[SOLVED] Is upgrading from a Ryzen 9 3900X to a Ryzen 9 5900X worth it ?

[bhalton99]

As my build below, I'm still running good with a 3900X but wondering if upgrading to a 5900X worth it since the CPU is on sale via AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core 3.7 GHz Desktop CPU - Newegg.com.

 

[bniknafs9]

if the DDR5 prices are okay with you then why not .

 

[punkncat]

They are $319 at Microcenter right now, if you have one close by.

edit- It appears to have ~10-15% better performance. If that is worth the $300+ dollars to you...
It would be a risk, but I would likely consider placing this in the wish list or save for later on a couple of various sites and see if it doesn't become less expensive even than this price. The bad aspect being that if you misjudge you could miss out or end up paying more.

I know, personally, I would be looking to make the system as capable as possible. That is a nice overall build and should be viable for many years even if you didn't do this update/upgrade.

 

[punkncat]

if the DDR5 prices are okay with you then why not .

You are confusing this with 7xxx, he won't need RAM/mobo for this swap.

 

[bniknafs9]

You are confusing this with 7xxx, he won't need RAM/mobo for this swap.

sorry for the confusion , but the new games demand ddr5 . they're there for a reason.

 

[punkncat]

sorry for the confusion , but the new games demand ddr5 . they're there for a reason.

I really am not clear on what you are trying to say.

OP asked if the 5900x, which is AM4 and takes DDR4 memory, would be a good upgrade to a 3900X, which also uses DDR4, due to the sale price linked.

This system doesn't take DDR5 memory and that isn't an aspect of the question topic.

 

[hotaru.hino]

sorry for the confusion , but the new games demand ddr5 . they're there for a reason.

No they don't.

Games don't really need a ton of memory bandwidth to run. They rely more on memory latency to be as low as possible, which DDR5 hasn't really made a dent in when compared to DDR4.

 

[bhalton99]

They are $319 at Microcenter right now, if you have one close by.

edit- It appears to have ~10-15% better performance. If that is worth the $300+ dollars to you...
It would be a risk, but I would likely consider placing this in the wish list or save for later on a couple of various sites and see if it doesn't become less expensive even than this price. The bad aspect being that if you misjudge you could miss out or end up paying more.

I know, personally, I would be looking to make the system as capable as possible. That is a nice overall build and should be viable for many years even if you didn't do this update/upgrade.

Thx man, your advice really helps.

 

[John Chesterfield]

sorry for the confusion , but the new games demand ddr5 . they're there for a reason.

Absolute rubbish. You're somewhat confused.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

If only gaming you may check out the 5800x3d. For gaming on some things it seems to compete with even the newer chips.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

sorry for the confusion , but the new games demand ddr5 . they're there for a reason.

New games do NOT demand ddr5 at this point. Please have an idea what you are talking about before giving recommendations. There may be newer people on here who are on limited funds. Recommending basically a new system with new ram isn’t always the answer.

My pc from 2017 that I upgraded to a 5800x and 6700xt with 32gb ddr4 runs all the latest stuff just fine.

 

[John Chesterfield]

sorry for the confusion , but the new games demand ddr5 . they're there for a reason.

Vote down all you like, you're talking through your backside and the further responses here confirm that.

It's NOT your money, so easy for you to spout rubbish. Luckily, the OP can see that you're talking tripe and won't go out and spend unnecessarily.

If you can't post actual fact, do not read the original question and merely want to pimp out DDR5 to justify your own purchase, might be an idea to not post anything at all. I think we'd all be better off.

 

[KyaraM]

sorry for the confusion , but the new games demand ddr5 . they're there for a reason.

No, they don't. I use a 12700K with DDR4 RAM and everything up to Hogwarts Legacy, which released literally this year, works completely fine with it and will for a long time and many games to come. You lose maybe a single hand full of FPS in the worst case right now. It's really still not worth the mark-up currently unless you want a CPU that doesn't support DDR4 anymore, which isn't the case here. And the Ryzen 5000 chips are still very decent CPUs and worth an upgrade with a 400 series board.

@bhalton99 as said above, that would certainly be possible, but unless you want to also use the CPU for other things than gaming that need more cores and higher clocks, the 5800X3D would be the better choice if available. Also cheaper.

 

[John Chesterfield]

No, they don't. I use a 12700K with DDR4 RAM and everything up to Hogwarts Legacy, which released literally this year, works completely fine with it and will for a long time and many games to come. You lose maybe a single hand full of FPS in the worst case right now. It's really still not worth the mark-up currently unless you want a CPU that doesn't support DDR4 anymore, which isn't the case here. And the Ryzen 5000 chips are still very decent CPUs and worth an upgrade with a 400 series board.

@bhalton99 as said above, that would certainly be possible, but unless you want to also use the CPU for other things than gaming that need more cores and higher clocks, the 5800X3D would be the better choice if available. Also cheaper.

Get ready for the child to vote down your answer!

 

[Nighthawk117]

It might be worth it for high refresh rate gaming but it's very title specific in terms of what improvement you might get. I've seen benchmarks where the improvement in the min frame rate can be anything from 20% to 40%. At 4k the 5900X is still better but my expectation would be that you would be hard pressed to notice any difference.

For anything else I would say it's not worth it.

