I bought a prebuilt gaming PC in September 2024 before I knew much about PC hardware. It has served me well, but newer games such as Resident Evil Requiem are starting to push it harder. I recently upgraded from a 75Hz display to a 260Hz QHD monitor, although I mainly play single-player survival horror games and RPGs rather than competitive multiplayer titles. My current system has a Ryzen 5 5500 and a GeForce RTX 4060 8GB. I'm considering a Ryzen 7 5700X and either an RTX 5070 12GB or RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Since I can only afford one major upgrade at a time, should I replace the GPU or CPU first? Are these components sensible choices for smooth 1440p gaming with high visual quality, or should I consider other options in the same general price range?
2 Answers
The GPU should generally be your first upgrade here. At 1440p, especially with modern games and higher graphics settings, the RTX 4060 is more likely to be the limiting component than the Ryzen 5 5500. A stronger card would provide a much larger improvement in image quality and frame rates. It’s also worth checking AMD options, since cards such as the RX 9070 GRE, RX 9070, or RX 9070 XT may offer better performance for the money than comparable Nvidia models.
Upgrade the GPU first in most cases. The Ryzen 5 5500 is not ideal for very high frame rates, but for the single-player games you described at 1440p, it should be adequate for now. A new GPU will have the biggest impact on graphics settings and smoothness. You can move to a stronger AM4 processor later if you notice CPU-limited performance or poor frame-time consistency.
I was worried that a new GPU might be wasted if the CPU couldn’t keep up, but it sounds like the 5500 should be fine as a temporary pairing for my type of games.
That’s helpful. I hadn’t really considered AMD because I’m more familiar with Nvidia, but the RX 9070 GRE looks like it could fit my budget, so I’ll compare those options properly.