 9070 is a good target for 1440p, and the 9070 XT is better suited to 4K. At 1080p or 1440p, replacing the Ryzen 5 3600 with a Ryzen 5 5600-class processor would also help keep the GPU fed.
For a new build within this budget, a Ryzen 5 5600 paired with an RX 9070 is a strong value combination. It should be a major improvement over the 1660 Super while keeping the cost close to your limit. You can upgrade the CPU later if you notice a bottleneck in CPU-heavy games.
If you can stretch the budget slightly, a Ryzen 7 5800X3D-class processor with an RX 9070 or similar card would be an excellent final upgrade for the AM4 platform. Otherwise, a Ryzen 5 5600 or 5700X plus the GPU is the more balanced choice. Selling the old processor and graphics card could help offset the cost.
I built this system just before the pandemic, so it looks like the CPU really does need an upgrade too. I was also mixing up the GTX and RTX names on my current card.