Is AMD's Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU still worth buying in 2026?

If you already own an AM4 system, one of AMD’s more affordable Zen 3 CPUs might be a better option.

By Igor Bonifacic Nov. 7, 2026 3:15 pm EST Igor Bonifacic for Engadget Add Engadget on Google: Google Discover

Thanks to the Sam Altmans of the world, the price of consumer memory, including RAM and solid-state storage, has become prohibitively expensive. Just 16GB of DDR5 RAM can now set you back as much as $300, making new AM5 and LGA 1851 PC builds unobtainable for most people. In fact, the price of memory has gotten so bad that AMD brought back its flagship AM4 gaming processor, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, just to give those still on an AM4 system a way to upgrade their PC.