I'm traveling to the US in November and want to take advantage of lower component prices before flying home. My current system is a Ryzen 5 5600 with its stock cooler, an MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB, an MSI PRO B550-VC motherboard, 16GB of DDR4-3600 memory, a 1TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe SSD, an EVGA SuperNOVA 850W Gold PSU, and a well-ventilated Cooler Master TD500 case. I game on a 34-inch 3440×1440 175Hz OLED ultrawide, mostly playing demanding AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy XV, and Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.
I prioritize high image quality, consistent frame pacing, strong 1% lows, native resolution or high-quality upscaling, and around 60–70 FPS or better. I'm not interested in relying heavily on frame generation, and ray tracing is optional if the performance cost is reasonable.
I'm considering an RX 9070 XT or a similar GPU, but I'm unsure how far to take the rest of the system. Should I keep AM4, upgrade to 32GB of DDR4, and either retain the Ryzen 5 5600 or move to an X3D processor such as a 5600X3D, 5700X3D, or 5800X3D? Or would it be smarter to use a CPU, motherboard, and 32GB DDR5 bundle to move to AM5 while I'm near a major US retailer?
Because I'll be flying home with the parts, I'd prefer to avoid unnecessary transportation risk and keep my existing case, SSD, and 850W PSU if possible. If this were your system, what would you upgrade first, and at what point would you stop investing in AM4?
4 Answers
Moving to AM5 is worthwhile mainly if a discounted CPU, motherboard, and 32GB DDR5 bundle makes the platform change inexpensive after selling or reusing your current parts. It gives you a longer upgrade path, but it also adds cost, packing risk, and more components to transport. For your mostly GPU-heavy AAA games, AM5 isn’t essential unless you already want the newer platform or regularly play CPU-heavy simulation and strategy games.
A final AM4 upgrade is a very reasonable middle ground: 32GB of DDR4, a dual-tower air cooler, and the best reasonably priced X3D chip you can find. A 5600X3D around $180 would be especially appealing, while a 5700X3D or 5800X3D makes sense if the price is close. That combination should provide excellent gaming performance for several more years without requiring a new motherboard and DDR5.
The 5600X3D option is particularly interesting. If it performs close to the higher-end AM4 X3D chips in games, I could pair it with 32GB of DDR4 and a 9070 or 9070 XT, then skip AM5 entirely for now.
Your current system is still capable at 1440p-class gaming, and the 6700 XT is the part most likely to feel limiting at 3440×1440. The 850W PSU and PCIe 4.0 B550 platform are suitable for a high-end current GPU, so there’s no urgent need to rebuild everything. I’d buy the GPU and memory first, then upgrade the CPU only if monitoring shows the 5600 limiting frame rates or 1% lows. An AM4 X3D processor would be a sensible endpoint before eventually waiting for a much later full rebuild.
That approach appeals to me because it keeps the travel logistics manageable. I’m leaning toward a GPU, 32GB of RAM, and possibly a well-priced X3D chip, while keeping the case, SSD, motherboard, and PSU.
At 3440×1440, the GPU is likely to make the biggest difference, so I’d prioritize the RX 9070 XT or whichever comparable card is priced best. Upgrade to 32GB of DDR4 at the same time, but you may not need to replace the Ryzen 5 5600 immediately. Test the new GPU first; in most AAA games at this resolution, you’ll be GPU-limited rather than CPU-limited.
That was my initial thought too. Since this is ultrawide rather than standard 1440p, I’m leaning even more toward putting the budget into the GPU and seeing how the 5600 performs before changing platforms.
I’ll be near a major retailer during the trip, so I’ll compare the bundle price against an AM4 X3D chip. If the savings aren’t substantial, keeping the B550 board and spending more on the GPU seems simpler.