Upgrade your Ryzen processor.
Upgrade your Ryzen processor.
You're looking at a solid setup with decent gaming performance. Considering an upgrade to a Ryzen 7 3700X or 3800X could boost your frame rate, especially in demanding titles. The jump in performance would likely be noticeable, but whether it's worth the ~$350 investment depends on how much you want to improve and your current needs. A 10-15% increase in FPS could make a big difference for smoother gameplay. Check the specific benchmarks for your games to gauge the potential gains.
Your current setup is already quite solid. Moving to a Ryzen 7 3700X would be a smart investment, especially since you'd see a noticeable boost in performance. You can expect around 111 to 123 FPS after the upgrade, and a 25 to 30 FPS increase is definitely impressive. I’d recommend going for it!
It varies depending on the monitor you have, but I’d likely wait for the next-gen Ryzen. The FPS improvement could range from about 30% to nearly none. Spending $350 is significant, especially considering how prices have been dropping over time. Besides a general decline, remember the price reductions in the 2000 series when the 3000 was released—it was consistent across the 1000 to 2000 ranges.
For pure gaming, choosing the 3600 option works well too. However, when you're using resolutions above 1080p, your CPU might not be the main bottleneck.
You might see some improvement in your gameplay, but keep it balanced. Avoid getting too thrilled. I once had a Ryzen 5 2600 and GTX 1080, which offered similar performance levels. For reference, I'm used to playing at 1440p, so I tend to rely more on the graphics card than the processor. I switched to a Ryzen 5 3600 (3700X) which provides comparable gaming performance and better RAM. I haven't tested it yet to stay neutral. From what I noticed, frame rates were slightly smoother, though not dramatically so. I'm happy with the trade-off for my needs. For pure gaming, I'm not sure if this upgrade is worth it. You'd need stronger cards to see a noticeable gain. With a 2070, even at 1080p, it feels more CPU-heavy, so the 2600 still seems okay. Also, the 3800X doesn't offer much value over the 3700X.
On a 2070, 90fps in Overwatch would feel like 1440p/4K if you haven’t upgraded yet—boost your 2600 for better performance. The non-X components are really struggling to start, so give them a boost.
You might face issues if you hold off for the next generation Ryzen, as compatibility with the fourth-gen chips isn't guaranteed, despite AMD's claims of backward support.
You're likely to see a clearer boost compared to the previous model, and the additional $150 for a newer board should add value regardless of its features.
I understand, though I believe the improvement wouldn't be significant. As I mentioned earlier, even with the 2600, his performance remains more dependent on GPU power than CPU. Except in competitive settings on lower settings, of course.