What model are you looking for?
What model are you looking for?
If all you're doing is playing a "decade old MMO", then stay where you're at. There is absolutely no point to getting more cores. An upgrade to a 5600X (also six core) would get you a fairly significant single core boost, which would potentially make a difference in your game, but even that wouldn't really be worth the $300 cost to upgrade. Long and short, you're fine where you're at.
I'm not sure the game I play relies more on CPU than GPU; according to what I know, the GPU is mainly for showing the CPU's work, unlike most modern titles. EDIT: I'm hesitant to name it, thinking maybe because it's not a representative hardware test. Updated May 18, 2021 by Eighjan
It could require more processing power, but adding extra cores doesn't help if the system isn't properly utilized. Ten years ago, games barely ran on dual cores. It might work with quad cores, but you're likely using more cores than necessary with a 6-core processor. What still counts most in gaming—especially for older titles—is clock speed and IPC, meaning single-core performance. Once you reach a sufficient number of cores, it doesn't improve further.
WoW remains largely reliant on single-core performance. They're beginning to incorporate multicore processing, which performs adequately up to around six cores, though gains slow as core numbers increase. An upgrade to eight cores might offer some benefit, but it's unlikely to be substantial enough to justify the expense. In practice, you'd likely need roughly two and a half years of gameplay to justify the upgrade.
It sounds like you want to buy something just to buy something. That's a perfectly fine thing, nothing wrong with retail therapy. There isn't much that is going to be really worth it, so grab whatever "feels good" to you.
It looks like investing in a 3600 might not be worthwhile unless you're targeting specific applications. Most programs won't show a clear improvement, except in multithreaded scenarios where higher cores (12+) make a difference. For single-threaded tasks, the gains are minimal and unlikely to be noticeable.