Is it a good time to upgrade my CPU?

[Josquius]

The 5 means higher level graphics cards won't work? Whats the blocker there?

[Grey Fox]

One of my work machine has 2 m2s. It works fine and boots fast.

[Norgy]

I have found that there never really is a good time to upgrade CPUs. A lesson hard learned. The best processor, for its time, I have had was the Intel 2600K. Never ran hot, never budged despite being overclocked.

The AMD setup for the next year looks rather impressive. Intel's, well, a little less so. I bought the 7800-3D thingie from AMD, and for gaming, it is superb coupled with an AMD graphics card. You obviously do need some liquid cooling loop that will set you back close to 200 EUR, because if I was into conspiracies, I would think chip manufacturers were trying to make alternatives to the traditional stove.

25 minutes of CK3 and already at 85 degrees celsius. I'll just fry some eggs while getting that extra support for my murder scheme of that wife.

[Josquius]

How is liquid cooling to install? I've never had that and I think my image of it is from the days when it was very unorthodox and required insane custom mods.
But strikes me as quite scary.

[Norgy]

How is liquid cooling to install? I've never had that and I think my image of it is from the days when it was very unorthodox and required insane custom mods.
But strikes me as quite scary.

The ready made loops are really just plug and play. The software offered with it isn't amazing. Screwdriver, a bit of patience, and when that runs out, swearing, and you'll be good to go. They do come with what most specialists consider way too much cooling paste, though. The Corsair ones have never failed me, but now there is a plethora to choose from.

Also, the M2 drives are a dream. Run like clockwork, you just turn on your rig, and all is well.

[viper37]

The 5 means higher level graphics cards won't work? Whats the blocker there?

No higher level graphic cards will still work.

But GPU and CPU are linked with performance.

At 1080p, the CPU does the heavy lifting.
At 4k, the GPU (video card) does the heavy lifting.

However, when there is the sweet spot of 1440p, the middle ground, where both CPU and GPU will contribute about equally to your performance, and what's more, when you increase your texture resolution in game (higher graphic details), even at 4k, there is more strain on the CPU.

Right now, you have a very old GPU, so even if you bought the best CPU out there (9800X3D), you couldn't run your games at max detail, even in 1080p, unless it's a very old game.  You'd need a graphic card with at least 8gb ram that supports DX11/12 for more modern games.

But when you change your GPU and you want to increase your resolution, suddenly, your CPU becomes a bottleneck: it's not powerful enough.  It will work, it will just be a tad slower than a Ryzen 7.

If you're ok with that, that's fine.

[viper37]

You obviously do need some liquid cooling loop that will set you back close to 200 EUR, because if I was into conspiracies, I would think chip manufacturers were trying to make alternatives to the traditional stove.

No, you don't really.

A Thermalright Peerless Assassin is just enough.  Regular fan cooler.  These processors don't produce much heat.

I kept mine because I had it since before AM4, but it's unnecessary.