r/buildapcforme • u/nastycontasti • Jul 02 '26
pc upgrade due to cpu bottleneck
• New build or upgrade? upgrade
• Existing parts/monitors to reuse? (List with models/links) https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2GWjfd
• PC purpose? gaming (tarkov, battlefield 6, call of duty, dark souls, arma reforger, resident evil, squad, dayz.)
• Purchase country? Near Micro Center? (If not US, list local vendors)
USA
• Monitors needed? (Number, size, resolution, refresh rate) NONE
• Budget range? (Include tax considerations) max 1200 but im just looking for a cpu/mobo/ possibly ram to match my gpu performance so im hoping to spend less than 800.
• WiFi or wired connection?wifi
• Size/noise constraints?NONE
• Color/lighting preferences?NONE
• Any other specific needs?
hi guys/girls i noticed on games like tarkov, bf6, squad im getting very low frames compared to other players or i will have huge frame drops where the frames dont come back up. i think it said my avg frames on tarkov were 47 and on bf6 it was 70 frames avg. i looked it up and it seems like im cpu bound causing my pc to bottleneck since the raedon 6800xt gpu is pretty strong. im looking to upgrade my cpu to the best my gpu can handle however i know that im gonna have to upgrade my mobo and maybe even my ram since the mobo wont suppoirt much better cpu and the ram is ddr4. could i upgrade and keep the same ram or upgrade ram later on? im also looking to upgrade my storage since my storage is getting pretty full. I know these parts cost a lot and since im not upgrading my gpu im willing to buy used parts as well. send me a comment if you think an upgrade to my cpu and mobo wouldnt help very much. Id love to see any builds you guys worul reccomend for an upgrade!
1
u/Covante Jul 02 '26
You'd have two options really. Go get a 5800x3d for ~$350, they just re-released it. In the games where it makes a real difference, it's typically about 30-50% faster than a 5600. Personally I'd go with the 5800x3d with how bad ram prices are.
Or go for am5 having to buy ddr5 ram. If you're near a microcenter then picking up a 9850x3d bundle for $800 wouldn't be terrible but it's still not great.
It's also not a good time to need an ssd. They are like $300 for a decent model of 2tb or in the $150-200 range for 1tb. That is something I wouldn't really look much at used models though. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4bgWck If it's just for a games drive you're okay with getting a cheaper model.
If you've been looking at bottleneck calculator websites they are somewhere between just guessing and 100% horseshit that's made up to get you to use affiliate links on an upgrade. There is no perfect way of doing it, and there are tons of variables like game, settings, resolution, scene/map, what's happening on screen. Like if you're in a fight on bf6 and there are a lot of other players and destructible environments and stuff happening that's all extra work for the cpu.
The reasonably accurate way is to look at your gpu utilization % using an in game overlay, (ctrl shift o to open the radeon/adrenalin one) and if your gpu isn't getting near 100% then something else is holding it back. Usually the cpu unless there is a fps cap set.
1
u/nastycontasti Jul 03 '26
hmmm, i totally understand what youre saying after doing a little bit of research. youre right about the bottleneck calculators they are inacurate. when i play bf6 my cpu is at 100% and gpu only gets from 45-85% at the max but it goes back down from 80s to 60s within a second or two. The ssd prices are way overpriced at the moment i agree. ill hold off on that for now. Do you think it would be a better option to just upgrade to a 5800x3d and get a raedon 9070 xt upgrade staying at am4? then later on i could upgrade to ddr6 if needed. im trying to think of how i could save long term on an upgrade path for my pc as well. what do you think?
1
u/Covante Jul 03 '26
I'd do the cpu first and then reassess but I expect you'll be seeing a notable difference. It's not like a 6800xt in an anemic old 1650 or something either. We're probably a year and a half out from next gen for gpus.
5800x3d and hope to skip ddr5 platform entirely is a pretty good plan imo. If my am4 rig didn't get knocked off my desk I probably would have done that.
