Build Advice 5600X, 7700X, 13600K... help me choose the CPU for my system

[Jussinen]

Hi

I'm planning to build myself a new PC (or rather have someone else build it for me) possibly this April. I'm willing to pay around 1800-2200 € for the components. But the less that it costs the better, of course. Otherwise 2200 € PC would be a no-brainer. I'll buy all the parts from Jimm's.fi, Finland.

CPU is puzzling me here and that's where I need your help people. I'm not asking for any tips on how to choose the rest of my components. I'm fairly confident that I can pick the best offers for the rest of the components when the time comes to purchase them. However, if you notice a bad motherboard with lots of issues, do let me know.

I was first thinking of going with the 7700X. There's a good bundle with 7700X and MSI B650 Tomahawk motherboard, which has just about everything that I want. However, after I made this decision, I accidentally came upon these Reddit threads where people have complained about some issues with 7700X in particular:

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/MSI_Gaming/comments/zkjqak/need_help_troubleshooting_msi_b650_tomahawk_ryzen/


And then there are these several threads and reviews where it is said that 7700X and all of the 7000-series run insanely hot (over 90 degrees celsius). So... should I avoid them?

5600X would also suit my needs just fine, but that platform doesn't really enable any future upgrades. Perhaps a GPU upgrade to something a little better if I also upgrade my CPU to 5800X3D but that sounds a bit like waste of money. And when I eventually do have to upgrade to a whole new generation of CPUs, I need to replace my RAM and motherboard too. At least in theory 7700X does have an upgrade path and the DDR5 should be good enough for many years.

And then there's of course the 13600K. It's just that JImm's.fi has a terrible selection of motherboards for it. At least DDR5 motherboards. And again there's no upgrade path for it's motherboard, unlike B650 (AM5). Then again, CPU usually lasts just fine for many years so I'd probably not benefit from AM5's upgrade path as I would probably just skip those next generation Ryzen CPUs anyway. 13600K is the most expensive out of the trio and its motherboards are at least as expensive as B650s.

But if 13600K is much more reliable than 7700X, then I'm willing to seriously think about purchasing it. What are your thoughts? Is 7700X better than its reputation? Is there something bad about 13600K that I don't know about?

I list the parts below for the 5600X and 7700X builds that I were thinking, just to give some idea of what I'm after anyway.

5600X

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor (€199.90 @ Jimm's)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler (€77.90 @ Jimm's)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE AX V2 ATX AM4 Motherboard (€199.90 @ Jimm's)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory (€72.00 @ Jimm's)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€53.00 @ Jimm's)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€89.90 @ Jimm's)
Video Card: PowerColor Red Dragon OC Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB Video Card (€669.90 @ Jimm's)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (€129.90 @ Jimm's)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€182.90 @ Jimm's)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit (€135.00 @ Jimm's)
Total: €1810.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-15 13:14 EET+0200

7700X

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor (€399.90 @ Jimm's)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler (€77.90 @ Jimm's)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€289.90 @ Jimm's)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory (€165.00 @ Jimm's)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€53.00 @ Jimm's)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€89.90 @ Jimm's)
Video Card: PowerColor Red Dragon OC Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB Video Card (€669.90 @ Jimm's)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (€129.90 @ Jimm's)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€182.90 @ Jimm's)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit (€135.00 @ Jimm's)
Total: €2093.30 (including bundle discount for CPU and motherboard).
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-15 13:16 EET+0200

13600K

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor (€369.90 @ Jimm's)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler (€77.90 @ Jimm's)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690 AORUS PRO ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€299.90 @ Jimm's)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL28 Memory (€170.00 @ Jimm's)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€53.00 @ Jimm's)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€89.90 @ Jimm's)
Video Card: PowerColor Red Dragon OC Radeon RX 6800 XT 16 GB Video Card (€669.90 @ Jimm's)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (€129.90 @ Jimm's)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€182.90 @ Jimm's)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit (€135.00 @ Jimm's)
Total: €2178.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-15 18:15 EET+0200

 

[Eximo]

Can't really recommend a new build with the 5600X, unless you were on a tight budget. Maybe the 5800X3D if you already had an AM4 board.

Ryzen 7000 series is designed to run hot. That gives you the maximum boost clocks possible. You can always turn that off by putting the CPU into eco mode. You could also wait until April for the 7800X3d, should be better for gaming and it won't be able to run as hot.

Intel chips use a lot of power, and also run hot. Even the 13600k has a boost TDP of 181W, stock. Though I would maybe opt for the 13700k for a bit more longevity. Last of the LGA1700 CPUs, so there won't be any upgrades options.

