I was hoping you might be able to lend me a bit more of your expertise on this matter.
We have currently laid out our upgrade plan centered around a Ryzen 5 5600 (whether that includes the X variant or not once it finally hits the shelves), paired with an ASRock B550M Pro4 and 16 GB of DDR4 memory. However, a sudden possibility has emerged where my budget might actually exceed what we originally anticipated, which means I am now seriously contemplating stepping up to a Ryzen 7 5800X. I did mention previously that the sole purpose of this entire endeavor is gaming, yet I see that the prices for both the Ryzen 7 5800X and the R9 3950XT are sitting right around $17. The question weighing on my mind is whether these processors offer a significant enough leap over the 5600 to justify the jump, or if it would be far more prudent to take those extra $267 and sink them into a superior monitor instead.
My current setup consists of the following:
CPU Intel i5-4570 Gigabyte H87 Corsair Motherboard Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3 RAM Corsair 4x4GB DDR3 1600 C9 Monitor AOC IPS 23" 12367Fm 1080p. GPU EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 PSU EVGA Super Nova 550 GS SSD Kingston 250 GB Two 1 TB WD HDDs Case Corsair Airflow 400L
Then, of course, we just sit around for a month or two, waiting for the market to stop acting crazy and for prices to finally settle down to something resembling sanity. Maybe I'll end up just pestering people for some extra RAM later on, but for the time being, the plan is set: I'll grab the AMD Ryzen 5600 (whether it's the standard version or the one with the X suffix), that motherboard > suggested, and 16 GB of RAM. I truly appreciate everyone stepping in to help me navigate this mess.
Timothy Kim60 said:Officially, the BIOS updates for the 400 series chipsets are slated for January, though if you look closely, some motherboard vendors have already pushed out beta versions, so you can actually find plenty of them already supporting the 5000 series on those older 400 boards.
On another note, there are some genuinely solid, budget-friendly B550 boards hitting the market now for about $267 .
Any recommendations at all? I suppose we’ll just sit tight and wait a little longer anyway, so it’s hardly a crisis. I haven't forgotten how you helped me out ages ago with advice for this specific build, which, I must say, has been running like an absolute dream for years now!
wiredotter14 said:You really ought to take a look at that YouTube video I shared. Honestly, this AMD Ryzen 5600X is outperforming just about everything AMD has ever released, and frankly, it’s giving most Intel chips a run for their money. For instance, when you're running Watch Dogs, it clocks in about 15% faster than the 3700X or the 3900X, making it practically neck-and-neck with the Intel Core i7-10900K and those other high-end heavy hitters. As for the 3700X, 3800X, and the AMD Ryzen 7 3800 XT, they all seem to be hovering within that same +/- 5% margin.
My apologies, I actually went ahead and typed out my question before I had even sat down to watch the video. My mistake.
If I could just squeeze in one more question, if you don't mind.
I've been sitting here watching the prices on the R7 drop steadily. It looks like the AMD Ryzen 7 3800 XT has actually dipped by about 13 percent over at Newegg. I can't help but wonder how that processor actually stacks up in terms of raw gaming performance when compared to the 5600X? Right now, the price tag is hovering around $900. We're looking at a budget of roughly $1333 for this whole endeavor, so I'm genuinely torn—is it worth playing the waiting game to see if the price on the 3800 XT sinks even further, or should I just cut my losses and jump straight to the 5600X?
The main focus here would be getting smooth gameplay in titles like the latest Call of Duty, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs, and those kinds of heavy hitters.
Is it actually viable to stick with the ASUS ROG STRIX Z790-E Gaming WiFi, or am I just asking for trouble by not upgrading to something more heavy-duty? As for the RAM, we’re definitely pulling the trigger on that too, obviously.
wiredotter14 said:Is it worth holding out for the 5000 series? Honestly, the 5600x sits right around the 3700x when you're looking at multithreaded tasks, but once you get into gaming, its single-threaded performance is significantly better. If you can stomach waiting a few months, my advice would be to hold your breath until the 5600 drops in January or whenever that happens. It should end up being much easier on the wallet than the 5600X while still delivering performance that's closer to the X-model than the 3600 ever could.
