Hello!
I’m new here and I could use some expert opinions on my next upgrade decision.
I’m currently running an AMD R5 5600x (overclocked by +200Mhz via PBO and also undervolted) on an MSI B550m Mortar WiFi.
Originally I wanted to upgrade my GPU and the CPU together - the GPU being whatever NVidia or AMD might bring to the market soon (Something in the 5070 range, maybe 5080 or a 4070 TI Super on sale) and my CPU to an R7 5800x3D so that the CPU doesn’t become the new bottleneck.
Unfortunately I can’t get the 5800x3D for a decent price anymore which only leaves the 5700x3D on the table as a potential CPU upgrade. I wonder if the upgrade will be worth it, though - I mean, I know that the X3D gets it’s gaming performance mostly from its increased cache size and it has an extra core but it’s also boosts 700Mhz less than my overclocked 5600x. So, I’m not sure if it is actually worth the upgrade.
Unfortunately it doesn’t seem that I have much time to decide - now that the 5800x3D is basically out of stock everywhere, the 5700x3D will likely be next, so I have to decide fast.
I’d really appreciate some advice on the matter! Thanks!
Yeah, for sure. I have an RTX 2070 right now and a 1080p 144Hz freesync monitor. I’d like to run games at max settings and get 144Hz as often as possible and when I exceed that I’ll just use Dynamic Super Resolution.
Right now I’m using all the tricks in the book to get somewhat decent image quality + framerates. DLSS at 1080p is a must on almost every game atm to get framerates above 60 and FSR to DLSSG framegen mods on top of that. It’s still holding up but just barely.
The 5700x3D is a solid option if the 5800x3D isn’t available. The extra core and 3D cache will boost gaming performance, especially in CPU-heavy titles, but the lower clock speed compared to your overclocked 5600x means the upgrade might not be huge for other workloads.
If you’re gaming at higher resolutions with a 5070 or 4070 TI, it should help avoid bottlenecks in certain games. If you’re not in a rush, waiting for new models or price drops might be worth considering.
I have gone through this situation before, and as per me, upgrading to the Ryzen 7 5700X3D could still be worthwhile, especially if you’re focused on gaming performance. The extra cores and the increased L3 cache from the 3D V-Cache can provide significant performance gains in gaming and multi-threaded tasks. While it does have a lower boost clock compared to your overclocked R5 5600X, the increased cache typically compensates in gaming workloads, where cache size matters more than clock speed.
If you’re mainly gaming and planning a future GPU upgrade (4070 Ti or similar), the 5700X3D should help avoid bottlenecks. However, if your workloads are more clock speed-sensitive, the boost clock difference may be noticeable, and you might not see as large of a benefit.
Ultimately, if you can grab the 5700X3D at a reasonable price, it’s likely a solid choice to pair with a higher-end GPU for future-proofing your system.
Is your system just for gaming and general productivity or you do other intensive tasks on it?
Since you’re playing at 1080p I’d suggest you getting a 1440p or 3440x1440 display and pair that with a new GPU. This would increase the resolution you’re playing at and reduce the load on the CPU, pushing any CPU upgrade more into the future. I don’t think makes much sense keeping a 1080p display and upgrading the GPU just to play at ultra high details and framerates. Usually if you take the game just a notch down you gain quite a bit of performance without any meaningful picture degradation. And, in my opinion, an higher quality display makes a world of difference all the times.
I never cared that much about resolution and as I mentioned above, if framerates exceed 144FPS I’ll just use DSR to boost image quality. Also, I’m already using a 27" screen at 1080p and it’s just good enough for me to read text clearly. I can’t imagine how small text would be at 1440p on the desktop and then I’d have to use windows scaling and that would introduce some issues elsewhere. I’d probably have to go up to 30" at least for 1440p to have a decent desktop experience and then my second screen wouldn’t match anymore…so, no.
No problem with that, it’s a subjective thing and I was giving you my opinion on the matter having upgraded to a 5800X3D almost three months ago.
If you’d have to use scaling to read the text it wouldn’t be worth. To my eyes moving from 82 to 110DPI looks like it scales the UI to 3/4, if you need a frame of reference. But that’s beside the point. Windows 10 scaling is problematic at fractional values like 125% to my experience. Windows 11 is fine.
