Looking to Upgrade from Ryzen 5 5600X – Suggestions for Ryzen 7?

Before you make a move, think about what you'll be using this CPU for. Upgrading from a 5600X to a Ryzen 7 5700X or 5800X will barely show any improvement in most games. Only in multi-threaded tasks, like rendering, will you notice up to 33% more speed. The 5700X3D or 5800X3D are better choices for gaming, but they're no longer in production, and their prices are sky-high. So, unless you find a good deal, it might not be worth it.

I'm in a similar boat with a 5600X and a 6750XT, gaming at 1440p. I'm planning to make a leap to AM5 (or even AM6) in about two years along with a GPU upgrade. Major gains in gaming with a 5700X would be minimal, so you might want to think ahead before making a jump.

My son recently upgraded from a 5600X to a 5700X3D, and honestly, he only saw a slight improvement in FPS for a couple of games. For most games, the difference was minimal. If you're gaming at higher resolutions, there might not be much reason to switch.

Honestly, I suggest holding off until you can invest in an AM5 motherboard, CPU, and DDR5 RAM combo. The only worthwhile upgrade for AM4 is the Ryzen 7 5700X3D, but again, it's out of production and really expensive now. If you're looking for an upgrade, the 9700X could be good for productivity, but for gaming, I'd lean towards the 7800X3D. If you see a fair price for the 7600X3D, that's also worth considering if your focus is gaming.

What kind of monitor are you using, and what games do you play? If you're gaming on lower settings at 1080p, a CPU upgrade might help, but otherwise, the benefits might not be huge. You could also scout the used market for a 5700X3D or 5800X3D, which could give you similar performance to a lower-end AM5 chip without the added costs of a new motherboard and the expensive DDR5 RAM.