Purchase only the CPU or both the CPU and motherboard?
Purchase only the CPU or both the CPU and motherboard?
You have a Ryzen 5 2600 on an ASUS TUF B450M Plus board. Consider upgrading the CPU for better performance, and think about adding PCIe 4.0 support on the motherboard if it’s available.
Don't replace the motherboard solely for PCIe 4.0 compatibility. Upgrade the BIOS to the newest version first, then consider changing the CPU.
AM4 is a solid motherboard choice. I'm also using a B450 board, which I picked because I don't need the extra features of Ryzen 5000 or PCIe 4.0. If you watch Linus, you'll see those PCIe 4.0 improvements are only about 5% or less in performance. You won't notice much gain in FPS or SSD speeds. Just update your BIOS and pair it with a Ryzen 5000, and you're good to go.
It seems there will be a completely different socket design after AM4. It’s likely a new chipset such as 650 or 750. DDR5 and USB 4.0 will likely run on an entirely new platform due to the speed limitations of current components. By then, we’ll all need to upgrade our systems—motherboard, CPU, and RAM probably.