I don't see any reason for a boot/OS SSD these days. Just grab a 2TB PCIe 4.0 drive, save your slots for your next 2 or 4 TB drive in a year or two.

You probably don't want the DVD version of Windows? You can even just download, install, and then buy it online afterwards.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

All impressive gaming systems. Some good choices.

I'd agree with others, the 5600x whilst pretty good (I know, I have one!), is at end of the road. Yes, you could arguably go for the 5800x3d as an upgrade, but I'd prob start with the 5800x3d right now - However, as mentioned no upgrade path really.

That leaves Ryzen 7xxx and Intel 12th/13th gen for DDR 5 system. If you're going to get a new system, then buying somethig DDR4 doesn't make sense.

For AMD, I think the sweet sport for CPU's is 7700x/7800x3d, along with some 6000mt ram on a B650. This will allow you a solid upgrade path if it's anything like AM4. Yet more ongevity with AMD in terms of CPU support for future CPU.s Intel is 2 gen per socket only.

 

[Why_Me]

@Jussinen here's more options. Run either of these setups with a single 2TB SSD. Keep your eyes peeled on sites such as this one for the reviews of the RTX 4070.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/possible-launch-date-of-nvidia-rtx-4070-revealed

https://www.techpowerup.com/305777/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-allegedly-launches-on-april-13

https://datatronic.fi/komponentit/e...g-b650-plus-atx-b650-am5-asus-90mb1by0-m0eay0
ASUS TUF GAMING B650-PLUS €239,90

TUF GAMING B650-PLUS｜Motherboards｜ASUS Global

TUF Gaming series distills essential elements of the latest AMD and Intel® platforms, and combines them with game-ready features and proven durability. Engineered with military-grade components, an upgraded power solution and a comprehensive set of cooling options, this motherboard delivers...

www.asus.com

https://datatronic.fi/komponentit/p...ghz-32-mb-l2-l3-laatikko-amd-100-100000592box
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 €365,00

https://www.amd.com/en/products/apu/amd-ryzen-7-7700

or ...

https://datatronic.fi/komponentit/e...a-1700-mikro-atx-gigabyte-b760-aorus-elite-ax
Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX €251.90

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B760-AORUS-ELITE-AX-rev-10#kf

https://datatronic.fi/komponentit/p...0-mb-smart-cache-laatikko-intel-bx8071513700f
Intel Core i7-13700F €419.00

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-30m-cache-up-to-5-20-ghz/specifications.html

https://datatronic.fi/komponentit/j...miini-musta-1-kpl-deepcool-r-ag620-bknnmn-g-1
DeepCool AG620 Dual Tower CPU Cooler €64.90

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/deepcool-ag620-air-cooler

https://www.deepcool.com/products/C...al-Tower-CPU-Cooler-1700-AM5/2022/15900.shtml

https://datatronic.fi/komponentit/m...-ddr5-6400-mhz-gskill-f5-6400j3239g16gx2-rs5k
G.Skill Ripjaws DDR5 6400 32GB (2x16GB) CL32 €165.90

https://datatronic.fi/komponentit/k...i-express-40-nvme-western-digital-wds200t3x0e
Western Digital Black SN770 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVME SSD €155,90

https://datatronic.fi/komponentit/v...-20-4-pin-atx-atx-musta-seasonic-focus-gx-850
SeaSonic FOCUS GX 850W 80+ Gold Modular ATX Power Supply €154.90

https://fi.pcpartpicker.com/product/QnD7YJ/fractal-design-pop-air-atx-mid-tower-case-fd-c-poa1a-02
Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case €97.90

https://datatronic.fi/tarvikkeet/oh...ndows-11-home-1-lisenssit-microsoft-kw9-00664
Microsoft Windows 11 Home €119,90

Pop Air

Fractal fuse flair with function in the new Pop series of cases that doesn’t skimp on aesthetics or flexibility. The entire series offers a solid foundation and excellent build quality, giving all users plenty of options and room to maneuver.

www.fractal-design.com

 

[Avro Arrow]

I don't know what you mean by reliability when comparing the 13600K and the R7-7700X because reliability has never been an issue with any CPU that I've ever owned, no matter who made it.

I'd say that, right now, the only platform worth investing in as a new build is AM5. AM4 and LGA 1700 are both dead platforms so any money spent on the motherboard and/or DDR4 RAM would be a waste. That disqualifies the R5-5600X and the i5-13600K from the equation right off the bat.

