I live in Ireland and will probably buy most parts from the UK or Germany, so US-specific pricing and bundles are not relevant. I'm receiving enough money to afford a very high-end build, but I'm mainly interested in good value rather than simply buying the most expensive hardware available.
My goals are 1440p gaming at around 144 FPS, 4K gaming at 60 FPS for a possible home-theater setup, and better consistency in VR. I currently have a Ryzen 5 3600, Radeon RX 7700 XT, 32GB of DDR4 memory, an Asus Prime B450M-A II motherboard, and a 550W power supply. Storage can be reused.
I'm considering a Radeon RX 9070 XT, which costs roughly €750 locally compared with around €1,100 for an RTX 5070 Ti. I could upgrade the CPU to a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, but it costs about €350 here, while a Ryzen 7 7800X3D is around €230. I'm also concerned that my motherboard's weak VRMs may not handle the 5800X3D properly, and I would need a new power supply either way.
Would it make more sense to sell the current system and move to AM5, or should I keep the motherboard and upgrade within AM4? I'm happy to buy used parts and want to avoid spending heavily on an upgrade that will quickly become a dead end.
4 Answers
Since you’re already worried about the motherboard and would need a new PSU, AM5 is probably the cleaner long-term choice. A 7800X3D paired with the 9070 XT should be a strong value combination for 1440p, 4K/60, and VR. Add 32GB of DDR5, a decent B-series board, and an 850W-or-better quality PSU. You could sell the existing machine as a complete system to offset some of the cost, while keeping your storage if you prefer.
There is still a case for keeping AM4 if you can find a reasonably priced 5800X3D or 5700X3D, but €350 for the 5800X3D makes that upgrade poor value. Your B450 board and 550W PSU also make the supposedly cheaper route less attractive, since you’d be stretching both components. At that point, selling the old platform and moving to AM5 avoids spending money on a temporary solution.
The 9070 XT sounds like the sensible GPU for your targets if you don’t specifically need Nvidia features or strong CUDA support. The 5070 Ti is difficult to justify at that price difference, and a 5090 would be unnecessary unless you truly want maximum settings and are comfortable paying a huge premium. For gaming, the 7800X3D—or a newer X3D chip if priced competitively—would be a better investment than putting money into an expensive 5800X3D.
If VR and demanding 4K visuals are the highest priorities, Nvidia can offer advantages through its features and available VRAM, but the price premium is substantial. For your stated value-focused goals, the 9070 XT should be enough, especially if you’re willing to adjust a few settings or use upscaling. A 5090 would provide more headroom, but it sounds like you’d be paying for performance you don’t actually need.
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