I'm based in Italy and have a budget of around 500-600€ for a CPU and motherboard to pair with my RTX 5070. The 7800X3D is priced at approximately 400€, and the B650 motherboard is around 160€. On the other hand, the 9700X costs about 320€, and the X870 motherboard is around 250€, making both setups roughly equal in total expense. I can't afford the 9800X3D since it's listed at 550€. My main question is, does the 3D cache of the 7800X3D really provide better performance than a higher-end motherboard with a 9000-series CPU? Or should I consider other CPU/motherboard combinations?
5 Answers
You could go for the 7800X3D with a B850 board. This way, if you decide to upgrade to a 9000 series CPU later, you won't have to worry about BIOS updates since the board will support it. Check out this build [here](https://it.pcpartpicker.com/list/wzjH3w)!
Absolutely, the 7800X3D will generally give you better performance. The motherboard's impact on your performance is minimal in most cases - as long as it handles your RAM speed and stability, you should be fine. Going from PCIe 5 to 4 usually only drops performance by about 1%.
Honestly, the B650 will do just fine for your setup.
Think about whether you'll actually need the X870's features over the next five years, like Wi-Fi 7 or PCI-E 5. If the answer is no, stick with the cheaper B650. For gaming, the GPU plays a crucial role, with the 7800X3D being a better choice for more demanding titles, but the 9700X should still serve you well in most cases.
In my opinion, if you're not planning to upgrade your motherboard frequently, the B650 is the better choice. The X870 likely won’t offer much benefit for your needs right now, plus it’s pricier for features you might not need.
Yeah, but how tough is it really to update the BIOS anyway?