I'm planning to upgrade from a Ryzen 7 5700G and 16GB of DDR4 before component prices increase again. I'm currently using a Radeon RX 9070 XT and am considering these three bundles: a Ryzen 7 9800X3D with a Gigabyte B850 Gaming X WiFi6E motherboard, a Ryzen 7 9850X3D with an ASUS B850-E TUF Gaming WiFi motherboard, or a Ryzen 7 9850X3D with an MSI X870E-P motherboard. All include 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory. Which bundle offers the best value and performance? I don't want to choose based on specifications I won't actually use.
4 Answers
The main reason to favor the newer AM5 bundles is the upgrade path. If you want to keep the motherboard and install a future CPU later, choose the bundle with the board you’d actually be comfortable upgrading on. Otherwise, the 9800X3D with the less expensive B850 board is the straightforward choice.
Go with the 9800X3D unless you have a specific need for the X870E motherboard. The higher-end board mainly makes sense if you need extra PCIe lanes, more connectivity, or features such as additional high-speed USB ports. Otherwise, it won’t noticeably improve gaming performance.
You may also want to consider a 7800X3D bundle if it’s available at a much lower price. At 1440p with a 9070 XT, the difference is usually only a few frames per second, and the 7800X3D should not hold back this graphics card in most games. That could leave more money for storage or other upgrades.
The 9800X3D bundle should be plenty. The real-world gaming difference between it and the 9850X3D is very small, so the cheaper option is likely the better value. I’d only choose the second bundle if you specifically preferred that ASUS board or needed one of its features.
The 9850X3D doesn’t seem to add much gaming performance over the 9800X3D—probably only a few percent in most situations—so it’s difficult to justify paying much more for it.