should i upgrade from a Ryzen 5 3600 to a Ryzen 5 5600 or a Ryzen 7 5700?
Posted by IllustriousQuail8681@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 31 comments
i have 32gb DDR4, 700 watt Power Supply, a Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, a 3060 TI, MSI B550 Gaming Plus AM4 motherboard, 1TB NVME and 1TB SATA SSD i recently bought a 7700xt but my 3600 bottlenecks it at 1440p and i qwas wondering if upgrading to a ryzen 5 5600 would be worth it or should i just go for a Ryzen 7 5700 and be done with it?/ what are your guys' opinions as i cant afford to get an x3d model?
greggm2000@reddit
No, wait instead for the 5800X3D, which is being re-released soon, at a relatively cheap price (based on the errant listing that appeared in India recently). This would be the smart thing to do.
___Sokka___@reddit
A rule of thumb is if 2 cpus of same tierand one has igpu, its cutting short somewhere : could be cache or cores and so on. IGPu is not at all required for a gaming rig.
kingcarcas@reddit
You save for a new build, unless that is really far away. The card is '23, the upgrade CPU still 2020.
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
I see where you are coming from but i cant afford anything AM5 i also cant afford ddr5 prices either, so id rather stick with am4 because its much more in my budget if that makes sense and its still capable
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
Not to mention ddr5 prices have also skyrocketed since AI bubblr and so have processors and now motherboards so even if i wanted to i couldnt even go AM5 even in a new build at a reasonable enough price to make a new build even justifiable in my budget i do understand where your coming from i just cant do it because of budget constraints
Impossible-Move-2096@reddit
Ryzen 5 5600 is the sweet spot here. 🔥 It’s basically a drop‑in upgrade for your B550 board, gives you double the L3 cache compared to the 5700 (32MB vs 16MB), and in gaming it’ll crush the 3600 bottleneck you’re seeing with that 7700XT at 1440p. The 5700 is more of a productivity chip not really worth it if your main pain is gaming FPS.
CustardCivil@reddit
depends what you gonna use it for but ryzen 5 5600 is better than the ryzen 7 5700 due to having more l3 cache 32mb vs 16mb on ryzen 7 5700 which it will benefit you in gaming
CustardCivil@reddit
ryzen 7 5700 is useful for productivity tasks due to having 2 more cores
Kotschcus_Domesticus@reddit
5700x is better for both workload as well as gaming. I would avoid 5700.
CustardCivil@reddit
yes but its hard to find 5700x now too idk if op can find one eventually but it will cost more
Kotschcus_Domesticus@reddit
really? in europe you can find it all over the shops. price is around 170-180 euro. 5600 might a better budget option.
CustardCivil@reddit
yep it depends on most country in my country we don't have ryzen 7 5700x in here it keeps running out of stock we also don't know where is op from too
if you really want a ryzen 7 5700x online it is overseas
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
i appreciate this honestly, i'm in the american market and a 5700x isnt as easily found stateside i guess (i could be wrong) but i choose the 5600 because of budget constraints, it might change but the 5600 should reduce my bottleneck of my planned 7700xt upgrade (which i already have the 7700xt so i should be okay with a 5600) with my budget being 160-240 USD
Kotschcus_Domesticus@reddit
go for 5600. best for the bucks without hussle.
GerbGalerb@reddit
I just got a 5700x off Amazon for 160+shipping, so around 175
GerbGalerb@reddit
I just got the 5700x myself, upgrading from a 3700. Didnt wanna buy it but figured 160 was a decent deal for it
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
i see i do mostly gaming so i think the 5600 should be ideal for me then thank you, ive been debating these two chips for the past few days and its been difficult to select one or the other for me so i appreciate your help thank you again 😄
CustardCivil@reddit
go for it that ryzen 5 5600 is good for gaming
Kotschcus_Domesticus@reddit
5600 or 5700x but nit 5700 without an X. 5500 and 5700 are 5600g and 5700g without igpu and lower L3 cache. those have only 16mb, 5600 and 5700x/5800xt have 32mb and 5800x3d has 96mb. that L3 cache has high impact on gaming so 5800x3d would be the best ultimate upgrade, but price is a bit too high in 2026 (it will have anniversary rerelease). if you have a good motherboard and 32gb ram, 5800x3d migh be worth it, otherwise I would look for cheap 5600. depeds if you actualy need to upgrade. if you older gpu, you might want to save up for AM5. what is the rest of your system?
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
i have 32GB DDR4 RAM, 700 watt power supply, 2 SSDs (1 NVME other SATA both a terabyte) my current GPU is a 3060 TI 8 GB, my motherboard is the MSI B550 gaming Plus AM4 motherboard and cpu is a ryzen 5 3600 (sorry if i repeated anything just wanting to make sure all components are listed)
Kotschcus_Domesticus@reddit
maybe wait for 5800x3d anniversary, that would be the best option. I have 5700x and at 1440p it does not limit me much, so consuder getting that and maybe new gpu. later on. 5700x gives you a bit of a headroom too. I upgraded from 3060ti to 5070 and have 1440p 180hz monitor.
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
i see i appreciate your feedback, i have a 7700xt sitting around my room in a box becasue my 3600 bottlenecks it pretty badly so i have the GPU i want on hand just not the CPU power i need and congratulations on the 5070 score how much did ya get it for i paid around i believe 400 something for my 7700xt brand new and i have my 3060 ti sitting in my pc instead of the 7700xt due to said bottlenecking issue
that said i cant wait for the 5800x3d anniversary drop i heard about i hope they drop it soon
Kotschcus_Domesticus@reddit
just use 7700xt before getting new cpu. it is stronger than 3060ti but not that much. if you want cheap drop in just get 5600. that will be best for and 7700xt. I got my 5070 for 560 euros. I dont care abou scores much. helped me a lot upgrading my gpu. 5070 is always busy. are on 1080p?
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
was on 1080 onlyu recently upgraded to 1440 a few months ago
Kotschcus_Domesticus@reddit
5600 might be best option. cheap and pair well.with 7700xt at 1440p. 700 watts is enough. if you plan some workload, consider 5700x. 5600 and 5700x has same power consuption and produce same amount of heat. depends if you need two more cores. otherwise go for 5600.
Eldus_Miku@reddit
What's your budget? The 5500x3d is $154 shipped on Ali atm.
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
budget is around i believe (im making sure i dont spend too much bwcxause im trying to be money conscious so immnot overspending) i think around 160-240 should be good
Verdreht@reddit
The 5600 is Vermeer, has 32mb of L3 cache. It's an upgrade over your 3600 in gaming
The 5700 is Cezanne, has 16mb of L3 cache. It's similar performance to your 3600 in gaming
TumorInMyBrain@reddit
Yea the naming scheme is a bit misleading, it is basically a 5700g without the igpu and pcie 4.0
IllustriousQuail8681@reddit (OP)
i see so the wiser chocie would be the 5600 since i game a lot, i appreciate this thank you
PreparationOk2280@reddit
Get the Ryzen 5 5600 because of the higher l3 cache. In some games the Ryzen 5 5600 performs better than the Ryzen 7 5700. If you want a something better that will still kinda fit in you budget, Ryzen 5 5600, Ryzen 5 5600x, or Ryzen 7 5700x.