What CPU upgrade makes sense for a Ryzen 5 5600X and RTX 4080 Super?

There are also community-made performance and stutter fixes for Zero Company that may be worth trying while the game is being optimized. Since changing from ultra to 1080p does not affect your FPS, the issue is probably CPU-side, engine-side, or a frame cap rather than the 4080 Super lacking graphics power.

This game appears to have optimization problems, and people with much newer X3D processors are reporting similar performance issues. A CPU upgrade may help, but it might not completely fix a hard 50 FPS limit. I’d troubleshoot temperatures, background processes, drivers, frame caps, and RAM usage before spending money.

If you want to keep your current AM4 motherboard and RAM, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D or 5800X3D is the obvious upgrade. The 5800X3D is the fastest option for AM4, but the 5700X3D is often better value if you can find one. Make sure your motherboard supports it and update the BIOS first.

If you’re ready for a complete platform upgrade, moving to AM5 with a Ryzen 5 7600X or Ryzen 7 7700, a B650 motherboard, and 32GB of DDR5 can offer better long-term value than paying a premium for a 5800X3D. You can recover some of the cost by selling the 5600X, motherboard, and DDR4 RAM. For a simpler and cheaper gaming upgrade, though, the 5700X3D is probably the practical choice.

Before buying anything, verify the bottleneck with an overlay such as MSI Afterburner and RTSS. Check per-core CPU usage, GPU utilization, temperatures, clocks, and RAM usage while playing. A CPU bottleneck does not always mean total CPU usage will show 100%, and poor optimization or thermal throttling could also explain the low FPS.