Then again, it really boils down to what you actually need the machine for. If you aren't chasing that high-end 100+ FPS lifestyle but still demand beefy multithreaded power, you might want to look at the 2700X, which comes with a decent enough stock cooler for under $400.
To be perfectly honest, it’s mostly my sons who will be tearing through whatever we put together. The last time we touched this rig was back in 2014, and we just slapped in a new graphics card in 2018. So, logically speaking, this upgrade should carry us through another three or four years without much fuss. Because of that, I think we're leaning toward the slightly more powerful option.
So, let me just provide a quick refresher on where things currently stand. We haven't actually pulled the trigger on any purchases yet, and since those new Ryzens have suddenly surfaced on the market, I find myself wondering: just how significant is the performance jump when moving from a Ryzen 5 3600 to a Ryzen 5 5600x?
Furthermore, I am debating whether it would be more fiscally sound to opt for a Ryzen 5 3700x instead of going with the newer Ryzen 5 5600.
To be perfectly clear, this entire upgrade is being driven exclusively by my desire for better gaming performance. There is absolutely no rush on my end; I can certainly afford to sit tight for another two or three months until the market prices finally settle down into something reasonable.
For context, here is the rest of my current rig: CPU Intel i5 4570 Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3 Corsair Motherboard Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3 RAM Corsair 4x4GB DDR3 1600 C9 Monitor AOC IPS 23" 12367Fm 1080p. GPU Gigabyte 1070 Windforce PSU EVGA Super Nova 550 GS SSD Kingston 250 GB Two 1 TB WD HDDs Case Phanteks Eclipse 400
Jonathan Barrett said:He doesn't necessarily need a beefier GPU if he picks up a monitor with FreeSync support. Personally, I’m running a 1080p 144Hz setup paired with a GTX 1060 3GB, and honestly, almost every title I throw at it fits right into that FreeSync window—somewhere between 55 and 144Hz—and there isn't a single hint of stuttering or any of those annoying micro-hitches. It feels AS IF I'm playing at a native 144Hz all the time. 🙂
Thanks, that's actually quite helpful to keep in mind.
So, it looks like I’ll just be soldiering on with this current monitor until I can finally pull the trigger on a proper upgrade. To be honest, I was bracing myself for a much more significant hit to my bank account than this turned out to be.
Adam Moore3 said:When you look at processors and those wildly varying price tags, it’s really just the exact same silicon under the hood; I suspect they’re simply pulling from different suppliers, which means you end up seeing the same item priced differently depending on who's shipping it. Naturally, you go for the cheapest option because, at the end of the day, a processor is a processor. As for the build itself, that's the gist of it. That B450 Tomahawk is an absolute steal, and if you pair it with a Ryzen 5 3600 and 16GB of high-speed DDR4, you honestly can't go wrong.😉
Alright, thanks for the insight. So, the plan is to stick with the B450 and not bother messing around with a B550.
The monitor isn't even part of the equation right now, mostly because my bank account won't allow for such luxuries. But just purely for the sake of curiosity—hypothetically speaking—would there actually be a noticeable difference if I eventually upgraded to a monitor with a 144 Hz refresh rate?
It all adds up to roughly $1000. Though, honestly, I could probably stretch my budget by another 200-$100 if I really had to push myself. Does anyone have any suggestions for what else I should be looking at?
I’ve been browsing through Best Buy, and frankly, my head is starting to spin with all these technicalities. As someone who isn't exactly a hardware expert, I'm struggling to wrap my mind around the actual distinctions here. Specifically, I am looking at the $67.
Then there is the matter of RAM, which is an absolute mystery to me. The price gaps are quite substantial, so if anyone could lend some guidance on what truly matters during the selection process, I would be immensely grateful.
