My lads Gaming machine - Processor upgrade ?

[blackscooby]

Hi,

Probably a similar theme to this time last year, but this year it's processor and not GPU.
This is the spec of my lads gaming box. I don't think it's bad, but the processor is a bit old.
Short of starting again with a new Gaming Machine (I'd rather no do as the prices are mental nowadays)

What are anyones thoughts of upgrading what we have with a newer Ryzen 7 CPU ?
Would that give a performance improvement ?
Is it even possible with our motherboard ?

PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready
48GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB) + a set of additional memory
ASUS PRIME NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 OC 12GB
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
2TB additional M.2
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRAQUIET

He's going on about his CPU isn't good enough any more. Compared to anything I have it flies, but then I'm not chasing performance and fps !

Thanks
BS

[Griffith4ever]

5700x3d seems to be a common upgrade. Might want to check with him WHICH games are getting CPU bottlenecked - his 5070 is a nice card.

Only game I have that hugely benefitted from a CPU upgrade is Star Citizen.

[Type R Tom]

Have a play around with this

https://pc-builds.com/bottleneck-calculator/result...

Bottlenecking comes down to a few different elements, including resolution and FPS you want and monitor can take.

Also some people want as fast FPS for completive gaming at 1080 are less concerned about it when at 4k on story based games.

[craigjm]

The CPU is holding the graphics card back when it comes to intensive frame rate stuff. You should consider updating the CPU to something like AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D or Ryzen 7 5800X3D which will allow you to keep your current board. What is the "set of additional memory"?

[blackscooby]

Thanks for the suggestions about the 5700 3d, anyone know whether it will work with the Motherboard ?
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS

I've ordered a few sets of memory of the years for various family members.. I think it was this that was fitted.
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 3200MHz CL16

Thanks
BS

[blackscooby]

blackscooby said:

Thanks for the suggestions about the 5700 3d, anyone know whether it will work with the Motherboard ?
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS

BS

craigjm apologies - I missed your rather pertinent comment about the MB ! Fab, saves a job and a half !

[Griffith4ever]

https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/mothe...


I'm nto one to harp on about google, but honestly, "ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS supported cpus" :-)

[blackscooby]

Griffith4ever said:

https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/mothe...


I'm nto one to harp on about google, but honestly, "ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS supported cpus" :-)

Most things I believe, but you can't beat asking as well. I couldn't cope with the stress of finding it's not compatible on an important annual event !

[Griffith4ever]

blackscooby said:

Griffith4ever said:

https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/mothe...


I'm nto one to harp on about google, but honestly, "ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS supported cpus" :-)

Most things I believe, but you can't beat asking as well. I couldn't cope with the stress of finding it's not compatible on an important annual event !

Indeed - but we have to take the same leap of faith as you do ;-)

FYI - Im' finding AI (google's for the most part) really helpful with tech stuff like this. At the end of teh day all its doing is condensing the internet into a single answer. I was a bit resistive at 1st, but I use it a lot now.

[AlexC1981]

Griffith4ever said:

Indeed - but we have to take the same leap of faith as you do ;-)

FYI - Im' finding AI (google's for the most part) really helpful with tech stuff like this. At the end of teh day all its doing is condensing the internet into a single answer. I was a bit resistive at 1st, but I use it a lot now.

Make sure you update the BIOS before putting in the new CPU.

Edit, oops quoted wrong person

[craigjm]

Griffith4ever said:

FYI - Im' finding AI (google's for the most part) really helpful with tech stuff like this. At the end of teh day all its doing is condensing the internet into a single answer. I was a bit resistive at 1st, but I use it a lot now.

To be fair Google Gemini could pretty much close down this forum when it comes to asking about what causes issues, what to do in a set situation, comparison on products, an overview of the opinion on the internet about x subject etc etc and then all we would be left with is the leftists fighting the nazis in NP&E and people arguing over why car x is better than car y in general gassing

[biggiles]

craigjm said:

Griffith4ever said:

FYI - Im' finding AI (google's for the most part) really helpful with tech stuff like this. At the end of teh day all its doing is condensing the internet into a single answer. I was a bit resistive at 1st, but I use it a lot now.

