AMD's AM5 platform has been available since 2022, and I highly recommend it if you're building a new PC in 2025. However, I'm still using an AM4 motherboard with a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and I'm not ready to upgrade just yet. Sure, upgrading to a new platform and a faster CPU will improve my gaming performance, but the FPS gains aren't worth the money I have to shell out at this point in time.

You could argue that I'm "missing out" on certain aspects, like having faster DDR5 memory and PCIe 5.0 SSDs, but I'm not in a hurry to experience their benefits just yet. For someone who's already on AM4, AM5 seems like a costly investment for marginal improvements. Even if you have an older processor like the Ryzen 7 3700X, you can just spend $250 on a Ryzen 7 5700X3D for a significant performance uplift. So, let me explain in detail why I'm sticking with AM4 for the foreseeable future.

3 AM4's X3D chips still offer great performance

My 5800X3D doesn't bottleneck my RTX 4090 at higher resolutions

People are often overly concerned about CPU bottlenecking, but if you primarily game at higher resolutions, such as 1440p and 4K, a decently fast processor is more than adequate. For instance, I first built my PC with a Ryzen 9 5900X and an RTX 3090. When I upgraded to my RTX 4090 in 2022, I noticed that my CPU was bottlenecking my GPU in various games at 1440p. So, I upgraded to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which gave me a significant performance uplift. Yes, my new CPU had fewer cores, but the GPU usage across games went up, which was a sign that CPU bottlenecking was no longer a problem.

AMD may no longer be producing the 5800X3D, but you can still get the 5700X3D for just $250, which gives you similar performance gains if you're upgrading from a non-X3D processor. That, to me, is money well spent, unlike splurging nearly $1,000 on a new CPU, motherboard, and RAM kit. Sure, you'll get even more FPS with a 7800X3D or 9800X3D, but the value for money you get by just upgrading to the fastest X3D chips on the AM4 platform is hard to overlook. Unless you play games at 1080p, these processors won't significantly bottleneck the fastest graphics cards that are currently available, like the RTX 5090.

2 DDR5 doesn't offer meaningful gains

At higher resolutions, RAM speed doesn't make a noticeable difference

One of the biggest benefits of upgrading to the AM5 platform is DDR5 RAM support, but considering I primarily game at 1440p and 4K, I don't think faster RAM will make much of a difference. That's because at higher resolutions, games are mainly GPU-bound rather than CPU-bound. Yes, a DDR5 RAM kit will still improve my FPS by 3-5%, but that probably won't be noticeable in most scenarios. More importantly, RAM speed matters less for X3D chips since they have a large L3 cache to keep more data that the CPU needs.

So, as long as you have a decently fast DDR4 RAM kit, say DDR4-3600MHz, paired with an X3D chip like the 5700X3D or 5800X3D, you won't benefit much from upgrading to DDR5, especially if you only game at higher resolutions. Why spend nearly $1,000 for a mere 5% improvement in your frame rate anyway? I'd rather wait for DDR5 to fully mature and faster CPUs that bring generational performance uplifts before I pull the trigger on one of the best AM5 motherboards.

1 AM5 CPUs need beefier coolers

They run hotter than their AM4 counterparts

It's no secret that AM5 CPUs — like the 7800X3D and 9950X — run hotter than their AM4 counterparts. That's primarily because these newer CPUs have a higher core density, higher TDPs, and a thicker IHS that makes cooling less efficient. I still use the same cheap 360mm AIO that I purchased alongside my 5900X in 2020. It manages to keep my 5800X3D cool without any problems, but that's mainly because it has the same 105W TDP.

However, the latest AMD CPUs, such as the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, have a TDP of 120W and 170W, respectively. This means I'll need to replace my aging AIO with a more robust unit featuring a thicker radiator, such as the Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 or 420. Now, that's another $120-$150 on top of the money I have to spend on a new motherboard, RAM kit, and processor. I wouldn't mind the investment if I got massive performance gains in return, but that's not quite the case just yet, at least for my use case.

AM4 is still more than adequate for my needs

Sticking with AM4 doesn't necessarily mean I'm missing out on cutting-edge features. At the end of the day, it's about getting a significant performance uplift for the money I spend. For someone who games at 1440p and 4K, the improvements from having a DDR5-ready motherboard and a faster X3D processor seem minimal. When my current AM4 CPU doesn't really bottleneck my PC, I don't see the point in rushing to spend nearly $1,000 for an AM5 upgrade that'd only improve my frame rates by roughly 10%. Perhaps when Nvidia releases the successor to the RTX 5090 a couple of years down the line, the 5800X3D could be a limiting factor even at higher resolutions. That's when I'll consider biting the bullet and upgrading to AM5.