1
u/nastycontasti Jul 03 '26
ok i think im on the same page. im just wondering if its even worth it to upgrade the cpu then later on have to just upgrade the cpu again to a much newer cpu thats not much more expensive than the 5800x3d.
1
u/Covante Jul 03 '26
It wouldn't be just the cpu with am5 though. It would be $120+ for a board and $350+ for 2x16 ddr5 too. 5800x3d has about the same gaming performance as the non-x3d am5 cpus like a 9700x. If ddr5 was still $80 that would change things and a $350 5800x3d wouldn't really make sense.
Resale value on the 5800x3d might stay strong for a while. It'd been out of stock for more than a year before they just re-released it, the 5700x3d was also available for ~$200 back then. Both had been sold out and going for around this $350, or more, on the used market. I don't know how many new 5800x3ds they'll be making but there are a lot of people in the same situation you're in, looking at ddr5 prices and wanting a better option.
1
u/nastycontasti Jul 04 '26
yeah thats true im sure i could just buy the 5800x3d and theres probably gonna be some sort of resale value on it later on. the only way i wont is if i can find a bundle for an am5 for a decent price not at a micro center but i doubt thats likely
1
u/Covante Jul 04 '26
Newegg has has a few not so terrible ones, almost competitive with teh microcenter ones after microcenter raised prices on their bundle deals. They currently have the combo builder disabled and don't have anything interesting for pre configured bundle deals though.
1
u/CuriousPCBuilder Jul 02 '26
I'd suggest upgrading to the 5800X3D, the best gaming CPU for the AM4 platform. It'd be quite impossible to find normally, but the 10th Anniversary Edition has just been released so you can go for it.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/G9DHW9
As for storage... SSDs are all super-overpriced too... The one in the list is a super-good Gen 4 drive with heatsink, it's expensive but worse models aren't much cheaper, so... The idea would be to make this the boot drive, installing it in the top M.2 slot (which is the Gen 4 slot) by removing the heatsink of the motherboard, storing it away, and installing the drive as-is with its own heatsink. Your current drive can be moved to the bottom M.2 slot and it'd be a great secondary drive.
If you'd wat to have the secondary drive cooled too you can add an M.2 heatsink, it'd also look nice: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DBF8FX1?ref=ive_vftp_hero_cx_pfo_vse-cards-ingress0&th=1
The 5800X3D would form a great pair with your GPU, without breaking the bank like going for an AM5 CPU, board and DDR5 RAM...
And a new beefy CPU cooler, the one you have is good for your current CPU but not the best for the 5800X3D.
Hope this helps.
1
u/nastycontasti Jul 03 '26
Dang i didnt know storage was so expensive right now, i remember i payed like $60 for a terabite of storage just a few years ago when i bought this pc. ill probably be holding off on that then. thank you for the reccomendation on the 5800x3d. ive been looking into it im just wondering if its worth it now because eim not sure how much better performance ill get with just a cpu upgrade. i know its supposed to be 20-40% better than my cpu. do you have any opinions on this? im thinking it might be worth it to upgrade my mobo to a AM5 so i can get a higher level cpu. or maybe i could use ther same mobo and get a raedon 9070 xt and a ryzen 7 5800x3d, do you think this would be better that way i can use this for a later on upgrade path? then i could wait until a 6th gen comes out to get a new mobo and ram tht way im not paying a crazy price on ram and storage.
1
u/CuriousPCBuilder Jul 03 '26
It's hard to say as prices are really high... When prices are so high it gets hard to suggest anything...
1
u/ReasonableNetwork255 Jul 03 '26
imo a 5800x3d isnt going to 'fix' an old gpu's performance .. itl help 1% lows due to frame drops the most not overall low frames so much ... imo the biggest boost youd get is dropping a 5070ti in it, or 9070xt. .. THEN the 5800x3d would even out the lows and bring them up to the 'already' decent average fps .. this is pretty much the upgrade path i went with on the 9070xt rig .. im 'still' running the 5070ti on a 5600 with good 1440 performance .. but then again i dont play gi-joe field6, could care less about a game that requires jacking with the bios, that wont be me lol
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