Ryzen 5 1600AF with a GTX 1080, will a CPU upgrade have any gaming benefit?

[keenan]

Alright, I've been running a Ryzen 1600AF overclocked to 4.2Ghz with a GTX 1080 for quite some time now and never thought or felt that the CPU was "bottlenecking" the GPU.

However, I am in the mood to rebuild everything into a sff pc for the living room and was wondering if say a 3600 or maybe even a 5600X would have any actual effect on gaming over the current 1600AF?

 

[keenan]

I wouldn't bother if you're running at 4.2.

Thanks Tetras, I thought as much..

I might just get an old Ryzen 3 1200 to put in my old board as an upgrade for my son's pc.

 

[keenan]

A 1600 to a 5600 is a massive upgrade. If you would notice the improvement with the 1080 is the question. You would definitely be getting the maximum out of the 1080 with a 5600X.

Believe me, I hear you as I have been telling myself the same thing.

However, this pc is 100% just for gaming and if the 1600AF is good enough to run the GTX 1080 to it's full potential then it's hard to justify £250+ upgrade.

 

[keenan]

Thanks guys, I guess I should have mentioned a few things.

First and likely most important, it will be 1080p at max. This likely favours the newer CPU due to the IPC improvements.

Secondly, what I meant by bottleneck was "Would I see a noticeable gain in frame rate if I were to upgrade and where exactly will I enter diminishing returns?

I am guessing with a GTX 1080 the biggest jump would be from the 1600AF to a 3600?

 

[keenan]

While with a GPU like a 3080 the 5600X would really pull ahead but with a 1080 then there won't be much difference at all.

Check out this benchmark of the 5600X vs 3600 especially the results with the RTX 2060 super which is a little bit stronger than a 1080 but should give you an idea of what to expect.

This is actually what I've been doing. I was looking at reviews for both the 1600AF and 3600 in 1080p gaming and it does seem like there is quite an uplift going to the 3600..

 

[keenan]

Going for the 5600X over a 3600 will only be worth it if you plan to buy a more powerful GPU in the not to distant future and even then I'm not sure if it's really worth it in terms of price to performance as your spending almost 50% more money for around 15% fps.

That was my exact sentiment as I'll be keeping the GTX 1080 for as long as possible (Cyberpunk 2077 might change this, but I'm sure 1080p will be fine).

Anyway, I have gone and done the unthinkable!

I went and bought a 3600 from AliExpress

...along with a few other bits and bobs to do a reasonably decent SFF build.

 

[keenan]

Good luck with the new build

Thanks Joxeon!

 

[keenan]

@keenan good luck with that CPU, let us know if one turns up and if it is genuine.

The seller does have good feedback and more than 250 reviews for this 3600 in question, so I'm feeling optimistic.

I always record myself opening packages from all "less than favourable" places just in case of any issues.

It's just the CPU, taken out of prebuilds so it doesn't include a box or cooler, but at a smidge under £130 it's worth the shortcomings.