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3600x upgrade worth it?

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30 Oct 2005
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458
Hey all, I'm using a AMD 3600x with a tomahawk max B450 and a nvidia RTX 2070 super. Im looking to get some more frames and the 2 cpu upgrades ive been looking at are the ryzen 7 5800x and 5800x3d. they have a significant price difference and would like to know if you think id actually see a worth while fps boost. I play at 1440p most of the time and play everything from brand new games to old stuff

thanks
 
I would say a GPU upgrade may be more beneficial, something around a 3070/6800 would be a good jump.

1440p here as well, I did a similar upgrade CPU wise from a 3900X to the 5800X3D, didn't see a huge boost average FPS wise but it did help with the lows so it made things smoother, especially in VR. But going from a 1080 Ti (same tier as the 2070 super) to a 3070 definitely gave a good boost.
 
The 5800x3d is the better gaming chip. but yer GPU would give much better gains

my GPU and yours are about on par, i feel mine is just ok for 1440 i get about 80/90FPS is battlefield 2042
 
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Hey all, I'm using a AMD 3600x with a tomahawk max B450 and a nvidia RTX 2070 super. Im looking to get some more frames and the 2 cpu upgrades ive been looking at are the ryzen 7 5800x and 5800x3d. they have a significant price difference and would like to know if you think id actually see a worth while fps boost. I play at 1440p most of the time and play everything from brand new games to old stuff

thanks

Nope the x3d isn't worth it in your case, you'll hardly see any benefit, invest more in your GPU every time over CPU, any 5000 series 8 core will keep you happy for years.
 
Hey all, I'm using a AMD 3600x with a tomahawk max B450 and a nvidia RTX 2070 super. Im looking to get some more frames and the 2 cpu upgrades ive been looking at are the ryzen 7 5800x and 5800x3d. they have a significant price difference and would like to know if you think id actually see a worth while fps boost. I play at 1440p most of the time and play everything from brand new games to old stuff

thanks

Check your usage while gaming. If the CPU is near 100% usage then a CPU upgrade is worth it. If the GPU usage is near 100% then a GPU upgrade is worth it. You need to check.

In your case, I doubt the 3600x is bottlenecking the 2070 Super but telling you the answer doesn't teach you anything.

Please check your usage and learn what the CPU and GPU are doing while gaming. Then you'll recognise the signs of a bottleneck and you'll know exactly what to upgrade in the future.
 
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Check your usage while gaming. If the CPU is near 100% usage then a CPU upgrade is worth it.

in most cases this is not true, if a game only uses 2/3/4 cores, on a 6c/12t cpu it would show low usage say 30% but it would be maxed out. because 2/3 of the threads ate sitting unused.

also the GPU should always be at 100% usage, if not you have one of 2 problems, game setting too low and hitting the CPU for for more info that the cpu cant give OR the game setting are right and the CPU is struggling and just cant keep up the the gpus demand.
 
in most cases this is not true, if a game only uses 2/3/4 cores, on a 6c/12t cpu it would show low usage say 30% but it would be maxed out. because 2/3 of the threads ate sitting unused.

also the GPU should always be at 100% usage, if not you have one of 2 problems, game setting too low and hitting the CPU for for more info that the cpu cant give OR the game setting are right and the CPU is struggling and just cant keep up the the gpus demand.

Yeah but you list all cores when you check the CPU usage. Check their usage levels.

If the GPU is at 100% (which it should be) then it's still a bottleneck. My GPU is always at 100% but I'm happy with the performance so I don't upgrade. When the FPS gets too low then a GPU upgrade is needed.

The key is knowing what the FPS is currently and whether it's too low or not. Too many people simply ask "is it time to upgrade?" without even checking.
 