To be fair Google Gemini could pretty much close down this forum when it comes to asking about what causes issues, what to do in a set situation, comparison on products, an overview of the opinion on the internet about x subject etc etc and then all we would be left with is the leftists fighting the nazis in NP&E and people arguing over why car x is better than car y in general gassing

Well, putting "site:www.pistonheads.com" into Google gets rid of 95% of idle questions anyway - this is one of the few forums I trust to have sensible people generally saying sensible things, even post TVR. I suspect the AI bots trawl this forum pretty frequently.

OP: what is the real bottleneck? IMHO, I believe few gamers on modern PCs hit real bottlenecks.

[blackscooby]

AlexC1981 said:

Griffith4ever said:

Indeed - but we have to take the same leap of faith as you do ;-)

FYI - Im' finding AI (google's for the most part) really helpful with tech stuff like this. At the end of teh day all its doing is condensing the internet into a single answer. I was a bit resistive at 1st, but I use it a lot now.

Make sure you update the BIOS before putting in the new CPU.

Edit, oops quoted wrong person

Noted - thank you. I need to check the BIOS that is currently being used. I think we updated it last year when new memory was fitted.

[blackscooby]

I can't see any downside for getting a
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and not an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D.





It's listed on the Motherboard acceptable list.

Reviews are a little mixed with heat being an issue.

CPU benchmark is much higher.


Turned into a bit of a personal question and answer session, CPU score vs gaming usability.
Google says the gaming is better on the X3D chip, vs heavy processing on the R9 chip.
Currently 5800X3D winning.

Can't smell for soffee

Edited by blackscooby on Tuesday 11th August 15:58

[Harpoon]

Worth checking if you'd need a PSU upgrade as well. A 650W PSU could be tight with a 5070 and a more powerful CPU.

[craigjm]

Harpoon said:

Worth checking if you'd need a PSU upgrade as well. A 650W PSU could be tight with a 5070 and a more powerful CPU.

Yes you would really want a 750 or a 850 for a bit more future proofing. If money allows may also want to upgrade the SSD to a Gen 4 as the read write speed may be slowing things too

[blackscooby]

craigjm said:

Harpoon said:

Worth checking if you'd need a PSU upgrade as well. A 650W PSU could be tight with a 5070 and a more powerful CPU.

Yes you would really want a 750 or a 850 for a bit more future proofing. If money allows may also want to upgrade the SSD to a Gen 4 as the read write speed may be slowing things too

Reading the specs the 5800X3D (105W) is +10w over the existing Ryzen 5 3600X (95W) so not too bad.

[MissChief]

blackscooby said:

I can't see any downside for getting a AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and not an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D. It's listed on the Motherboard acceptable list.Reviews are a little mixed with heat being an issue.CPU benchmark is much higher. Turned into a bit of a personal question and answer session, CPU score vs gaming usability.Google says the gaming is better on the X3D chip, vs heavy processing on the R9 chip.Currently 5800X3D winning.

Can't smell for soffee

Edited by blackscooby on Tuesday 11th August 15:58

Games absolutely adore the extended L1 Cache on the X3D chips compared to the 5950x. While many games these days do use multiple cores the 5800X3D is still the faster gaming chip due to the larger cache.

[craigjm]

blackscooby said:

craigjm said:

Harpoon said:

Worth checking if you'd need a PSU upgrade as well. A 650W PSU could be tight with a 5070 and a more powerful CPU.

Yes you would really want a 750 or a 850 for a bit more future proofing. If money allows may also want to upgrade the SSD to a Gen 4 as the read write speed may be slowing things too

Reading the specs the 5800X3D (105W) is +10w over the existing Ryzen 5 3600X (95W) so not too bad.

Yeah agreed its not essential, The CPU is the essential bit but combined with the graphics card and other bits a 750 would give you more headroom. Its all about how much you have to spend I guess.

[mmm-five]

If you don't want to spend £300 on a 10th Anniversary release of the 5800X3D, then the only very slightly slower 5700X3D is £100 cheaper.

On average the 5700X3D is about 6% slower overall at 1080p/1440p (with range of 3-10% depending on the game) - and all of that is down to the lower boost frequency - but also means it probably uses less power and requires less cooling...

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 11th August 16:58