My current gaming PC has a Ryzen 5 5600X, 16GB of Corsair DDR4-3200 memory, a Radeon 9070 XT, a 750W Corsair power supply, and a Gigabyte B550 motherboard. I play at 1440p and have noticed that the CPU sometimes limits the GPU, especially in games such as Beyond All Reason and Guild Wars 2 during large raids or late-game situations. I also play a mix of games including GTA, Hogwarts Legacy, Brotato, and older titles, but I do not play many high-refresh competitive shooters. I had planned to wait for a future AM6 X3D system, but current memory prices make me hesitant about eventually spending €500 or more on RAM alone. A 5800X3D costs about €330 where I live. Would it be better to buy the 5800X3D and extend the life of my current platform by several years, or keep using the 5600X and save for a larger upgrade with a newer CPU and memory?
3 Answers
I would keep the 5600X unless a specific game is regularly causing a serious CPU bottleneck. The 5800X3D can improve performance and especially frame-time consistency in some simulation-heavy games, but the gain varies a lot by title. For many games, a €330 upgrade may not produce a noticeable difference beyond better 1% lows. Since your system is already mostly fine at 1440p, saving for a complete platform upgrade is probably the better value.
Waiting for the next major platform makes sense here. Your 5600X is still capable, and upgrading only when your current games become consistently CPU-limited will give you a clearer reason to spend the money. The 5800X3D is useful for certain CPU-heavy games, but it is not automatically a major upgrade for every type of gaming.
Thanks, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll stick with the 5600X for the next few years and save for a larger upgrade instead.
Your situation is similar to mine: a 5600X-class processor paired with a 9070 XT and DDR4 memory. I would not rush into an AM4 X3D upgrade unless you have a particular game that benefits heavily from the extra cache. Otherwise, the money is better saved for a future CPU, motherboard, and memory upgrade. A 5700X3D or 5800X3D would be a reasonable drop-in upgrade later if prices fall or your needs change.
That matches what I was seeing. The CPU limit is most obvious in Beyond All Reason and Guild Wars 2, but only during large battles or late-game situations, so I’ll probably keep the 5600X for now.