To get more on topic: if you’re not heavly invested in AM4, like you got into the platform for a good price and never spent more money upgrading it, I’d say you should hold the upgrade and get on a new platform, AMD or Intel. But, if like me, you spent too much on it (I spent a lot on the motherboard for reasons™ and upgraded from 16GB to 32GB of RAM having to ditch the 16GB) an upgrade to a 5700X3D makes sense and it’s worth doing.
Yeah, not sure if I invested “too” much into the motherboard and RAM and stuff, I’m still very fond of the system overall. Very stable, the motherboard is super easy to work with (overclocking and undervolting was a breeze) and has all the connectivity I need. Also, 170€ is a whole lot less than a complete system upgrade. I’d rather have that money go into the GPU.
My system has always been slightly unbalanced anyway cause I never had enough money for a complete system upgrade - I always picked either CPU (and often MOBO + RAM) or GPU. This time it’s gonna be the GPU as as the main event and the CPU as a smaller upgrade on the side to keep up with it.
Btw, fun fact - this system is actually still the original AMD K6-200, just “slightly” upgraded over time - never bought a new PC - always kept upgrading till nothing was left of the original.
If it’s stable and works well I wouldn’t touch it. Put everything into the GPU and get a much bigger uplift with a new platform. Things are progressing really quickly so you might be spending 170€ now and see maybe a 9800X3D be out so soon that it might make less worth upgrading to a 5700X3D.
All the comparisons you see on the internet are stock against stock with 4090s and gains per generation with GPUs is getting smaller and smaller. A 5080 might not be as fast as a 4090. Last but not least not all games like the cache so check out if the games you like playing make good use of it or not.
Ideally I’d want this platform to last for another 3 years. By that I mean that I can crank up the settings to the max at 1080p and get at least above 60FPS, or ideally even 90FPS+
I like the 1080p high refresh for power conservation. During the day I play at high fps and at night I can set the refresh rate down and conserve battery power. For 3 more years on a platform, upgrading the gpu seems like the way to go. In 3 years, upgrade to pci gen 5. Give the graphics card a small boost in addition to upgrade to a 9800X3D.
Your CPU won’t be a limitation when cranking up settings in the next 3 years. Especially if you play AAA titles maxed out.
If you play e-sports titles that’s a whole other story.
I just went ahead and looked for a used 5800x3D instead. Got one for 266€ shortly after. That’s pretty much the price I was willing to pay for a CPU upgrade so I’m quite happy about that.
I wonder how things like Dosbox or some other old CPU heavy applications and games gonna behave compared to the higher clocked 5600x. Some of the older non accelerated 3D games can be pretty hard to run even on modern CPUs.
I was also never able to get some old badly optimized Unity games reliably above 60 FPS, like Satellite Reign. My world doesn’t depend on it but I wonder if this is gonna be the CPU that finally manages to push it over the edge. Might also run worse - anyway, it’s gonna be interesting to see.
CPU came today but had a couple of bend pins. Luckily I was able to straighten them out and get the CPU working without issues.
I was pleasently surprised to already see some performance improvements despite my RTX 2070 being a clear bottleneck - with the previous 5600x as well as the current 5800x3D.
As for the accurset Satellite Reign… it finally did it - it cracked the 60FPS even in the worst places. Still runs like buttcheeks in comparison to well optimized games cause the frametimes are pretty bad but I cracked the barrier…for 9 year old game…that has to count for something, right?
A used GPU is probably a juicy upgrade as well if your PSU supports it - buying new right now is at higher risk for taking sharp depreciation as soon as next gen comes out of embargo. Plus, your 2070 is still working so you have plenty of time to casually hunt for a big used upgrade. Going from a 2070 to something like a RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT for less than $400 used is a hell of a better deal than taking the full hit on a new one. Best of luck!
I kinda mentally settled for an RTX 4070 TI Super cause it’s currently the only Nvidia 16GB card my 650Watt Gold PSU can handle. I definitely want something from NVidia for several reasons and 16 gigs on top of that. I’m waiting for a sale, though. If a decent card goes down to 700-750€ I’d likely pull the trigger. The cheapest right now is 799€ and that is just not quite good enough.
Chances are more than good that Blackwell will offer you superior performance for that price point, if you’re patient. If you’re unwilling to consider options other than NVidia I wouldn’t hold my breath for a sale - it’s not really in Jensen Playbook.
