A cheap 5600/5700X drop in upgrade would be a decent option, you could then spend the difference on a better GPU.
This is what I was considering initially. I was thinking of a 5600X3D, and then I saw for $70 more I could get a 56003D, Asus B550 board, and 16GB DDR4 GSKILL of 3200 RAM. (Technically for this option, I don't need the ram, and don't even need the MB lol)
Then I saw I for $100 more than that I could get 7800X, B650 board and 32GB of DDR5 6000 RAM.
Both are storming deals. It's for my daughter who is currently running a 1600, so either would be hell of an upgrade, as would just a 5xxx chip by itself. I'd not be upgrading the GPU just yet though. Being completely honest, right now, the only real way she is getting a GPU upgrade would be if I gave her my 2070 to replace her 2060 OC, and I bought myself a new GPU (like a 7800XT or something).
Yes. The new ones are primarily for the new nvidia cards, but even then you don't 'need' it.
One thing to be aware of, many(most?) AM5 boards need 2x EPS 12v and older PSUs don't always have these, but newer ones of 750 or higher should.
Right now? No. In the future? Again, unlikely. From what we've seen so far, 4 lane cards do suffer in an older pcie gen board, but 8 lane cards are mostly fine.
I assume you're aware the 7700 includes a cooler and the 7700x doesn't?
I can't remember what PSU she has. It might even be a really old 550W ATX one from Tiger Direct when they still actually had stores lol for around $10 because a connector was damaged. I'll check. Good call out on the connectors. Hmm.. Actually... I just remembered... I think the additional modular PSU cables might be in storage as I'm trying to get my house on the market. Urgh. Might need new PSU anyway.
I'll not worry about PCI-E 5 right now then
Yes, I'm aware the 7700X doesn't come with a cooler, so I'd need to get one (which sucks slightly, but that's life).