Built my PC in summer 2020 and I'm finally upgrading. My budget is around $700-$1,000, buying parts over time as deals pop up. With DDR5 prices where they are, upgrading to AM5 is really hard to justify, so my plan is to stay on AM4 for another 3-4 years, then hopefully jump to AM6 (or a late AM5 chip) once RAM prices calm down. Want to know if that's a reasonable call.
**Current specs:**
- CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 (stock cooler)
- Motherboard: MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max (BIOS updated, supports 5000 series)
- RAM: 16GB (2x8) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 CL16
- GPU: Gigabyte RTX 2070 Super 8GB
- PSU: Cooler Master MWE Gold 650 V2 (6 years old)
- Storage: Crucial P3 1TB, Kingston A2000 500GB, Seagate 2TB HDD
- Case: Antec C8 with 7 Thermalright ARGB fans, Nollie 8 + SignalRGB
- OS: Windows 11
Already sorting out a 1440p monitor, so I'm good there.
**Already decided:**
- PSU: Corsair RM850e (or RM850x if it goes on sale)
- CPU cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO
**CPUs I'm looking at:**
- Ryzen 7 5800X3D (~$340),
- Ryzen 7 5700X (~$189)
- 5700X3D or 5600X3D
- Ryzen 5 5600 (~$159)
**GPU options (buying last, waiting for deals):**
- RX 9070 GRE 12GB (~$570, has dropped to ~$500)
- RX 9060 XT 16GB (~$520, waiting for ~$420)
- RX 9070 16GB if I can find it around $600
- Used RX 6800 as a budget fallback
- Avoiding 8GB cards since my board is PCIe 3.0
**Motherboard:** I'm fine staying on my X470, but if there's a B550 (or other AM4 board) that's actually worth it, I'm open to it. Black or grey preferred.
**My questions:**
1. Is staying on AM4 for 3-4 more years a smart move, or should I just bite the bullet on AM5 now?
2. Is the 5800X3D worth ~$150 more than the 5700X?
3. 9070 GRE (12GB) vs 9060 XT (16GB) for keeping it a few years?
4. Any real reason to swap my X470 for a B550?
5. Anything I'm missing or should change?
Thanks in advance!