Is Upgrading from Ryzen 5 3600 to 5600X Worth it for Casual 1440p Gaming?

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Hey folks, I’m considering a PC upgrade and could use some advice. I’m currently rocking a Ryzen 5 3600 and I’m thinking about moving up to a Ryzen 5 5600X while sticking with my B450 motherboard and pairing it with some new 32GB 3200Hz RAM. My current setup includes a B450 motherboard, 16GB of 2666Hz RAM, an RTX 3060, and a 500W power supply. I wanna stick with playing games at 1440p on high settings without needing super high frame rates, just aiming for something smooth over 60 FPS.

If I go through with this upgrade, I plan to give my older hardware to a friend who’s using a laptop with a GTX 1070—which is starting to show its age. Do you think this upgrade will give me a noticeable performance boost, or would I be better off sticking with what I have for now?

3 Answers

TurboGamer -

From what you’ve outlined, upgrading to the R5 5600X and the faster RAM should provide you with some performance gains, especially in CPU-bound games or multitasking. Plus, it’ll probably help in getting smoother frames at 1440p, which seems like what you’re after. And being able to donate your older setup—especially to a friend juggling a laptop 1070—would surely be a win-win.

OverclockOverlord -

I would hold off on upgrading for now, unless you really feel the need for it. If most of your games are not pushing your current system to its max, the gains might not be as huge as you expect. Plus, giving away your setup is generous, but unless the system your friend is getting is substantially faster than his laptop, you both might only see moderate improvements.

TechSavvyNinja -

Hey, so if you’re comparing the 1660 Super desktop card to a GTX 1070 laptop variant, the desktop card might edge out in some situations—mostly due to desktop versions having better cooling and capabilities. That said, a GTX 1070 still has more memory and cores, so performance could be closer than you’d think. If your friend only gaming on the laptop, moving to the desktop might actually be an upgrade in terms of experience.

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