I'm looking to upgrade my prebuilt PC mainly for better gaming performance. It currently has a Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB of DDR4-2666 memory, an RTX 3060 Ti, an MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX motherboard, and a 650W power supply. I play at 1080p, and the graphics card seems to perform well enough in GPU-heavy games. However, in CPU-intensive games my GPU usage can stay below 40%, so I suspect the processor may be holding things back. What would be the best upgrade path with a budget of around £400–£500?
3 Answers
You should also consider replacing the 16GB of slow memory with a 32GB kit, ideally DDR4-3200 or DDR4-3600 with reasonable timings. It may not transform average FPS by itself, but it can improve frame-time consistency and prevent memory shortages in newer games. A sensible plan would be a 5700X3D plus 32GB of DDR4, while keeping the 3060 Ti and 650W power supply. Only move to a new motherboard and platform if you are prepared to replace the CPU and memory too; otherwise, the AM4 upgrade is better value.
Your motherboard can support a significantly faster AM4 processor, so upgrading the CPU would let you keep the rest of the platform. A Ryzen 7 5700X3D would be an especially strong gaming upgrade, assuming your BIOS is updated first. The 5800X3D is also compatible, but it is usually only worth considering if you find one at a good price. Make sure the cooler is adequate and check the board’s CPU support list.
Check your CPU and GPU usage while playing the games that feel slow. If the GPU is sitting below full utilization while one or more CPU cores are maxed out, the processor is probably the limitation. Based on what you described, a CPU upgrade is likely to help more than replacing the graphics card.
That seems to match what I’m seeing: CPU-heavy games keep the GPU around 40%, while the GPU performs fine in more graphically demanding games.
Would replacing the motherboard improve performance as well, or would it mainly be necessary for moving to a newer CPU platform?