I'm upgrading an older ASRock B450 ITX/ac Fatal1ty system with 16GB of TeamGroup T-Force Xtreem DDR4-4000 memory. I originally planned to buy a Ryzen 7 5800X3D for $299, but I found a Ryzen 5 5600X3D for $229 instead. The $70 difference is tempting, especially since benchmarks appear to show only a small gaming performance gap in many titles.
My main concern is whether the motherboard's VRM can safely handle the 5800X3D. The board's VRM is reportedly rated for around 150W, while the 5800X3D can reach roughly 142W under heavy peak loads. I've also heard claims that the 5600X3D chips were originally defective 5800X3D parts, although I'm not sure whether that is true.
I prefer to stay with an ITX system, so moving to AM5 would require a new motherboard and memory and would add more than $700 to the upgrade. For a primarily gaming-focused system, is the 5800X3D worth the extra $70, or would the 5600X3D be the better choice for this motherboard and form factor?
5 Answers
I’d probably spend the extra $70 on the 5800X3D. The two additional cores make it more flexible for future games and multitasking, and at that price the upgrade is fairly inexpensive. If your workload is strictly gaming, though, the 5600X3D is still a strong value.
I wouldn’t be too worried about the VRM, especially in an ITX case if you use a sensible power limit or undervolt. X3D processors generally don’t draw as much power during normal gaming as their maximum package-power figures suggest. An undervolt can also reduce temperatures and VRM stress while maintaining or even improving performance.
For gaming, either chip should work well, and the performance difference is usually small. If you don’t need extra CPU cores for things like virtual machines, streaming, or heavy productivity, the 5600X3D is a reasonable way to save $70. That money could go toward a faster graphics card or more memory.
Before buying either one, it’s worth considering whether staying on AM4 is the best long-term value. An affordable newer-platform bundle could offer better upgrade potential, and selling the old motherboard, CPU, and memory would offset some of the cost. That said, if keeping the existing ITX setup is the priority, the 5800X3D is the safer choice for extra cores, while the 5600X3D offers nearly the same gaming experience for less money.
The choice depends heavily on the GPU and the games you play. With a modest graphics card, the difference may be almost impossible to notice. CPU-heavy simulation games and other titles that use many threads are more likely to benefit from the 5800X3D, while most games will perform similarly on both.
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