Question Upgrade Suggestions

[Ferimer]

Good day all.

I am looking to upgrade some key components to my PC. I want to see what would pair best with my 4070 Super and be a better upgrade compared to my current set up.

The components I am looking to upgrade are

Motherboard - Current is a MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (MS-7C02)

RAM - Corsair 8192 MB (DDR4-2137) - XMP 2.0 - P/N: CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 (x 4 for 32 GB of Ram)

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 6-Core Processor - many years old at this point.

Current PSU - CX750M Power supply 80+ Bronze. Bought in 2023 iirc

Looking to find what pairs best with the 4070 Super to give me the best output. These seem to be the only components I have not upgraded in a long time.

THank you in advance for any and all suggestions.

 

[Lutfij]

You're advised to stylize your thread with info asked of in this thread;

*How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice First off, respect where respect is due - this is an adaptation of the Animal's *How To Ask For New Build Advice* Sticky. I created this because there's a lot of posts nowadays asking for upgrade advice both on here and on the CPU forums, and I feel...

forums.tomshardware.com

and the community will chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

As for your current system, please list them like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Since you'll be swapping out your motherboard in the upgrade process, you'll need to reinstall your OS. If you're using an OEM license key for Windows 10/11, then you're going to need a new license key as an OEM license key is bound to the BIOS chip on the motherboard. Backing up your mission critical data would be a good idea as well.

 

[LOGAN54321]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($207.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B650M Pro RS Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($92.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $460.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-27 13:05 EDT-0400

 

[logainofhades]

Easy upgrade, is bios update, and drop in a 5700x3d.

I would not do a six core, of any kind, in 2025.

A budget is needed though.

 

[helper800]

Good day all.

I am looking to upgrade some key components to my PC. I want to see what would pair best with my 4070 Super and be a better upgrade compared to my current set up.

The components I am looking to upgrade are

Motherboard - Current is a MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (MS-7C02)

RAM - Corsair 8192 MB (DDR4-2137) - XMP 2.0 - P/N: CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 (x 4 for 32 GB of Ram)

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 6-Core Processor - many years old at this point.

Looking to find what pairs best with the 4070 Super to give me the best output. These seem to be the only components I have not upgraded in a long time.

THank you in advance for any and all suggestions.

Are you anywhere near a microcenter store?

 

[helper800]

Easy upgrade, is bios update, and drop in a 5700x3d.

I would not do a six core, of any kind, in 2025.

A budget is needed though.

It's not the amount of cores that matters though, it's the amount of multithreaded performance that's really important. For instance, a 9600x has much more MT performance compared to a 5800x/5800X3D. That means a new six core does the same work or more as compared to your suggested 5700X3D.

 

[logainofhades]

It's not the amount of cores that matters though, it's the amount of multithreaded performance that's really important. For instance, a 9600x is has much more MT performance compared to a 5800x/5800X3D. That means a new six core does the same work or more as compared to your suggested 5700X3D.

When games like Cyberpunk can nearly fully utilize an 8 core chip, unless all you play are older games, or E-sports, I simply wouldn't recommend a 6 core anymore. Need to still have cores/threads to handle background tasks, and other programs, like discord, web browsers and such. A clean test bench and a bar chart does not equal real world use case.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cyberpunk-2077-phantom-liberty-will-be-very-cpu-intensive

 

[helper800]

When games like Cyberpunk can nearly fully utilize an 8 core chip, unless all you play are older games, or E-sports, I simply wouldn't recommend a 6 core anymore.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/cyberpunk-2077-phantom-liberty-will-be-very-cpu-intensive

If the 9600x has more threaded performance than a 5700X3D, then why would you recommend it? There is nothing magical about more cores. Here is the 6 core 9600x beating the 8 core 5800X3D in CP2077 at 1080p by 11.6%. Source article.

 

[logainofhades]

Clean test bench, nothing running in the background, sure a 9600x can win out. But have fun with the stutter once Windows gets a wild hair and wants to do something. Many use discord, for co-op gameplay, and that also takes CPU resources.

I also only recommended the 5700x3d as the easy upgrade, not the best one, as the OP still has yet to give us a budget.

 

[helper800]

Clean test bench, nothing running in the background, sure a 9600x can win out. But have fun with the stutter once Windows gets a wild hair and wants to do something. Many use discord, for co-op gameplay, and that also takes CPU resources.

I also only recommended the 5700x3d as the easy upgrade, not the best one, as the OP still has yet to give us a budget.

