Question Finally stepping out of budget (mostly). Upgrade CPU first or GPU?

txsarge17

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Dec 7, 2014
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I've finally talked the wife into letting me really upgrade my pc but not all at once. I'm buying a new case since mine was a very budget case 3 years ago and also just upgraded to a new 750w PSU. I'm trying to decide if CPU or GPU goes first as well as which to go to. I've put my current specs below, but basically I've got a recently purchased MSI Pro B550-VC MB, so I want to stay AM4. CPU is Ryzen 5 3600 and GPU is a RX 5600 XT. I'm looking at either a Ryzen 9-5900X or Ryzen 7-5800X3D, and then possibly a RX 6800 or RTX 4060ti when it comes out (or maybe 3070ti?). The 4070ti is a bit pricey for my tastes. I have a 32" 1440 monitor so going back to 1080 hurts my eyes.

Honestly, the only two games I currently play are ESO and Destiny 2, but my son uses it for several others, including RDR2 and Witcher 3. Currently, when playing ESO on high or better I get around 100-120 fps and my GPU is sittling near 100% utilization. CPU sits around 25%. I haven't tested it with Destiny 2 or others, but I've read the X3D really makes a difference in D2. What are your thoughts on upgrades now vs later or am I wasting money? I've only ever had budget builds, and really want something I can set to high or better and not worry about it @ 1440.

Current build (case I'm buying in ())
MSI PRO B550-VC ATX AM4
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
(Stock AMD CPU Cooler will be upgraded with CPU)
G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB DDR4-3200 CL16
2x WD Black SN770 M.2
PowerColor Red Dragon Radeon RX 5600 XT (6 GB)
Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower (Lian Li LANCOOL 216X)
ADATA XPG CORE Reactor 750 80+ Gold
MSI Optix 31.5" 1440 165hz Curved Monitor
 
What's more important to you: maximum frame rate potential or maximum eye candy?

If you demand 120+ FPS in whatever game you can imagine, regardless of quality settings, you'll want to consider upgrading the CPU first. If you want to max out all the quality settings, then consider a better video card first.
 
For gaming the 5800X3D is the absolute best AM4 CPU, plus it's perfectly fine for all other tasks.

As for CPU or GPU 1st, at this stage you would see a much bigger improvement with a GPU upgrade, especially as you're using 1440p. If you did the CPU upgrade 1st, the improvement would be small at best.
 

txsarge17

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Dec 7, 2014
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I ended up picking up a 6700 XT and replaced my 5600 XT. I decided for 1440 it would be enough, and allow me the funds to do other upgrades sooner. I've been using AMD Afterburner as a monitor, and noticed that with Destiny 2, I can run the next-to highest settings and get about 100fps smooth. My GPU usage shows 90-100% and CPU shows about 10%. I have read that this may be an issue with Windows 11 causing afterburner to misreport CPU usage. I can't image that a 3600 isn't bottlenecking a 6700 xt at 1440.

I'm really leaning towards the 5800X3D, but also wondering if spending only 180 for a 5700x (or even 130 for a 5600) might be just as good for my setup. I understand wanting better if the money is there, but I also understand saving money if its a case of no noticeable difference.