I upgraded from a Ryzen 5 3600 to a Ryzen 7 5700X, and from an RTX 2060 to an RX 9070 XT. I also went from 16GB to 32GB of RAM and replaced my 450W power supply with an 850W Gold unit.
A friend says I should have gone with AM5, but that was outside my budget. What am I missing by staying on AM4?
No, not for an upgrade from an existing AM4 system. Moving to AM5 would also mean buying a new motherboard and DDR5 memory, so the CPU price alone wouldn't tell the whole story.
AM5 is a reasonable choice for a new build if the budget allows, partly because it offers a newer platform with more room for future CPU upgrades. Reusing AM4 hardware can make more sense when that money can go toward the graphics card and other parts instead.
The main tradeoff is CPU performance. Some AM5 processors are faster than the 5700X, and that can show up in minimum frame rates as well as averages. How much you notice depends on the game and settings, so it doesn't automatically make your upgrade a bad choice.
The RX 9070 XT is a big step up from the RTX 2060. If a game isn't running as smoothly as you'd like, check whether the CPU or GPU is limiting performance before spending more.
If gaming performance is the priority, a Ryzen 7 5800X3D is another AM4 option worth considering alongside that graphics card. But compare its price with the 5700X and the games you actually play. You don't have to replace a new CPU just because there's a faster one for the socket.
Budget decides this one for me. An AM5 build might be faster, but that comparison isn't very useful if the motherboard, memory and processor together cost more than you can spend. Your upgrades address the graphics card, memory and power supply too, not just the CPU.
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MAYBE.archive:
That helps. I wasn't clear on why the platform change would add so much to the cost.