I'm looking for the best PC upgrade I can make for around $200/€200. My current system has a Ryzen 3 1200, Radeon RX 6600, MSI A320M PRO-VD/S motherboard, and 16 GB of RAM. I'm running Linux at 1920×1080 and 120 Hz. The RX 6600 seems good enough for the games I play, but the CPU feels like it may be limiting performance, especially in demanding areas of games such as DOOM: The Dark Ages. I'm considering a Ryzen 5 5600 because it should work with my motherboard after a BIOS update. Should I buy that, upgrade the motherboard too, add more RAM, or prioritize an SSD if my current main drive isn't already solid-state?
4 Answers
If your operating system or games are installed on a hard drive, moving the main drive to an SSD should be a high priority. It won’t usually increase average FPS much, but it will make booting, loading, and general use feel dramatically faster. If you already have an SSD, spend the budget on the CPU instead. The RX 6600 should be fine for 1080p gaming at sensible settings.
Going from 16 GB to 32 GB can help with newer games, multitasking, and reducing stutter when background programs are open, but it is less urgent than replacing the Ryzen 3 1200. With a strict $200/€200 budget, I’d get the Ryzen 5 5600 first and add another matching 16 GB memory kit later if you notice high RAM usage. Make sure the new memory matches your current kit as closely as possible.
You don’t necessarily need a new motherboard for a Ryzen 5 5600. A B550 board would provide newer features and an easier upgrade path, but replacing the A320 board would use a large part of your budget without giving you a major gaming-performance improvement right now. Keep the existing board unless it lacks a BIOS update for the 5600 or you specifically need features such as PCIe 4.0 or more expansion options.
The Ryzen 5 5600 is probably the best value upgrade here. It has twice as many cores and is much faster per core than the Ryzen 3 1200, so it should reduce CPU bottlenecks and improve frame-time consistency with the RX 6600. Update the motherboard BIOS before removing the old CPU, since the A320 board may need a newer firmware version for Ryzen 5000 support. After installing it, check that your RAM is running at its rated speed.
That sounds like the kind of upgrade I’m looking for. I’ll check the BIOS support and memory settings before buying anything.
So the motherboard upgrade is more about features and future expansion than an immediate speed boost?