We're currently enjoying the season of new PC hardware launches, as we await third-party benchmarks for the latest Intel Arrow Lake processors and the soon-to-be-unveiled Ryzen 7 9800X3D. It's been only two months since AMD's Ryzen 9000 CPUs received a lackluster reception from both reviewers and end users, delivering little to no gains over the previous-gen Ryzen 7000 series.

Nonetheless, this month and the last quarter of the year, in general, is a great time to upgrade to the AM5 platform, that is if you're still rocking an AM4 gaming PC. Compared to most of the Ryzen 5000 CPUs, the Ryzen 7000 and Ryzen 9000 chips bring major improvements. However, depending on the AM4 CPU you have, and how long you can wait for an upgrade, it might also make sense to skip AM5 for now. Let's dig into the variables for your consideration.

5 The 9800X3D is almost upon us

Best time to join the Ryzen 9000 gang

Whatever your thoughts on the latest Ryzen 9000 CPUs from AMD, you can't ignore the upcoming Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which will most likely be crowned as the fastest CPU for gaming at launch, beating the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. And you don't even have to wait too long to see it arrive — most reports indicate that the much-awaited chip will be announced between the last week of October and the first week of November.

If gaming is your only concern, and you're itching for a CPU upgrade, there's very little reason to look elsewhere. Having waited this long to upgrade to AM5, you can surely wait a few more weeks. That said, even the non-X3D Ryzen 9000 CPUs are decent options if you want a processor with both gaming and productivity muscle. The Ryzen 7 9700X, in particular, delivers strong productivity gains over the Ryzen 7000 series chips.

A bonus is that you won't have to deal with post-purchase dissonance, considering that the Ryzen 9000 processors are just two months old. Any new processors on the AM5 platform won't be here for around a year. So, if you have a fear of missing out, it's a safe time to get a Ryzen 9000 CPU. For Ryzen 5000 owners, even the Ryzen 7000 CPUs will deliver a significant boost in gaming performance. And if you have anything older, you'll obviously see a massive performance uplift.

4 You can skip AM5 if you already have the 5800X3D

The best of AM4 is still king

AMD debuted the 3D V-Cache with the famed Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Compared to the non-X3D Ryzen 5000 variants, the 5800X3D delivered significant double-digit gains in gaming performance. The 5800X3D remained the fastest gaming CPU in the world for a long time until its successor, the 7800X3D, rightfully took its place. If your AM4 gaming PC already has the 5800X3D, there's little reason to consider any Ryzen 7000 or Ryzen 9000 CPU.

Yes, you're bound to gain a performance boost by upgrading to the 7800X3D, but on average, you'll only be looking at 10-12% more frames at 1440p. (You're not buying these chips to game at 1080p, are you?) The upcoming 9800X3D will surely be faster than both the 5800X3D and 7800X3D, but it will also be way more expensive. The 7800X3D launched at an MSRP of $449, so it's reasonable to expect the 9800X3D to breach the $500 mark.

Your good ol' 5800X3D performs virtually the same as the Ryzen 7 7700X and 9700X in gaming workloads. Hence, you can still extract a few more years out of it, and delay your AM5 upgrade, maybe jumping to the 9800X3D when it gets a price cut, or to its Zen 6 successor.

3 Zen 5 is a huge upgrade over most AM4 CPUs

Your old non-X3D chip doesn't stand a chance

The best of AM4, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, packs the same gaming performance as most Ryzen 7000 and Ryzen 9000 (non-X3D) processors. However, if you have something like the Ryzen 5 5600X or Ryzen 7 5700X in your AM4 build, an upgrade to, say, the Ryzen 5 7600X or Ryzen 5 9600X will deliver a massive 30-40% average boost in gaming performance, even at 1440p.

You could, alternatively, pick up a 5800X3D and simply drop it in on your current motherboard (without needing a memory upgrade as well). However, finding the 5800X3D has been quite difficult lately, since AMD discontinued it a while ago. Even the 7800X3D is slowly facing the same fate, as it appears that AMD is phasing it out in preparation for the launch of the 9800X3D.

Hence, at this point, a full platform upgrade to a Ryzen 7000 or Ryzen 9000 processor (based on pricing) makes sense if you have a non-X3D AM4 CPU. You'll not only gain the benefits of a much faster CPU architecture but also faster memory bandwidth, thanks to DDR5 RAM. Plus, you'll be jumping to the latest platform, which AMD is set to support at least until 2027.

2 Wait for Zen 6, if you can

Ryzen 9000 has mostly been a disappointment

Jumping from AM4 to AM5 is a significant performance uplift, but if you do not need an urgent upgrade, I'd advise you to wait it out. The Ryzen 9000 CPUs were hailed as game-changers by AMD before their launch, but they turned out to be anything but. Gaming performance, compared to Ryzen 7000, remained essentially the same, and even the much-talked-about thermal efficiency gains didn't materialize.

AMD might retain the gaming crown with its Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and even the 7800X3D, since Intel's Arrow Lake processors are reportedly slower than both of them in gaming. That doesn't change the fact that not everyone is buying these expensive X3D chips when building new gaming PCs. At lower price points, AMD's Ryzen 9000 CPUs might be faster than, say, Ryzen 5000 chips, but if you're satisfied with your AM4 gaming performance, you should wait to see what AMD does with Zen 6 next year.

1 AM5 isn't pricey anymore

Motherboard and RAM prices have fallen considerably

A popular argument not to upgrade to AM5 used to be the prohibitively expensive cost of the mandatory DDR5 memory and motherboard. Since AMD switched to the new DDR5 standard with Zen 5, unlike Intel's Raptor Lake CPUs that support both DDR4 and DDR5, you have no choice but to pay the AM5 tax if you want to move to AMD's latest platform.

That's not the case anymore, as both AM5 motherboards and DDR5 memory have gotten way cheaper than they were just a year ago. Someone building a Ryzen 5 7600X rig can have the CPU, motherboard, and RAM combo for under $500 (even with an ATX motherboard and RGB RAM). Considering the 7600X is similar to the 5800X3D in gaming, you're getting a pretty powerful build on the latest platform for a great price.

What will 9800X3D vs. Arrow Lake look like?

I think we all know that Arrow Lake isn't going to beat the 9800X3D (Intel has admitted as much), but it would still be interesting to see where exactly the gaming performance of all these chips stacks up against each other. As per Intel, we know that the Arrow Lake CPUs will be 5% slower than the Ryzen 7000 X3D chips. How much that performance gap increases after the launch of the 9800X3D is still not known.

Some leaks claim that the 9800X3D will be much stronger than previously anticipated, bringing a big frequency jump over both the 7800X3D and the Ryzen 9000 non-X3D models. Fortunately, we don't need to wait too long to find out, as the 9800X3D is set to launch sometime between October 24th and November 5th, so stay tuned.