My current system has a Ryzen 5 5600X and an RTX 3070, and I mainly play Black Desert Online at 1440p. The game can be fairly CPU-heavy, so I'm considering a Ryzen 7 5800X3D as a final upgrade for my AM4 platform, especially with DX12 support reportedly coming and potentially improving frametimes and stuttering. After that, I'd like to replace the RTX 3070, but I'm having trouble finding a GPU that offers a worthwhile performance increase without costing a fortune. The RTX 5070 initially seemed like a sensible choice, and I was wondering whether it would pair well with a 5800X3D. I've also heard that DLSS has improved significantly, which makes Nvidia appealing, although I'm open to AMD or other options. I'm only playing Black Desert Online at the moment, so I'd appreciate advice on the best upgrade path and whether moving to AM5 would make more sense than upgrading my existing CPU.
5 Answers
For 1440p, the RX 9070 XT is the straightforward recommendation. The 5800X3D should remain capable for a long time, especially if you eventually move to 4K, where the GPU becomes the bigger limitation. I’d only choose Nvidia in this situation if you specifically need DLSS, CUDA, ray tracing performance, or particularly strong frame generation and are willing to pay the premium.
The Radeon RX 9070 XT looks like the strongest value match here. It’s roughly 80% faster than an RTX 3070, has more VRAM, and the 5800X3D should have no trouble supporting it at 1440p. The RTX 5070 is difficult to justify if it costs about the same while delivering less performance.
Before buying the 5800X3D, consider whether moving to AM5 is worthwhile. A used Ryzen 5 7600X with an inexpensive B650 board can be competitive with a 5800X3D, and you’d get a future upgrade path. You could offset part of the cost by selling the current CPU, motherboard, and memory. If you want to keep spending down and avoid replacing several parts, though, the 5800X3D is still a reasonable final AM4 upgrade for Black Desert Online.
The cost of replacing the board and RAM is more than I want to spend right now. I’d rather upgrade the CPU, add the GPU later, and keep the rest of the system.
A high-end AMD card should pair nicely with a 5800X3D. The RX 9070 XT is probably the most sensible choice for this build, and owners seem to be having a smooth experience with it. A 5070 Ti would make sense if DLSS and Nvidia’s feature set are essential, but it usually costs enough more that the value proposition gets much worse.
I’d go with either the RX 9070 or, preferably, the RX 9070 XT. Nvidia cards are currently priced aggressively, and an RTX 5070 can cost around as much as a faster 9070 XT. AMD’s newer upscaling has improved a lot as well, so the gap in image quality is smaller than it used to be. Nvidia still has an advantage with frame generation, but I wouldn’t sacrifice 20–25% of native performance just to get it, especially if the comparable Nvidia card costs substantially more.
The 9070 XT being faster than the 5070 for similar money is convincing. I’m leaning toward AMD now, but I’m still unsure how many useful Nvidia features I’d be giving up.
How does it compare feature-wise? I’ve heard DLSS has become really good, so that’s one of the main things making me consider Nvidia.