Need Advice on CPU Upgrade

When I built my current PC in December 2019, I used a 1 TB M.2 NVME SSD, which I thought would be large enough, since I also installed a 2 TB hard drive for extra data storage.

Well, four and a half years later, with games increasingly getting larger, I am running low on SSD space, so am now planning on replacing my 1 TB SSD with a larger 2 TB SSD.

I plan to take my PC to a local computer store in about a month for the CPU upgrade, as I'd prefer their cloning the existing 1 TB SSD to the new, larger 2 TB SSD, rather than mess with it myself. Since this means I'll need to unhook all external cables, carry the PC tower downstairs, and drive it to the computer shop, I thought this might be a good time to also upgrade the CPU, so am seeking advice on which CPU to choose.

What is your intended use for this build? Playing games, plus general home business use

If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for? I mostly play turn based strategy games, such as Civilization VI, on high video settings, using a 2560 x 1440 display. FPS is not an issue for me, and I do not plan on overclocking my PC.

What is your budget? Approximately $350 - $400 for the CPU upgrade, but am flexible

In what country are you purchasing your parts? USA

My current build has an ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E AM4 Motherboard, with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, a Scythe FUMA 2 CPU Cooler, 32 GB of RAM (2x16GB DDR4-3600), a Radeon RX 580 Videocard with 8GB of GDDR5 VRAM, and a Seasonic 850 watt Power Supply.

My existing 65 watt CPU, Ryzen 5 3600, has 6 cores+12 threads, with a base speed of 3.6 GHz and a top boost speed of 4.2 GHz. I was originally thinking of going with just a minor CPU upgrade to a Ryzen 5 5600G to get about a 10% speed increase at the same 65 watt power usage, but am now considering going for a bigger CPU upgrade instead.

My X570-E motherboard will apparently support also upgrading to a Ryzen 7 5700G, Ryzen 7 5700x3D, Ryzen 7 5800, and Ryzen 7 5800x3D. The x3D CPUs seem slower than their non-3D versions, but have been talked up online as being better for gaming, so I am confused. Also, the 5800 and 5800x3D CPUs use 105 watts of power, which is higher than my current 65 watt CPU. I think my power supply should be able to handle this, but will the CPU cooler still be good enough, plus will this cause my PC tower to blast out much more hot air into my room?

Please let me know which CPU upgrade you recommend that I go for, and the reasons why.

Thanks.

Mods - I just noticed there is a separate Bleeping Computer forum for System Builds and Upgrades, so please move this post over there if that is needed.

"My current build has an ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E AM4 Motherboard, with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, a Scythe FUMA 2 CPU Cooler, 32 GB of RAM (2x16GB DDR4-3600), a Radeon RX 580 Videocard with 8GB of GDDR5 VRAM, and a Seasonic 850 watt Power Supply."

Good hardware.

The Scythe cooler will be fine with any of those listed below. And for any others I will list below.

It is a very good cooler.

So it definitely can be used for the CPU upgrade.

Your PSU is more than adequate. It is in fact quite able to handle the Rx 7900XT or a RX 7900XTX and any current powerful CPU designed for your motherboard in your desktop.

"My X570-E motherboard will apparently support also upgrading to a Ryzen 7 5700G, Ryzen 7 5700x3D, Ryzen 7 5800, and Ryzen 7 5800x3D. The x3D CPUs seem slower than their non-3D versions, but have been talked up online as being better for gaming, so I am confused. Also, the 5800 and 5800x3D CPUs use 105 watts of power, which is higher than my current 65 watt CPU. I think my power supply should be able to handle this, but will the CPU cooler still be good enough, plus will this cause my PC tower to blast out much more hot air into my room?

CPU with a TDP of 65 watts, have a 88 watt PPT.

CPU with a TDP of 105 watts, have a watt 142 PPT.

PPT is the 'Package Power Tracking" or the maximum allowable wattage the CPU can draw from the socket under very heavy loads or heavy threaded uses.

IOW the actual power drawn by the CPU is not up to 65 watts, but is up to 88 watts (or 105 watts and maxs up to 142 watts).

Yes it is a lie by AMD, but Intel does the very same with their specifications for the Processor Base Power wattage and a Maximum Turbo Power wattage.

Just thought I would throw this in as the 65 watt CPU really isn't a 65 watts but it is a 88 watt CPU.

Doesn't matter as your setup will easily handle a high end CPU. Or it could easily handle a 105 watt TDP CPU (with the PPT of 142 watts) or more.

There are many options or possibles for you.

"plus will this cause my PC tower to blast out much more hot air into my room?"

No not really. Not much more than it is now as most often the CPU doesn't get taxed that much by gaming or reach nowhere near its peak power draws when gaming. CPU will experience spikes such as when loading the game or on occasions but will not hover no where at the peak
power draw.

"The x3D CPUs seem slower than their non-3D versions, but have been talked up online as being better for gaming, so I am confused"

Don't be and you probably are not the only one confused about this.

It comes down to that the X3d CPUs (even the newest such as the 7800X3D) have a much larger cache inside. The L3 cache is 96MB in size instead of the usual AMD's L3 cache of  32MB.

Seems small in difference  but makes a big difference for games where the CPU has to keep accessing the system RAM when it's cache is too full. This slows down the CPU processing. But the X3ds with it's larger caching reduces this need for accessing the system RAM and hence it plays the game faster.

So yes it does do much better at gaming. For the most part.  Not always though.

When games require the CPU not to rely on the cache so much, but need a fast CPU with the higher clock speeds (frequency speed) to do the game as fast as possible, then the 5800X3d (or the 5700X3D) are not that great, as the X3d CPUs don't have the higher  frequency. And something like a 5700X or a 5800X will be the same or outperform it at those types of games.

Ryzen 7 5700G - No. It isn't based on the new design as it still is a monolithic designed CPU, probably doesn't do PCIe 4 (I would have to check though to be sure) and the integrated graphics don't offer any real advantages.

EDIT I checked and like other 'G' AMD CPUs it is only PCIe 3, not 4 so it is disqualified from your list.

Ryzen 7 5700x3D - Possible. Better choice if you can afford it would be the 5800X3d. But clocks lower in speed than the 5800X3d. Probably AMD brought these out because they had too many faulty 5800X3ds and then needed to sell off these binned CPUs (ditto for the 5600X3d).

Ryzen 7 5800 - No. Its a neutered CPU. The 5800X is better and it's the real McCoy and it is a 8 core CPU and can handle work loads better than a 6 core 5 5600X.

Ryzen 7 5800x3D - Possible.

Also consider the 5700X as it is a TDP 65 watt CPU very close to the 5800X (same number of cores, as both are 8 cores) in performance and is cheaper. It clock slightly higher than the 5800X3d.

The 5600X is another choice (6 core CPU).

My advice is the 5700X or 5800X (higher TDP  than the 5700X) or 5800X3d or the 5600X.

I quickly looked up the Civilization game and found these CPUs  are very close in terms of performance for that game.

Still unsure if the clock speeds or the more cores is the better or if the larger L3 cache makes any improvement. Or if these are just good for the game.

Edited by 0lds0d, 07 April 2024 - 03:31 PM.