Ryzen 3600 (AM4) Upgrade for 4K @120Hz

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Hi lads,

My current system runs ok, and I've got no issues with day to day desktop usage. But I'm wondering whether there's any good deals/timings on that might make sense to take advantage of?

Current System:
Ryzen 5 3600 AIO cooled with NZXT Kraken X62
Gigabyte X570 Gaming X Mobo
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MH
RTX 3090 Founders Edition

I don't want to change my GPU as it'll cost silly money and I don't think there'll be much benefit. I've got a list of games I'm keen to play that have come out of the last few years including: Oblivion Remastered, Black Myth Wukong, Clair Obscur Expedition 33, Persona 5 Royal, Elden Ring DLCs, Metaphor, Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yotei, FF7 Remake, FF7 Rebirth, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2.

I play at 4K, formerly on a LG CX 48", now I've moved to a 42" LG C4, running smoothly @ 4K 120Hz. I have previously played RDR2 and Cyberpunk 2077 on my current rig without too much issue, although I accepted ~60 FPS rather than 120 FPS given how graphically intense they were, esp CP2077 with RTX on with DLSS. Games like Baldur's Gate 3 were no issue for this rig. Elden Ring, Witcher 3, Hogwarts Legacy, and God of War all played absoutely fine too between 80 and 100 FPS.

Given I'm gaming at 4K, I'm aware it's more of a GPU task rather than CPU, so I don't know if I would actually get any benefit from an upgrade? I'm keen to keep the same motherboard, the reason I went for the X570 rather than a B450 board was to allow an upgrade in future. 16GB RAM seems a bit low these days, considering even base spec laptops now have this much.

If the consensus is save my money and carry on with the current setup for a few more years since gains will be marginal/incremental, I'm perfectly happy with that. I'd ideally like to play Witcher 4 with this system when it comes out in future.
 
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Ryzen 5 3600 AIO cooled with NZXT Kraken X62

At 4k, as you correctly say, you are mainly GPU limited on new games, though you'll get very high frame rates on old games (120 fps in Sniper Elite 4 maxxed should be on). What a better CPU will give you is better 1% lows which will lift your average frame rate and - importantly - reduce stutters. So I'll echo the recommendations for a Ryzen 5700X3D CPU (or 5800X3D if you can afford it).

I also think you should take the opportunity to upgrade to 64 GB RAM before DDR4 prices start to increase.

 
At 4k, as you correctly say, you are mainly GPU limited on new games, though you'll get very high frame rates on old games (120 fps in Sniper Elite 4 maxxed should be on). What a better CPU will give you is better 1% lows which will lift your average frame rate and - importantly - reduce stutters. So I'll echo the recommendations for a Ryzen 5700X3D CPU (or 5800X3D if you can afford it).

I also think you should take the opportunity to upgrade to 64 GB RAM before DDR4 prices start to increase.

Thanks mate

Why would ddr4 prices increase, isn't it quite old now?
 
You're a rich doctor just buy a tube of Arctic MX-6 lol
I bought MX-4 because that was the first result for thermal paste on the rainforest . Sure it'll be fine. Hoping I don't bend the pins since it's been years since I last put a CPU in
 
I bought MX-4 because that was the first result for thermal paste on the rainforest . Sure it'll be fine. Hoping I don't bend the pins since it's been years since I last put a CPU in
Just be careful when you remove your current CPU. Not uncommon for the thermal paste to stick quite hard to the CPU and cooler and then the cpu gets pulled right off the socket as you remove the cooler. Risk of bending the pins then.

Would recommend running the CPU at load first to heat up the thermal paste and then immediately after, shut down and remove the cooler/cpu. Safer way to do it.
The pins are pretty hardy so unless you are jamming the CPU into the socket, hard to bend the pins when installing the CPU.
It's removal thats the bummer.
 
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