I am curious about one thing though. If two of your options are the i5-13600K and the R5-5600X, why did you choose the R7-7700X over the R5-7600X? For gaming performance, the R5-7600X is a much better value than the R7-7700X. Here's the Tom's Hardware gaming CPU list to consider:

As you can see, at 1080p, the R7-7700X is only 1FPS faster than the R5-7600X across the entire gaming suite. I was puzzled because you were looking at an i5-13600K and an R5-5600X which made the R7-7700X an odd (and overly-expensive) choice.

Jimm's does have the R5-7600X and it's only € 284.90 which is a lot less expensive (€115 less expensive) and so would be a much better choice for what appears to be primarily a gaming build.
Ryzen 5 7600X - €284.90 at Jimm's
Everything else looks pretty good but I think that you're overspending a bit on the motherboard. There's nothing wrong with the MSi Tomahawk so if you like that board, by all means, get it but I think that the ASRock B650 PG Lightning would serve you just as well for less money:
ASRock B650 PG Lightning - €256.00 at Jimm's
The motherboard change isn't exactly vital but I thought that you might consider it to be worth a look. ASRock boards have always been good to me (my last two were ASRock as well as one from about 20 years ago) and they offer great features and value.

I hope that this helps you. Hyvää päivänjatkoa!

 

[GarrettL]

AMD AM5 7770x for longevoty AND it's a good gaming platform.

 

[Jussinen]

Thanks guys for the answers!

Can't really recommend a new build with the 5600X, unless you were on a tight budget. Maybe the 5800X3D if you already had an AM4 board.

You guys are right, 5600X does seem like a bit old CPU for 2023, even though it is still just fine. Especially for my GPU choise.

Ryzen 7000 series is designed to run hot. That gives you the maximum boost clocks possible. You can always turn that off by putting the CPU into eco mode.
Intel chips use a lot of power, and also run hot. Even the 13600k has a boost TDP of 181W, stock. Last of the LGA1700 CPUs, so there won't be any upgrades options.

I know that Ryzen 7700X is supposed to run hot but it still kind of scares me! If it was a 2 year old CPU and people said that it's good, then I'd believe it. But this is exactly why I asked for your help: to prove that my worries are unfounded superstition!
There's the ECO mode and you can run 13600K with a slightly lower speed (which shouldn't have a big impact on performance). According to Gamers Nexus (or was it Kitguru?) 13600K's temps are just fine, around 60-70 C while 7700X runs hot anyway, even on ECO mode. It just worries me, but the reason says that AMD wouldn't make a whole generation of CPUs that have massive thermal issues.

You probably don't want the DVD version of Windows? You can even just download, install, and then buy it online afterwards.

I just picked the first Win11 I saw on the list, without reading any details.

That leaves Ryzen 7xxx and Intel 12th/13th gen for DDR 5 system. If you're going to get a new system, then buying somethig DDR4 doesn't make sense.

Yes. No point in a new DDR4 build unless it's a 5600X build due to a tight budget.

I'd agree with others, the 5600x whilst pretty good (I know, I have one!), is at end of the road. Yes, you could arguably go for the 5800x3d as an upgrade, but I'd prob start with the 5800x3d right now - However, as mentioned no upgrade path really.

Yes and 5800X3D is a very expensive CPU here in Finland. 180 euros more expensive than 5600X and platform cost is getting close to 7600X, just with an old AM4 motherboard and DDR4 RAM.

For AMD, I think the sweet sport for CPU's is 7700x/7800x3d, along with some 6000mt ram on a B650. This will allow you a solid upgrade path if it's anything like AM4. Yet more longevity with AMD in terms of CPU support for future CPU.s Intel is 2 gen per socket only.

7700X has the benefit of an upgrade path, yes. Then again, I would think that 7700X and 13600K are both so good that there would be no reason (for me) to upgrade to next gen Ryzen or 14th gen Intel, so the upgrade path might not be so big deal afterall, unless AM5 is here for years to come.

I am curious about one thing though. If two of your options are the i5-13600K and the R5-5600X, why did you choose the R7-7700X over the R5-7600X? For gaming performance, the R5-7600X is a much better value than the R7-7700X. Here's the Tom's Hardware gaming CPU list to consider:

7600X and B650 Tomahawk WIFI used to cost 575 euros at Jimms.fi. 7700X + B650 Tomahawk WIFI bundle was 590 euros. That's why I chose the latter. But they have now added a bundle offer for 7600X and B650 Tomahawk WIFI for 480 euros and that does change things.

The motherboard change isn't exactly vital but I thought that you might consider it to be worth a look. ASRock boards have always been good to me (my last two were ASRock as well as one from about 20 years ago) and they offer great features and value.

I hope that this helps you. Hyvää päivänjatkoa!

