PC Upgrade For Minecraft

Simon589 · 18 Jun 2025 at 17:35

Hi

I only play Minecraft and would like to upgrade for it. I'm on AM4 with a 1440p, 185hz monitor, 2600 cpu, gen 3 m2 SSD, 16gb DDR4, 5700xt GPU. Mobo is pcie 3 limited.

I play a single player game modded with fabric, sodium and a few other mods. I would like a 32 chunk render distance. I do not use shaders. Currently when playing chunk loading can be slow when flying around, even with a lower chunk render, not sure if this is cpu or a mobo/ssd problem.

I would like to stay on a 65w cpu. Minecraft is single core cpu intensive. I could just upgrade the cpu to a 5700x, which is the cheapest option. Or go for a 9600x, gen 4 ssd and new mobo. If I upgraded to the 9600x, would I also need a new gpu. And would the differnce between the 2 setups be night and day difference.

Tetras · 18 Jun 2025 at 19:00

Simon589 said:
I play a single player game modded with fabric, sodium and a few other mods. I would like a 32 chunk render distance. I do not use shaders. Currently when playing chunk loading can be slow when flying around, even with a lower chunk render, not sure if this is cpu or a mobo/ssd problem.

Can you run something alongside the game (even task manager will do) and check what kind of load everything is at?

Sometimes with older / modded games the limitation isn't even your hardware, but the game's engine.

Generally: the gaming performance of a 5600/5600X/5700X is a lot better than a 2600, but if would help with the circumstances in the game mentioned above, I don't know.

Simon589 · 18 Jun 2025 at 19:22

Task manager shows cpu 20% and gpu 35%. Power usage shows 'very high'

Benchmark tests here, shows the 2600 as lowest, not surprising given it's age,

Minecraft CPU Benchmarks: Winter 2024 Update

Quick Minecraft performance update with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Core Ultra 7 265K for Winter 2024.

nemez.net

Obviously the 9600x, with new ram and ssd would be best but at a much higher cost, than just slapping in a 5700x. I'm trying to quantify if it's worth the extra and if the 5700xt would even cope when paired with a 9600x and running minecraft. Minecraft is all cpu unless you run shadders, which I don't.

It's only became obvious I need to upgrade, because I have started running world eaters and they are lagging my rig.

Gray2233 · 18 Jun 2025 at 19:31

Judging from those benches, I'd pick up a second hand Ryzen 5600 personally. They can be had for around the £80 mark, there's even a high street second hand dvd/game retailer commonly found in the UK that will sell them with a warranty.

Tetras · 18 Jun 2025 at 19:33

Simon589 said:
Task manager shows cpu 20%

That can be because the bottleneck is on a single core, though it depends.

The single core performance of a 5000 series CPU is a lot better than a 2000 and the 9600X is better still (though the gain versus 7000 depends on the game).

Simon589 said:
and if the 5700xt would even cope when paired with a 9600x and running minecraft.

Sure, it isn't a problem.

What you normally want to avoid is a CPU bottleneck, because you can't do anything about that (i.e. unplayable is unplayable), whereas with a GPU bottleneck you can lower settings/resolution to get a higher framerate.

Simon589 said:
Benchmark tests here, shows the 2600 as lowest, not surprising given it's age,

Minecraft CPU Benchmarks: Winter 2024 Update

Quick Minecraft performance update with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Core Ultra 7 265K for Winter 2024.

nemez.net

Gray2233 said:
Judging from those benches, I'd pick up a second hand Ryzen 5600 personally. They can be had for around the £80 mark, there's even a high street second hand dvd/game retailer commonly found in the UK that will sell them with a warranty.

That's my read of them too, looks like a 5600 would give a nice boost. My impression is that the upgrade to AM5 probably isn't worth it unless you're buying the X3D CPUs or upgrading the graphics card.

Simon589 · 18 Jun 2025 at 19:47

Thanks for the replies.

Yeh those benches are quiet telling. A nice boost to the 5600, then much smaller after.

I will go with a new 5700x.

Gray2233 · 18 Jun 2025 at 20:15

Simon589 said:
Thanks for the replies.

Yeh those benches are quiet telling. A nice boost to the 5600, then much smaller after.

I will go with a new 5700x.

Good choice.

AM4 proving its worth yet again!

tamzzy · 19 Jun 2025 at 13:05

5700x is a good choice, and one i would recommend too.
can pick one up currently for £65 (new but without warranty) if you know where to look

Simon589 · 19 Jun 2025 at 15:23

I know they banned me straight away, no reason given. Imagine when things go wrong, no thanks. I'm glad they did, everything happens for a reason. It's interesting you say 'no warranty'