I don't get the point of this. The biggest problem with AM5 is the fact that the motherboards are over $100 more expensive than people are generally willing to pay. Reducing the prices of CPUs by $50-75 isn't going to change that.
The drop of $145 would definitely make a difference but the problem there is that it's on the R9-7950X which the vast majority of people aren't interested in. Hardware has always outpaced software but in recent years, the competition that has resulted from AMD, Intel and nVidia all trying to outdo each other has resulted in hardware that is incredibly long-lived.
With my R7-5800X3D, RX 6800 XT and 32GB of DDR4-3200 mounted on my ASRock X570 Pro4 motherboard, it's not completely out of the question that I could be looking at being a perfectly satisfied gamer for another ten years without upgrading. As insane as that statement sounds, there are things that point to it being possible.
#1 The CPU:
The ten year-old FX-8350 can still run most games at playable framerates. Games like
Doom Eternal,
The Witcher 3,
Horizon Zero Dawn,
COD: Warzone and
Red Dead Redemption 2 are perfectly playable while games that are known to be CPU-bound or badly optimised like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Cyberpunk 2077 or GTA V don't fare so well (although GTA V is considered playable overall, there are some weird bits).
The FX-8350 was almost universally (and as an owner of one, I say undeservedly) panned by the tech press but can still game in 2022, 10 years after its release. Now, just imagine what a CPU that the tech press hails as a gaming monster like the R7-5800X3D will be able to do 10 years after
it's release.
#2 The GPU:
This might be the only thing that doesn't survive that long but who knows? The R9 Fury from 2015 can still game and is only held back by its 4GB VRAM buffer (which was considered small for a high-end card in 2015). Sure, it's HBM and that does make it capable of doing some things that no 4GB card should be able to but overall, it would be a lot more viable today if it had 6 or 8GB of GDDR5.
Nevertheless, I can personally attest to the fact that it can still game today. even having been able to run
Godfall on it. Now, I'm not going to say that
Godfall is a great game because it's not but it is a graphical masterpiece and very hard on GPUs. A 16GB high-end card will have great longevity, especially being a Radeon card. Here's something amazing that I came across from a small tech channel on YouTube called Hardware Lab:
It's a long video but it's one of the most insightful that I've ever seen (and I've seen A LOT).
The AM4 platform is unquestionably the greatest PC platform ever released. Never before had a platform with such a great combination of economy, performance and (especially) longevity ever existed. It not only brought AMD back from the brink but it also made AMD a mainstream name. The problem that they're now seeing is that AM4 isn't really ready to retire and the cost of AM5 is simply too high to justify upgrading when it isn't really needed.
AMD is the both the benefactor and the victim of its own creation. They're a stronger company because AM4 exists but AM4 is also a very tough act to follow. Their implementation of AM5 has been less than stellar, asking far more than they should, especially from the motherboard chipsets. When you factor in the amazing deals being offered on Zen 3 CPUs, it only makes AM5 even more nonsensical.
The performance of AM4 is nowhere near obsolete, quite the contrary in fact. AM4 CPUs and motherboards with DDR4 still deliver excellent performance. Another problem is that Zen 4 is somehow less efficient than Zen 3. As many reviewers have noted, the most efficient productivity CPU in the world right now is the R9-5950X, an AM4 CPU. It's performance-to-watt ratio is completely off the charts and somehow, AMD couldn't deliver the same efficiency with Zen 4.
Just look at these blender charts showing the performance and then power consumption of these Intel and AMD CPUs.
First, the performance chart where we see the R9-7950X just destroy everything else, showing itself to be the true performance champion, defeating the R9-5950X by 42%:
However, the consumption chart reveals its dirty little secret which is that it took 61% more power to do so:
The efficiency of Zen-4 is, to put it mildly, just bad. Even the R5-7600X drew more juice than the R9-5950X. Tell me, in what universe does a SIX-CORE CPU draw more power than the previous generation's SIXTEEN-CORE CPU??? How the hell does that even happen??? The answer of course is that the AM4-based Zen-3 CPUs are simply much more efficient than Zen-4. Sure, you can use Eco-Mode to mitigate this but then the performance delta isn't big enough to warrant an upgrade in the first place.
If Raptor lake wasn't so obviously TERRIBLE in performance-per-watt, I would have called Zen-4 a failed launch. Fortunately for AMD, we can always count on Intel to be even worse than they are and this shows that very well. Unfortunately for AMD, Raptor Lake CPUs are cheaper and have better gaming numbers than Zen-4. Unfortunately for Intel and AMD, their next-gen gaming CPUs mostly get their a$$es handed to them by the R7-5800X3D.
For owners of AM4 platforms (like me), I'm more than happy with what I have and I don't see that changing for many years to come. For the people buying Intel's 13th-gen, I understand if you're not a gamer but if you are a gamer and you're building from scratch, AM5 is a better option than LGA 1700. Sure, Raptor Lake CPUs tend to be better values than Zen-4 but keep in mind that you'll have to buy a new motherboard with your next upgrade NO MATTER WHAT. If you're just doing a budget gaming build and are therefore ok with that, AM4 is a better value than LGA 1700.
In gaming performance, the R5-5600 is similar to the i5-12400F:
However, the cost of a B550/R5-5600 combo is $46 less than an i5-12400F/B650 combo:
AMD Ryzen 5 5600: $129
ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming D: $85
Total: $214
Intel i5-12400F: $180 (I chose BestBuy because at least I could tell it had free shipping)
ASRock B660M-HDV: $80
Total: $260
It may seem like $46 is nothing to write home about but it does pay for 16GB of DDR4:
TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 - $43
If you're building a whole new PC, the less you invest in a dead platform, the better.
