AMD powers editing and gaming with strong performance.
AMD powers editing and gaming with strong performance.
Hey there, I’m looking for insights from folks who’ve used 3600, 3700x, and 3900x settings regularly. Mostly I spend my days in Premiere, with a little time each week on Adobe After Effects. I also play games—both on-screen and in VR—on weekends. My main focus is editing, but I still enjoy high-performance gaming. There are plenty of render benchmarks available, though real-time performance feels more important than speed numbers. I’ve found some useful info on Puget, but simulating real-time work isn’t the same as navigating timelines and adjusting assets. I’m leaning toward getting one of those high-end cards—either 3600, 3700x, or 3900x—and possibly upgrading to a Zen 3 chip later. I’m not too worried about price, but I’m planning to invest in better CPU, RAM, and a solid GPU so I can upgrade later if needed. Right now, I’m seeing prices around $280, $450, or $675 CAD. Based on productivity tests from sites like Gamers Nexus, each upgrade seems to boost performance by about 30%. That’s decent value compared to the 60% and 50% jumps for the next-gen chips. Still, those numbers are just averages—what actually matters is how these changes affect my daily workflow. It’s also a bit unusual to ask now, given Adobe’s recent H264/5 hardware improvements and possible Intel price cuts. But hey, it’s worth checking what makes each upgrade feel practical in real-world video projects.
Starting this year, the Ryzen 4000 chips will arrive late and won’t work with the X570 chipset anymore. Upgrading later means you’ll need a new board. That’s certain. It’s like choosing a sturdy four-door sedan versus a sporty two-door coupe—one gets you there just fine, the other speeds up but might leave you a bit in the dust. The 3900x outperforms the 3600 significantly, offering double cores and threads. To my ears, it seems tailored for your situation, though a 3700x would be a more budget-friendly option. I think the 3900x was built with your needs in mind.
1080p footage isn't worth much. The 4K H265 at 60fps with Braw will add more weight here, especially with the higher-end R7 and R9 compared to what's discussed. Some of the exporting points are unclear for H264 and H265 since hardware encoding on GPUs is expected in the next update.
Alright, I'm planning to hold off for the first year and wait for prices to drop when the next lineup is released. The 3000s did a big upgrade over the 2000s, so if the 4000s follow that trend, it could be worth investing in a new generation. With the B550s coming out, things might shift, but we'll see. I'm off the 3600 list now and leaning toward the 3700. It looks like the 3900 in Premiere offers only about a 15% boost according to Puget's tests, so I'd rather save that extra $200 or so. Thanks for the input!