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If the GPU is at 100% (which it should be) then it's still a bottleneck

no its not, its doing its job, set a 3090 up right and at 720p it will be at 100% doing its job
monitor frame rates, 100% at 400FPS is ok... at 30FPs not so good

all GPU load tells you is if the CPU is working optimally or if setting are wrong, other than that 100% is perfect and what you want at all times
 
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no its not, its doing its job, set a 3090 up right and at 720p it will be at 100% doing its job

A bottleneck just means the weakest link in a chain. Not that it needs replacing. There's can be good bottleneck or a bad bottleneck. If a 4090 is at 100% then of course it's doing its job. It doesn't need upgrading because it's a fantastic GPU and the best you can get. It's still a bottleneck though if it's at 100%.

A 4090 at 100% usage with 400 FPS is a good bottleneck because it's doing its job and that's a crazy FPS.

A GPU at 100% usage with 18 FPS is a bad bottleneck because although it's doing its job, the FPS isn't unsatisfactory.
 
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It entirely depends on what games you play.

Some games require more CPU, some are entirely GPU bound. Also, is your monitor capable of displaying more frames then you currently make? If not, then there isn't much point in upgrading at all, as you won't see them.

When playing a game, check your GPU usage. If it's between 95 & 100% most of the time, then you'll not really benefit from a CPU upgrade, but more a GPU upgrade. You might get better 1% lows, so it will feel smoother, but you won't get much, if any more raw performance.

If your GPU is at, say, 80% or less all the time, then your CPU is holding you back.

Either would be a good upgrade. It depends on price difference. For outright performance the 5800x3d would outperform a 5800x in most conditions.

However, I believe you'd probably benefit more from upgrading your GPU, depending on the game.
 
I've just gone for a 3600 that I've had for years, managed to pickup an open box 5600X for a good price so thought why not. Not really notice a difference other than benchmarks. Should have picked a 5800x to notice the extra difference in cores I think.

A 3600 to an 5800x would be a decent upgrade. Have seen them low as £205
 
I've just gone for a 3600 that I've had for years, managed to pickup an open box 5600X for a good price so thought why not. Not really notice a difference other than benchmarks. Should have picked a 5800x to notice the extra difference in cores I think.

A 3600 to an 5800x would be a decent upgrade. Have seen them low as £205

that all depends on what you do and the other parts you have, in the case on the OP he should do GPU not CPU to notice a difference
 
I don't know if this is of any use, but going from a 3600 using basic XMP C16 timings to a 5700x and a stock 3060ti FE for both tests saw my SuperPosition scores for 1080p Extreme go:

Min FPS: 28 -> 42
Avg FPS: 37 -> 53
Max FPS: 46 -> 66

Which I was super surprised by quite frankly.
 
I've just gone for a 3600 that I've had for years, managed to pickup an open box 5600X for a good price so thought why not. Not really notice a difference other than benchmarks. Should have picked a 5800x to notice the extra difference in cores I think.

A 3600 to an 5800x would be a decent upgrade. Have seen them low as £205

Honestly for 1440p and 4k, the 3600 is perfectly fine - for now, but with your 5600X you'll probably see an improvement in 1% and 0.1% lows in gaming. At the higher resolutions a 3600 won't hold back even an RTX 3080.
 
Honestly for 1440p and 4k, the 3600 is perfectly fine - for now, but with your 5600X you'll probably see an improvement in 1% and 0.1% lows in gaming. At the higher resolutions a 3600 won't hold back even an RTX 3080.

Yep the 3600 is and was a brilliant CPU. I think my B450 will last a few more years yet now with a 5600x, looking back I should have picked the 5800x just for those extra cores even though I probably won't need them. You can get lost in benchmarks and reviews, honestly I've noticed no difference in general use.
 
Yep the 3600 is and was a brilliant CPU. I think my B450 will last a few more years yet now with a 5600x, looking back I should have picked the 5800x just for those extra cores even though I probably won't need them. You can get lost in benchmarks and reviews, honestly I've noticed no difference in general use.

You can safely skip AM5 and any of Intel's "one and done" Mobo's for years now, I just changed the BIOS my B450 and bought a 5700X. AM5 is a waste of money for most people, your GPU will give you problems way before the 5600x will.
 
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