I have a six-year-old AM4 system with 32GB of DDR4 and recently upgraded to an RX 9060 XT 16GB. I mainly play at 1440p and am very happy with the graphics card, but my Ryzen 5 3600X is now the next part I want to replace.
The options available locally are a Ryzen 7 5700X for €145, which I can use with my current cooler, or a Ryzen 7 5800X3D for €375, plus the cost of a new cooler. That makes the 5800X3D more than twice as expensive.
I will mainly be playing World of Warcraft Forever soon, along with games I have missed such as Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, and The Witcher 3 Remastered. I would like this upgrade to last another four or five years if possible. Is the 5800X3D noticeably better enough to justify the large price difference, or would the 5700X be the better value at 1440p?
2 Answers
The 5700X should be perfectly capable, and at 1440p you will usually be limited by the GPU in most of these games. The 5800X3D makes more sense if you want to keep this AM4 system for as long as possible and avoid another platform upgrade for several years.
The 5800X3D is considerably better in CPU-limited situations. Its biggest advantages are improved 1% lows, smoother frame times, and better consistency, particularly in games such as World of Warcraft and in CPU-heavy areas of Cyberpunk 2077 or The Witcher 3. The difference may not always show in average FPS, but the experience can feel smoother. Just remember to budget for a decent cooler if you are still using the cooler that came with the 3600X.
The cooler is already included in the 5800X3D estimate, which is part of why the total cost is around two and a half times higher than the 5700X. I am mainly trying to judge whether the improvement would be noticeable enough to justify that.
That is the plan. This system has already lasted about six years, so I would like the next CPU upgrade to carry me for another four or five years if possible.