So a very long time ago now, I upgraded from my ancient AMD FX 6100 to a Ryzen 5 1600, and now I am on my 3rd CPU with an Intel i3 12100f.
Why did I go with an i3 and not the i5? Simple, I was on a budget and I couldn't justify spending more than $250 CAD for this upgrade. I could've squeezed in the 12400 if it was in stock, but it wasn't.
Why didn't I just get a new AMD CPU and slot it in? Well I tried, but my Gigabyte motherboard (even with updates) refused to play nice with the 5500 I tried to upgrade too. If I was keeping with AMD I'd need to buy a new Motherboard and if I was buying a new Motherboard for this I might as well get the best bang for my Buck.
So what did I get.
Motherboard: MSI PRO B760M-P since it had the IO I wanted (2x M.2 slots and a USB C Port on the back)
CPU: Intel i3 12100f
And the results are... honestly surprising. Despite loosing 2 core and 4 threads, I gained in performance everywhere, or I was GPU limited with my 3050. 2 minutes off of my 10 minute handbrake render, 50fps extra in Doom 2016, and a doubling in Geekbench single core performance which I need thanks to my work in FreeCAD. FreeCAD is still slow, but the models I am loading are demanding.
Overall I am happy with my upgrade, and the best part is, since I am buying my Motherboards at the end of a socket generation rather than the beginning, it means when I want to upgrade in a few years, it should work with intel 13th and 14th gen CPU's.
Geekbench before: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6614622
Geekbench after: https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/6616466
I feel your pain. 9 years ago I dropped my Intel CPU into the socket. One magnifying glass, a tweezer, some toothpick, and a week later it was up and running for 8 years, until I moved and leave it in a cardboard box for 6 months. Now it's just boot looping after the CPU fan spin for a few seconds.