The point is that the number of cores is completely irrelevant to the conversation of multitasking/multithreaded performance unless we are talking about CPUs using the same architecture. A new 6 core CPU will often beat an older 8 or even get close to beating an old 12 core CPU because each core does so much more work per clock than the older CPUs while clocking higher at the same time. Personally, I am on a 5800X3D and do not have many stutter issues at all even with 20-100 chrome tabs, steam, discord, HWiNFO, RTSS, et cetera open while gaming. Granted I am usually on 1440p or 4k resolution settings, though at 4k, DLSS is on most of the time which means close to 1080p CPU performance requirements.

 

[Why_Me]

Good day all.

I am looking to upgrade some key components to my PC. I want to see what would pair best with my 4070 Super and be a better upgrade compared to my current set up.

The components I am looking to upgrade are

Motherboard - Current is a MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (MS-7C02)

RAM - Corsair 8192 MB (DDR4-2137) - XMP 2.0 - P/N: CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 (x 4 for 32 GB of Ram)

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 3600X 6-Core Processor - many years old at this point.

Looking to find what pairs best with the 4070 Super to give me the best output. These seem to be the only components I have not upgraded in a long time.

THank you in advance for any and all suggestions.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($196.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B840-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($124.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($92.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: *ADATA XPG Core Reactor II VE 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $534.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-27 19:31 EDT-0400

 

[Ferimer]

You're advised to stylize your thread with info asked of in this thread;

*How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice First off, respect where respect is due - this is an adaptation of the Animal's *How To Ask For New Build Advice* Sticky. I created this because there's a lot of posts nowadays asking for upgrade advice both on here and on the CPU forums, and I feel...

forums.tomshardware.com

and the community will chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

As for your current system, please list them like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model. BIOS version for your motherboard at this moment of time.

Since you'll be swapping out your motherboard in the upgrade process, you'll need to reinstall your OS. If you're using an OEM license key for Windows 10/11, then you're going to need a new license key as an OEM license key is bound to the BIOS chip on the motherboard. Backing up your mission critical data would be a good idea as well.

My Signature has all the information one would need to understand what each component I currently have running.

As for my PSU it is a cx750m semi modular atx power supply

I do have a key that is good still, but even still from my understanding the free version of windows gives everything one would need and doesn't end (not sure if that is still the case) but there are a few comments on some forum posts ive seen where members mention they have had free version of it for years without any issues.

 

[Ferimer]

Easy upgrade, is bios update, and drop in a 5700x3d.

I would not do a six core, of any kind, in 2025.

A budget is needed though

I did do a bit of light reading on the 5700x3d and noticed that the price is going up and up for something that is at the top for ddr4. It is currently less expensive to buy than what I do have but that is due to the supply of the Ryzen 5 3600x dwindling.
The performance upgrade was only ~15%

 

[Ferimer]

Clean test bench, nothing running in the background, sure a 9600x can win out. But have fun with the stutter once Windows gets a wild hair and wants to do something. Many use discord, for co-op gameplay, and that also takes CPU resources.

I also only recommended the 5700x3d as the easy upgrade, not the best one, as the OP still has yet to give us a budget.

Budget is nothing to truly worry about at this time, with that said though I would hope that people aren't suggesting things that are way overpriced when there is a cheaper/better alternative available. I am looking for suggestions as I have been looking myself but like to gather opinions from those that also have more knowledge on certain components than I do. I do appreciate all the suggestions already and the explanations they are very helpful

 

[logainofhades]

Budget is nothing to truly worry about at this time, with that said though I would hope that people aren't suggesting things that are way overpriced when there is a cheaper/better alternative available. I am looking for suggestions as I have been looking myself but like to gather opinions from those that also have more knowledge on certain components than I do. I do appreciate all the suggestions already and the explanations they are very helpful

You do not need anything beyond a 9800x3d, for just gaming. 7800x3d is also still available and is considerably cheaper right now, and not all that far behind the 9800x3d. The 9800x3d does run a bit cooler, as the 3d cache is underneath the cores, instead of stacked on top, allowing better heat transfer, from the cores to the IHS on the CPU. This allows the 9800x3d to also boost to higher clocks, and in turn perform better in non gaming tasks vs the 7800x3d. Normally the x3d chips are quite a bit slower than their non x3d counterparts, in non gaming. The 9800x3d bucks this trend and can actually perform better than a 9700x, in non gaming workloads.

For instance.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($472.02 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Frost Commander 140 BLACK 95.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($56.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 GAMING X WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($87.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $806.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-28 14:44 EDT-0400


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($381.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Frost Commander 140 BLACK 95.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($56.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 GAMING X WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($87.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $716.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-28 14:44 EDT-0400