But what exactly does moving up to a B550 offer? I suppose we might have a little extra breathing room in the budget, and since the price difference doesn't seem astronomical, I find myself wondering if it would actually be a wise investment to opt for one of those instead.
The sole reason I’m even looking at this is for gaming. So, we're talking about the Ryzen 5 3600. Does anyone have any solid advice when it comes to DDR4? What should I actually be picking up?
Thanks. I find myself pondering one more lingering question regarding the Ryzen 5 3700x bundle. It sits at a noticeably higher price point, nearly $333 more expensive than the alternative. Is it actually worth stretching the budget that far, and if I do take the plunge, would I be forced to upgrade to a superior motherboard just to keep up—and if so, how much of a meaningful leap in performance would we truly be seeing? I am asking strictly to gauge just how far we can push our limits before it becomes irrational.
Twice now, I have turned to this community for guidance on upgrading my rig, and I must say, your advice has been impeccable; the machine has performed flawlessly after every single modification. The reason we find ourselves contemplating yet another overhaul is twofold: my "successors"—my children, if you will—are growing up far too quickly, and the inevitable release of the next Call of Duty is looming on the horizon. They have essentially played through the entire franchise since they were small enough to sit in my lap. Beyond that, their afternoons are consumed by Grand Theft Auto V, Battlefield V, Titanfall 2, and an endless rotation of other titles.
My current setup consists of:
Intel i5 4570 Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3 Corsair Gigabyte Ga-H87-HD3 Corsair 4x4GB DDR3 1600 C9 AOC IPS 23" 12367Fm 1080p monitor. Gigabyte 1070 Windforce EVGA Super Nova 550 GS Kingston 250 GB SSD Two 1 TB WD HDDs Phanteks Eclipse 400 S
The last time I tinkered with this beast was about three years ago when I brought in the GPU, the PSU, and the case.
We don't hold any particular allegiance to either Intel or AMD, so I am seeking your wisdom regarding what would constitute an optimal path forward. In perusing some of the previous discussions here, the Ryzen 5 3600 seems to emerge as a sensible solution.
I am wondering which of my existing components might be salvaged and which must be discarded to ensure this computer remains capable for another two or three years. Is it even possible to assemble something decent with a budget of $300? $1167
Thanks. I suppose I’ll head in that direction then, following the path laid out before me. As for the next big leap in upgrading this gaming rig, looking back at the discussions here, I see the consensus leans toward swapping out my current setup for an i7 4770 and throwing in some higher frequency RAM to round things out—and apparently, that should do the trick.
It’s essentially this: AMD Athlon X2 dual Core Processor be 2300. Up until now, I haven't really needed much power because my life has mostly revolved around Word—just churning out articles for local news outlets. However, starting January 1st, things are shifting; I'll be expected to handle photo editing and design promotional materials since one of our colleagues decided to move on. I have absolutely zero experience in that department, and frankly, looking at this machine, it feels ancient. The real headache is that even with my current workload, the computer is painfully slow, though I suppose I could tolerate that when it's just typing. But if I'm trying to process graphics? God, I imagine the frustration would be absolutely maddening.
I also have a secondary machine sitting around, running an old Athlon II on an ancient ASRock motherboard with DDR2 memory. It’s been serving its purpose as a necessary evil for basic tasks, but honestly, I’ve reached a point where I desperately need a more capable computer to handle my actual work. The primary machine listed above is currently being used by my sons as their main gaming PC.
So, I find myself at a bit of a crossroads: should I just pick up something modest, like a Pentium G4560 along with a compatible motherboard and RAM, to upgrade that secondary machine? Or, should I bite the bullet and overhaul the main system entirely—swapping out the motherboard for something that supports DDR4 and installing a much newer processor (ideally an i7, specifically one of those unlocked K-series models)? Personally, I’m leaning heavily toward the second option, though I suspect it might be a bit of a headache. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions or advice you all might have regarding that path.
That said, I am certainly open to hearing about any other viable options you think make sense.