Trying to decide which upgrade path to take
Posted by Turumo@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 11 comments
Hi everyone, I've been contemplating and arguing with myself about what upgrade path to take for my gaming/music production machine.
I'm struggling to decide if I should play around with upgrading/sidegrading my current setup or attempting to stretch to a DDR5 setup.
My build is about 6 years old now and consists of:
Gigabyte X570 Gaming X
Ryzen 7 3700X
32gb Corsair Vengeance DDR4
Gigabyte 3080 Aorus Master
plus a slack handful mix of M.2 and SSD drives.
Is there any point just upgrading my CPU or should I go for an entry/mid level AM5 or reluctantly splash out on something more top end of the AM5 spectrum?
Turumo@reddit (OP)
Thanks for the input everyone, and so quickly too I might add! It's certainly a load off my mind with the consensus confirming that changing to DDR5 is not really worth the money at this time. I'll keep an eye out for the 5800X3D at hopefully a reasonable price point.
Pumciusz@reddit
5800x3d is rumored to be released again.
If you can, I would avoid buying ddr5.
kazzek_@reddit
it was rumored to be a "10th anniversary edition" so I guess it will be expensive - I also expect it being scalped to unobtainium due to the huge demand. with current AM4 X3D chip prices I don't see the point of spending 3-400€ on a cpu which basically has the performance of a 7500F while not having further upgrade options.
for OP upgrading from a 3600 even a 5700X or a 5500X3D would result in a performance uplift and both of these can be bought for less than 200€
Pumciusz@reddit
It's game dependent. In some games it's better than 14900k.
If they don't want to game or gamble your picks are valid.
5800x/XT if price is similar too.
IrrelevantAfIm@reddit
Yep and wait for manufacturers to start manufacturing PCRAM again because they will do it now the prices are up
EfficientMongoose317@reddit
Also worth mentioning: AM4 is kind of in a weirdly great spot rn because the upgrade path is so cheap compared to full platform swaps
dropping in a 5800x3d can genuinely make an older system feel “new enough” again for gaming without touching the rest of the build
For music production specifically, I’d probably lean more toward a 5900x/5950x, though, if your DAWs/plugins benefit from the extra cores
3080 + upgraded AM4 CPU is still a really strong combo in 2026, honestly
According_Spare7788@reddit
And by upgrading, do u mean a full rebuild or partial rebuild with just CPU+motherboard+ ram(basically new platform, old 3080)?
Turumo@reddit (OP)
I'm just thinking from a CPU perspective. Sorry it was unclear. I'm quite happy with the performance of the 3080 still and it's definitely not the bottleneck for my system at 1440p. In an ideal world I'd be able to put an AM5 into the current MB and avoid any kind of mental torture! lol.
According_Spare7788@reddit
I see. Well, the rumored 5800x3d release COULD be an option to elevate some of the CPU bottleneck you have.
Rn, a normal zen 3 chip or a 5500x3d is a good option. I don't think I need a full rebuild if you plan on keeping the 3080 for the foreseeable future.
ICastCats@reddit
I mean, the 5800X is equivalent to a 7600X, I'd drop in a new CPU if it matters, but honestly your setup seems pretty solid, just depends if you're having issues with your music production.
Potentially the 5800X3D may get a refresh this year, if you want to max it out.
TheDutchOrder@reddit
Only an cpu upgrade will do wonders in this setup! The 3080 is still viable. But if you want to upgrade it you need to step it up to an 9070xt or 5070ti or else it wouldnt be worth imo. Going to ddr5 would worth the price. apart of the cpu its an great setup.