I recently got my gaming PC back after several years and am trying to figure out where upgrades would make the biggest difference. The system has an ASUS Crosshair Hero VII WiFi motherboard, a Ryzen 7 3800X, 16GB of memory, and an MSI RTX 3070 8GB. I mainly play at 1440p, but newer games are starting to perform less smoothly, and some upcoming releases may be even more demanding. My drivers are up to date, and I also receive an error when trying to upgrade from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 11. What would be the best upgrade order, and is there anything specific I should check for the Windows 11 issue?
4 Answers
For a future graphics upgrade, look at cards such as the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB, RX 9070, or RX 9070 XT depending on pricing. Nvidia options like the RTX 5070 or 5070 Ti are also possibilities. I wouldn’t rush to replace the RTX 3070 unless the games you play are clearly GPU-limited or you need more VRAM.
I’d increase the memory to 32GB if your budget allows, especially if you multitask, use mods, or play newer open-world games. Then consider a 5700X3D or 5800X3D. Your motherboard is an AM4 board, so make sure the memory is DDR4; the listed DDR5 specification may be a typo, since DDR5 is not compatible with that platform.
The Ryzen 7 3800X and RTX 3070 are still a fairly balanced 1440p combination, so the best first upgrade depends on the games you play. Competitive and simulation games often benefit more from a faster CPU, while demanding cinematic games usually stress the GPU. An X3D processor such as the Ryzen 7 5700X3D would be a strong upgrade on this platform, with the 5800X3D worth considering only if the price is right.
That makes sense. I’ve noticed the slowdown varies between games, but I’m leaning toward upgrading the CPU first and looking at a new GPU later.
The Windows 11 upgrade may be blocked because TPM 2.0 or Secure Boot is disabled in the BIOS. On this motherboard, look for the AMD firmware TPM or fTPM setting, enable it, and verify that the system is using UEFI with Secure Boot available. Also check Windows 11 compatibility afterward, since the Ryzen 3800X may not be officially supported even if the security settings are enabled. Save important files before changing firmware settings and update the BIOS only if necessary.
That’s helpful. I’ll probably prioritize the CPU and memory first, then save for a GPU once prices and my budget make more sense.