Kiitos ...and I can consider other choises aswell, but B650 Tomahawk WIFI has the WIFI and Bluetooth that I require, supposedly good heatsinks (although AsRock might be just fine too) and ALC4080 Audio Codec which is a bit over-the-top but I would prefer a motherboard with ALC1220 or better audio so that I could plug in my studio headphones directly into PC (and they require at least ALC1220).[/QUOTE]

 

[Avro Arrow]

Kiitos ...and I can consider other choises aswell, but B650 Tomahawk WIFI has the WIFI and Bluetooth that I require, supposedly good heatsinks (although AsRock might be just fine too) and ALC4080 Audio Codec which is a bit over-the-top but I would prefer a motherboard with ALC1220 or better audio so that I could plug in my studio headphones directly into PC (and they require at least ALC1220).

[/QUOTE]
Ole hyvä!

Sure, sure. It's like I said, if you had a reason to want that specific motherboard, then by all means. Sometimes people just choose motherboards because they saw a reviewer using one and so they think that it's something special and I know that Tomahawks get used a lot. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't paying more than you have to because I can see that the prices in Suomi are pretty high compared to here in Canada. I know that you Finns are good people (you love hockey so you can't be bad) and I hate to see good people get fleeced.

Overall though, your build choices look really good and I think that you'll be just fine with what you've shown. I'm glad that Jimm's decided to offer the R5-7600X bundle because I think that it's a much better buy for a gaming build. There's no reason to pay more money for an average of 1FPS in gaming.

You know, back when I was a teenager, I had a girlfriend from Lahti. I used to joke with her that I was going to change my name to Beppo Nuuminen to make per parents like me more (It was just a name I made up based on Finnish hockey player names). Years later, I had the good fortune to meet and hang out with Waldo's People and I told them that story. Marko (Waldo) thought it was hilarious.

 

[Jussinen]

Hehe, cool story for sure! I don't know how big Waldo's People were in Canada but they were popular in Europe I believe! We have many things in common, Canadian and Finns. But I suppose that little pond between us has limited our interaction to mostly just ice hockey

We Finns get fleeced alot. I've been planning this build for couple of months and I've noticed that all the prices are climbing up almost weekly! So I could save a hundred euros by waiting for CPU prices to come down, but I'd probably lose that same money in other parts. Motherboards and PC cases are particularily bad at this. I know that I am overspending on my motherboard by the way, but with the bundle offer it is not that bad at all (basically drops the motherboard price by 100 €).

So I watched a bit more reviews: I already knew that running 13600K on a boost mode increases the power consumption significantly (although not the temperature so much) but doesn't really increase the performance all that much. I also read some reviews where 7600X and 7700X perform rather well on ECO mode and the temperature is much more tolerable aswell. So basically if the ECO mode would have been stock mode and stock mode would've been a boost mode, then it wouldn't have looked so bad compared to 13600K I guess?

I think it feels like we're very close to solving my dilemma.

Also, just how important is AES 256 bit encryption on SSDs? I had forgot that there are PCIE 3.0 and 4.0 SSDs so I had another look on what's available at Jimms.fi and which SSDs are good and recommended. And this encryption-thing came up.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Hehe, cool story for sure! I don't know how big Waldo's People were in Canada but they were popular in Europe I believe! We have many things in common, Canadian and Finns. But I suppose that little pond between us has limited our interaction to mostly just ice hockey

They weren't huge in Canada but they were popular. This was in 1999 and at that time Eurobeat and Eurodance were very popular. Waldo's People, The Real McCoy and Love Inc. were commonly heard on the radio.

We Finns get fleeced alot. I've been planning this build for couple of months and I've noticed that all the prices are climbing up almost weekly!

I believe you. I've actually recommended to some people in the EU that they take a train to Germany to get the parts for less. In some cases, the difference in price is far more than the cost of the return train fare.

So I could save a hundred euros by waiting for CPU prices to come down, but I'd probably lose that same money in other parts. Motherboards and PC cases are particularily bad at this. I know that I am overspending on my motherboard by the way, but with the bundle offer it is not that bad at all (basically drops the motherboard price by 100 €).

You're not overspending if the motherboard and CPU together end up being cheaper than any other combination. You made the right choice.

So I watched a bit more reviews: I already knew that running 13600K on a boost mode increases the power consumption significantly (although not the temperature so much) but doesn't really increase the performance all that much.

