I'm currently using an RTX 3090 with a Ryzen 5 2600X on a B550 motherboard, mainly gaming at 1440p. I'd like to stay on AM4 because moving to AM5 would also require buying DDR5 memory, which is outside my budget right now. In Australia, I can potentially find a used Ryzen 7 5700X or 5800X for around 200–250 AUD, or a Ryzen 9 5900X for roughly 400 AUD. A new Ryzen 7 5800X3D costs about 549 AUD. Which upgrade offers the best value for gaming and should I prioritize the X3D chip or save money with a cheaper processor?
4 Answers
The right choice depends on whether gaming is your only priority. X3D processors are generally the best fit for gaming, while a 12- or 16-core Ryzen 9 is more appropriate for productivity and video work. At 1440p, the GPU still matters heavily, but the jump from a 2600X to a 5600-class processor should be noticeable, especially in minimum frame rates.
If you only want a straightforward gaming upgrade, a new Ryzen 5 5600 or 5600X is the budget choice and should feel much faster than the 2600X. If you want to maximize the life of the system and can afford it, choose an AM4 X3D processor. Otherwise, look for a 5700X or 5800X at a good used price rather than paying 5900X money for cores most games won’t use.
For gaming, the Ryzen 9 5900X usually isn’t worth the extra money. Its additional cores are useful for productivity, but most games perform similarly on chips like the Ryzen 5 5600, Ryzen 7 5700X, and Ryzen 7 5800X. A Ryzen 5 5600 would already be a major improvement over the 2600X, while the 5800X3D would provide the biggest gaming uplift and the best longevity if you can justify the price.
The 5800X3D is the strongest gaming option on AM4, but the regular 5800X is also perfectly capable at 1440p and generally performs close to the 5900X in games. The 5900X only makes more sense if you also do heavily threaded work such as rendering, compiling, or video editing. A 5700X under 300 AUD is probably the best balance of price, performance, and lower power consumption.
The hard part is finding a reasonably priced used 5800X3D. Spending around 500 AUD on an older platform feels difficult, even though it would likely last longer for gaming.
I found a used Ryzen 5 5600X for about 140 AUD. Would that be a sensible deal?