I built my current PC about three years ago and will be traveling through the US in November. Since components are often cheaper there, I'm considering buying upgrades from retailers such as Micro Center and bringing them home in my carry-on luggage. My current system has a Ryzen 5 5600 with its stock cooler, an MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB, an MSI PRO B550-VC motherboard, 16GB of DDR4-3600 memory, a 1TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe SSD, an EVGA SuperNOVA 850W Gold PSU, and a Cooler Master TD500 case with six 120mm fans. I play at 3440×1440 and 175Hz on an OLED ultrawide monitor, mostly AAA games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy XV, and Assassin's Creed. I prioritize high image quality, consistent frame times, and good 1% lows over chasing the highest possible FPS. I'm comfortable with roughly 60–70+ FPS and prefer native resolution or high-quality upscaling rather than relying heavily on frame generation. Ray tracing is optional rather than essential.
I'm considering a Radeon RX 9070 XT, but I'm unsure whether to keep AM4 or move to AM5 while I have access to US pricing. The options are to keep the Ryzen 5 5600 and upgrade only the GPU and memory, upgrade the AM4 system with 32GB of DDR4 and a 5700X3D, 5800X3D, or possibly a discounted 5600X3D, or buy an AM5 CPU, motherboard, and 32GB of DDR5 through a bundle. I'll need to transport any new parts by plane, so avoiding unnecessary motherboard or platform changes would be helpful. What would be the best upgrade order, and where would you stop investing in AM4?
3 Answers
An AM5 bundle makes sense if Micro Center has a strong discount and you can sell or repurpose the existing CPU, motherboard, and memory. A 32GB bundle with a capable Ryzen 7 processor would provide a longer upgrade path, but it also adds cost, luggage risk, and another motherboard replacement. For your mostly GPU-heavy games, that money may be better spent on the graphics card. I’d choose AM5 only if the bundle is close in price to a high-end AM4 CPU plus DDR4 and you specifically want future CPU upgrades.
You don’t need to rush at all. The 6700 XT is still usable at 3440×1440 with sensible settings and upscaling, so keeping the current system is also a valid option if US pricing isn’t compelling. If you do upgrade, the practical stopping point is 32GB DDR4 plus the best GPU deal you can find, followed by an X3D AM4 processor only when its price is clearly better than moving to AM5. The existing B550 platform has PCIe 4.0 support, and the 850W power supply should be suitable for this class of GPU.
A final AM4 upgrade is a very sensible middle ground. Keep the B550 board and 850W PSU, add a matched 2×16GB DDR4-3600 kit, and look for a reasonably priced X3D processor. A 5700X3D or 5800X3D would give the system much stronger minimums and let you keep it for several more years. If the 5600X3D is genuinely available around $180, it could be especially attractive for gaming, since at ultrawide 1440p its performance should be close enough to the higher-core-count X3D parts in many GPU-limited games.
I’d buy the GPU first and only add the X3D chip if the price is good. The 5600 won’t automatically bottleneck a 9070 XT at this resolution; the result depends heavily on the game, settings, and frame-rate target.