I agree with @ohio_buckeye the 5800X3D is the best option if gaming performance is the priority, but I'm not sure going from 12 cores down to 8 would be a positive contribution to ones mental health.

 

[Avro Arrow]

As my build below, I'm still running good with a 3900X

That's your answer right there. If you're still running good, what's the point of upgrading? I only upgrade when I need to because that guarantees me the lowest prices and I have the money in my account if I suddenly need it for something else.

Until your R9-3900X is unsatisfactory, I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[John Chesterfield]

That's your answer right there. If you're still running good, what's the point of upgrading? I only upgrade when I need to because that guarantees me the lowest prices and I have the money in my account if I suddenly need it for something else.

Until your R9-3900X is unsatisfactory, I wouldn't change a thing.

I agree with this. For what you'd spend, would it really be that noticeable a difference? I actually did a similar upgrade in terms of IPC uplift, a 3700x to a 5900x. And while I could see a difference, it was only worth it to me because I got the 5900x second hand at a really good price at the time. I don't think it'd have been worth it had I bought a retail new CPU, be that at regular price or on offer. In your case, I question whether it'd be worth 350 US bux when you see the result. I'd try go the second hand route, second hand CPUs are rarely faulty. It's a component along with memory that I really think can make a good second hand purchase.

I've actually applied this to the graphics card situation and realised that just because new stuff is out, a 3080 is really still a decent card at 1440p and the cost of a 4080, even after selling the 3080 to offset the new card cost, would absolutely not justify that purchase for the uplift I'd see. And a graphics card is something that's not a good idea to buy second hand in my opinion.

CPU though, if you do have the itch to upgrade, get on the auction site and search for a bargain. Good buyer protection there. If you could snag one at a bargain price, then it's maybe worth it.

 

[John Chesterfield]

It might be worth it for high refresh rate gaming but it's very title specific in terms of what improvement you might get. I've seen benchmarks where the improvement in the min frame rate can be anything from 20% to 40%. At 4k the 5900X is still better but my expectation would be that you would be hard pressed to notice any difference.

For anything else I would say it's not worth it.

I agree with @ohio_buckeye the 5800X3D is the best option if gaming performance is the priority, but I'm not sure going from 12 cores down to 8 would be a positive contribution to ones mental health.

This too I agree with, it sums up the difference I saw. Better minimum framerates, so overall slightly smoother experience. Is that worth 350 US dollars? Only the OP can decide..

 

[John Chesterfield]

If only gaming you may check out the 5800x3d. For gaming on some things it seems to compete with even the newer chips.

OP, I think this is the best answer you've had if buying a new CPU.

 

[GarrettL]

Happy user for 2 months now with the 5800x3d.

 

[bhalton99]

Thanks guys will look into the 5800x3d for sure. My main reason why I'm thinking on upgrading is because of upcoming games like Diablo 4, BG3, Cities Skyline 2, Homeworld 3. Secondly, the 5900 are on sale for $319 at Microcenter and might go down to $299 for Memorial Day. Third reason is because it's the last CPU for the AM4 sockets, so I figure why not. Final, I can sell the 3900x to get some of my money back or can keep it for my son who wants me to build him a PC for Christmas. Might even give him my 2080Ti and upgrade to a 7900xtx now that I got the cooling issues fixed.

 

[bhalton99]

Ugh, so far, the only 5800x3d available only comes with a complete build but will keep searching.

 

[GarrettL]

Thanks guys will look into the 5800x3d for sure. My main reason why I'm thinking on upgrading is because of upcoming games like Diablo 4, BG3, Cities Skyline 2, Homeworld 3. Secondly, the 5900 are on sale for $319 at Microcenter and might go down to $299 for Memorial Day. Third reason is because it's the last CPU for the AM4 sockets, so I figure why not. Final, I can sell the 3900x to get some of my money back or can keep it for my son who wants me to build him a PC for Christmas. Might even give him my 2080Ti and upgrade to a 7900xtx now that I got the cooling issues fixed.

Your local Micro Center doesn't have the5800x3d in stock? It's in stock here in the Michigan store and it is now on sale for $299.

I switched from a 3800x and 2070 Super to a 5800x3d and 4070TI for 1440p gaming. The big difference? Smooth as butter!

I re-used the 3800x and 2070S for a gaming rig that was gifted to a co-worker. Still a good gaming ring overall. So re-using for your son is a great idea and saves a few bucks in the long run.

As other posters have stated, with the 5800x3d the low FPS floor is raised compared to the 3000 series. Yes, you will see better max FPS but it's the lows that your eye catches and can appear as a micro stutter.

 

[Nighthawk117]

This too I agree with, it sums up the difference I saw. Better minimum framerates, so overall slightly smoother experience. Is that worth 350 US dollars? Only the OP can decide..

That's interesting you went from a 3700X to a 5900X, perhaps a slightly easier upgrade to justify I think because you are getting more cores as well. That would be my expectation though, smoother frame rates. It wouldn't be an upgrade I would make personally but I prefer large upgrades.

 

[helper800]

I personally went from a 3900x to a 5800X3D the moment it released and have had no regrets. The IPC and clock speed increases on the 5800X3D makes it perform only about 20% behind the 3900x in multi. Either way, I was rarely getting use out of the full 12c/24t 3900x. The games I was playing at the time I upgraded had massive .1% and 1% low increases even at 1440p. I have yet to get rid of my 3900x, I think its going to be donated.