I would NEVER recommend a current-gen Intel CPU to anyone in Europe because of the cost of electricity and the difficulty involved in cooling them. You'd be shocked to see how many people come with an i9-13900K come on here because they can't properly benchmark their CPUs without overheating them. The fact that the LGA 1700 socket is a dead platform only solidifies the fact that you shouldn't get it. The only long-term viable platform right now is AM5 and it will be viable for years to come.

I also read some reviews where 7600X and 7700X perform rather well on ECO mode and the temperature is much more tolerable as well. So basically if the ECO mode would have been stock mode and stock mode would've been a boost mode, then it wouldn't have looked so bad compared to 13600K I guess?

My attitude towards Eco Mode is that it should be the default setting. Those high temps were just done because it was the only way to try to beat Intel in review benchmarks. This is because the i5-13600K is essentially just an i5-12600K that's been overclocked to the moon. The power draw and heat do a lot to prove this theory correct.

I think it feels like we're very close to solving my dilemma.

That's what I'm here for.

Also, just how important is AES 256 bit encryption on SSDs? I had forgot that there are PCIE 3.0 and 4.0 SSDs so I had another look on what's available at Jimms.fi and which SSDs are good and recommended. And this encryption-thing came up.

Honestly, for a gaming machine, AES 256-bit encryption isn't needed. That encryption is only if you have an SSD with highly-sensitive information on it that you want kept secret at all costs. As for PCI-e3 vs. PCI-e4 SSDs, there isn't much of a difference in game load speeds between them. In fact, there isn't much difference in game load speeds between NVMe and SATA SSDs. Only HDDs seem to be noticeably slower.

Hardware Unboxed (Techspot) did a video and an article about a huge test of game loading times that they did using different types of storage media. This should help you make sense of it all.

VIDEO:

ARTICLE:
Storage Game Loading Test: PCIe 4.0 SSD vs. PCIe 3.0 vs. SATA vs. HDD | TechSpot

 

[Jussinen]

As for PCI-e3 vs. PCI-e4 SSDs, there isn't much of a difference in game load speeds between them.

I might still get the PCIE 4.0 SSD if only due to its usually higher endurance, but we shall see. And maybe just one 2TB drive instead of two drives. It's usually cheaper too.

I did some calculations actually and tweaked the builds slightly, replacing 5600X with practically same price 5700X for example. What I came up is following:

5700X build with DDR4 and PCIE 3.0 SSD: 1920 €
5800X3D build with DDR4 and PCIE 3.0 SSD: 2080 € (8% higher)
7600X with DDR5 and PCIE 4.0 SSD: 2125 € (11% higher)
7700X with DDR5 and PCIE 4.0 SSD: 2235 € (16 % higher)
13400 with DDR5 and PCIE 4.0 SSD: 2205 € (15% higher)
13600K with DDR5 and PCIE 4.0 SSD: 2310 € (20% higher)

In the end, 7600X's 11% higher cost to 5700X version is well justified thanks to its motherboard's upgrade path, twice as much RAM (and faster RAM) and faster SSD. 7600X it shall be then, unless we see some crazy changes in prices in the next few weeks.

My only concern really is whether the case of choise (Fractal Design Pop-Air) is big enough to house the future GPUs that I might be upgrading to.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I might still get the PCIE 4.0 SSD if only due to its usually higher endurance, but we shall see. And maybe just one 2TB drive instead of two drives. It's usually cheaper too.

I did some calculations actually and tweaked the builds slightly, replacing 5600X with practically same price 5700X for example. What I came up is following:

5700X build with DDR4 and PCIE 3.0 SSD: 1920 €
5800X3D build with DDR4 and PCIE 3.0 SSD: 2080 € (8% higher)
7600X with DDR5 and PCIE 4.0 SSD: 2125 € (11% higher)
7700X with DDR5 and PCIE 4.0 SSD: 2235 € (16 % higher)
13400 with DDR5 and PCIE 4.0 SSD: 2205 € (15% higher)
13600K with DDR5 and PCIE 4.0 SSD: 2310 € (20% higher)

In the end, 7600X's 11% higher cost to 5700X version is well justified thanks to its motherboard's upgrade path, twice as much RAM (and faster RAM) and faster SSD. 7600X it shall be then, unless we see some crazy changes in prices in the next few weeks.

I agree. I think that this is definitely your best bet.

My only concern really is whether the case of choise (Fractal Design Pop-Air) is big enough to house the future GPUs that I might be upgrading to.

As long as the case you chose can handle an RX 6800 XT, you should be fine because they only exist in long, triple-fan form. That Powercolor Red Dragon OC you selected is already a gigantic card at 310mm long (it's actually 6mm longer than the RTX 4090 Founder's Edition) so if your case can fit that card then you have nothing to worry about.