My PC has generally handled 1080p gaming well, often reaching around 120 FPS on high settings, but some newer or more demanding games have unstable performance. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Resident Evil 4 usually run around 55–80 FPS at medium settings, while DLSS or Frame Generation can introduce stuttering. Hogwarts Legacy performs especially poorly, and the computer has even shut down during gameplay. I would like to play most games comfortably on high settings with stable frame rates.
I am considering upgrading from 16GB of DDR4-3200 memory to 32GB of DDR4-3600 and replacing my MSI RTX 4060 8GB with an RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. I have heard there may be a roughly 6% CPU bottleneck at 1080p, but I am unsure how meaningful that would be.
My current system has a Ryzen 7 5700X, Gigabyte X570 AORUS Elite motherboard, RTX 4060, 16GB of DDR4 memory, a 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD, an 850W Gold-rated power supply, and a 240mm liquid cooler. Is the proposed upgrade worthwhile, or would another upgrade path make more sense?
4 Answers
Upgrading to 32GB of RAM is a sensible first step, especially for newer games and multitasking. Your Ryzen 7 5700X and RTX 4060 are still a balanced combination, so memory capacity or a game-specific problem may be responsible for some of the stuttering. If you still need more CPU performance afterward, a 5700X3D or 5800X3D could extend the life of the AM4 system, assuming the BIOS supports it.
Before buying anything, investigate the shutdowns and stutters. A gaming PC should not power off simply because the GPU is under heavy load. Monitor CPU and GPU temperatures, hotspot temperatures, clock speeds, and power behavior, and check the event logs. Also test the power supply and make sure all power cables and cooling components are installed correctly. Your reported temperatures of roughly 40–72°C sound normal, but a shutdown could still have another cause.
A meaningful GPU upgrade is usually closer to two generations newer or one generation higher in performance tier. Moving from a 4060 to a 5060 Ti may improve some games and provide more VRAM, but it is not necessarily a large enough jump for the money. If you want a clearly visible improvement, save for a higher-tier card instead, particularly if you may move to 1440p later.
The RTX 5060 Ti 16GB generally is not a compelling upgrade from the RTX 4060 at current prices. It adds useful VRAM, but the performance increase may not justify the cost. A stronger card such as an RX 9060 XT 16GB, RX 9070, or RX 9070 XT could provide a much more noticeable improvement, depending on your budget.
The extra RAM may help with system memory pressure and background tasks, but it will not turn an RTX 4060 into a much faster GPU. I would diagnose the crashes first and then decide whether the main limitation is the GPU, CPU, or memory.