I'm upgrading a roughly five-year-old PC mainly for 1080p gaming and programming. The current system has a Ryzen 5 2600X, RX 580 8GB, Gigabyte B450M S2H motherboard, 16GB of DDR4-2666 memory, a 512GB NVMe SSD, a 2TB hard drive, and a 1080p BenQ MOBIUZ monitor. The power supply is an unknown model, so I plan to replace it.
My current idea is a Ryzen 7 5700X, RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, and MSI MAG A750GL PCIe 5 750W 80+ Gold PSU, while keeping the motherboard, storage, and case. I may upgrade to 32GB of RAM later. My budget is approximately €650–700 in Serbia, excluding RAM. Is this a balanced upgrade, or would another CPU/GPU combination offer better value?
3 Answers
The CPU and GPU upgrade would be a huge improvement over the 2600X and RX 580. The 750W Gold PSU is more than adequate, provided it’s a reputable model, and replacing the unknown power supply is a good idea. Before installing a newer Ryzen processor, update the motherboard BIOS while the old CPU is still installed and confirm the board’s supported CPU list. The 16GB of RAM will work for now, but 32GB is worthwhile later for modern games and heavier programming workloads.
Since you’re staying on AM4, a Ryzen 7 5700X3D would generally be the best gaming-focused CPU upgrade if you can find one at a reasonable price. Pairing it with the RTX 5060 Ti would make a strong 1080p system. A 5700X is still a good all-around choice for gaming and coding, but the X3D chip can provide better gaming performance and longevity. Your B450 board may need a BIOS update first, and its PCIe 3.0 interface could slightly limit some newer GPUs, although it should still work fine at 1080p.
For the best value, compare the total prices of a 5700X or 5700X3D paired with whichever current GPU gives the most performance locally. At 1080p, the 5700X3D is attractive for high frame rates, while the regular 5700X may leave more room in the budget for a faster graphics card. You can keep the existing storage and case initially, though the hard drive is better used for bulk storage than for games that need fast loading.
I checked local prices, but a 5700X3D with an RTX 5070 is far beyond my budget. I’ll probably have to choose a less expensive GPU or stick with the regular 5700X.