I recently upgraded from a GTX 1650 Super to a 16GB Radeon 9060 XT, and I'm now considering replacing my Ryzen 5 2600 with a Ryzen 7 5800X. Would the 5800X be a good pairing, or could it bottleneck the graphics card? I know the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is another option, but I'm not interested in spending around €350 on it. I mostly play casually at 1920×1080 and 180Hz, using high rather than ultra settings. In Cyberpunk 2077, I'm averaging around 100 FPS, sometimes reaching 200 FPS, although occasional frame drops are annoying. I'd also like advice about cooling: would the stock cooler from my Ryzen 5 2600 be sufficient for the 5800X, or should I buy something like a Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE?
4 Answers
That combination should work well. A similar setup using a Ryzen 7 5700X and the same GPU performs nicely, so the 5800X should have no trouble. You probably won’t need an X3D chip unless you’re specifically chasing the highest possible frame rates or trying to maximize performance in CPU-heavy games.
You should replace the Ryzen 5 2600’s stock cooler. It isn’t a good choice for the 5800X, which can run fairly warm. A Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE or Phantom Spirit would be a much better option and should keep temperatures and noise under control.
The 5800X is a good CPU and should be more than capable for this graphics card. Just make sure your motherboard supports it with the appropriate BIOS version before buying, since both processors use the AM4 platform.
The Ryzen 7 5800X is still a solid gaming CPU and should pair well with the 9060 XT. In most games it shouldn’t create a meaningful bottleneck, especially since the 9060 XT isn’t an extremely high-end card. The exact result depends on the game, resolution, refresh rate, and settings, but for casual 1080p gaming it should be a good upgrade.
I’m not chasing ultra settings or maximum FPS. As long as games run smoothly at 1080p, I’ll be happy, so this sounds like it should fit what I need.