I’ve been watching AMD 7000 and Intel 13th gen from the usual suspects Wendel, GamersNexus, HardwareUnboxed, Paulshardware, LTT. My goal is to squeeze more performance on my 3080. I usually game on my 4k 43" monitor on 1080p windowed.
My choices are
5800x3d only
5800x3d + b550 board because of PCI-e 4.0 (but i doubt it will make a huge impact in FPS)
Intel 13600k on a DDR4 Z690
7700x with b650 and shiny new DDR5
if you have a 1000 usd strict budget what would you do?
First off, I wouldn’t move towards neither 7700X nor 13600K.
5800x3D is your best option.
You have 3080, which isn’t dependent on PCIe generation that much if at all, so just dropping the 5800x3D is the best option for your money. Also hello socket compatibility for 5 years.
To be perfectly clear, 13600K is roughly 20-25% faster in games than 3600, and barely 10% faster than 5800x3D, but if it was me I would not replace the board and ram and stuff. I would just drop the 5800x3D in the board and be done with it.
I would go with the 5900X over the 5800X3D - the 5800X3D is marginally better at gaming. Anyway, here are your options laid out:
Option
Price
Comments
5900X
$389
Cheapest alternative, best overall AM4 bang/buck
800X3D
$399
Best gaming AM4 bang/buck
MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI
$119
Awesome thermals and features for the price
Gigabyte Aorus B550 Master
$259
Most priceworthy premium B550 board with godlike temps
So far, we’re down by $500-$650. What about two brand new core systems? Do we go down the Intel path and reuse RAM, or do we jump on top of B and get RAM+CPU+Motherboard? Let’s see here:
Part
Model
Price
CPU
Intel i5 13600KF
$309
Motherboard
MSI PRO Z690-A
$189
Total
$499
Alternatively, a brand new AM5 core looks something like this with (more or less) quality parts:
Given your options and no information to go on, I’d go with the 13600KF over the AM4 upgrades - it’s just $100 extra for a massive core upgrade. HOWEVER, what is your game plan the next 5 years? Are you doing any upgrades?
If you plan on upgrading your system before 2025, you would need to upgrade to DDR5 and a new motherboard if skipping AM5. That is $250 extra no matter which way you slice it. LGA1700 will not get a refresh. AM4 will not get a refresh. You will be maxed out on those platforms, or close enough.
AM5 could potentially save you a bunch of money by upgrading to Zen 5+ (quite possibly Zen 6) by 2025 and is the platform to go for if you intend to do gradual upgrades during the life of your computer.
Now, anything could happen and it is quite possible Zen 6 turns out to be a steaming pile of hot garbage. But if it’s even halfway decent, AM5 could be the way to go by then.
On the other hand, AM5 is very expensive right now so if you do not plan on upgrading, 13600K is the better option to buy today and then stick it out to 2026.
5800X3D makes the most sense out of all these options, although tbh, it’s kinda a pretty bad move unless you reaaaaally need that CPU power, which from what you’re saying you don’t
@Zszywany thanks for the reminder. I will look into this.
@wertigon thanks for the detailed comparison. As for how long do i intend to keep the system definitely I will skip RTX 4000 series I will maybe upgrade my GPU in 2024.
@stratego hmmm tbh its more of a want than a need. i was thinking if i get a better cpu the occasional stuttering on some of the games i play most recently cyberpunk 2077 (it could be the game is still bad)
@GoldenAngel1997 the latest agesa for both msi b450m mortar and the b550 is 1.2.0.7
This, most bang for the buck! Only other option I would consider is a 5900x IF the extra cores are more useful to you than the extra cache.
Also, what ram do you have? If its slower than 3600 or CAS is higher than 18 I would upgrade your ram too. DDR4 wont get much cheaper than it is now so by something like 2x 16gb PC3600 CAS 16.
It’s more of a triangle of luck, you need to have CPU, motherboard, RAM and PSU that like each other to get a higher frequency, just because you can’t get there with your current CPU doesn’t mean you couldn’t with another, at the same time I couldn’t justify the money waste just to get that fractional performance increase if you’re thinking about motherboard change purely for that, if you have a friend with a DDR4 platform where RAM can be OC’d you could try your RAM in their system, there’s a good chance you’d see different results.
As you have slower memory, the extra cache in the 5800X3D will help tremendously. Some games still struggle with two CCDs. I’d definitely go with the 5800X3D over the 5900X for gaming.
Luckily memory speed actually doesn’t matter for the 3D since it’s l3 hit rate is so high
Fast memory does little for the 3D, as mentioned earlier single cc’d will perform better in games
