I assume you're running AutoCAD in 3D? Honestly, I’m not sure if you’d see much of a boost, especially since you already have a decent GPU for acceleration. Generally speaking, you could throw in a GTX 1050Ti (around $1250-$450), but just being real with you—I don't know if it would actually make a noticeable difference.
We weren't even talking about the same motherboard; that isn't a gaming 3. You can find one for $253 at Neutrino, so if you hadn't snagged that discount, you actually would have paid more.
Personally, for that kind of money, I’d rather go with the Prime Plus ($253 over at Best Buy), but I haven't made up my mind yet. Besides, nobody is going to ship anything to me over the weekend anyway.
I haven't heard anything about some $10 discount. Even if you do find one, it isn't exactly a steal. From what I've seen on Amazon, any deals I've come across aren't even better than what we have here in the States—the final price ends up being higher
You can never be too careful; at least it's 28 weeks or younger... Where did you pick it up?
Regarding the motherboard, I wouldn't call it a bad deal—I’d go as far as saying it's a terrible one. Those Gaming 3 motherboards from Gigabyte (both ATX and mATX) were absolute steals when the AM4 socket first hit the market, but prices spiked after that, and once other brands filled out their lineups, they drove those costs back down. That specific board would run you well over $550 with shipping included. In the US, you can grab a B350 Prime Plus for $253, which actually features a superior VRM setup. Honestly, I don't see any board out there right now that makes that price worth it.
It’s pretty straightforward—it comes right out of the box as an 8c16t chip. The model name and clock speeds stay identical to the R5 1600/1600X. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me given their incredible yields; they get 80%+ full functional 8c16t chips across the entire Ryzen lineup. Whether this is a one-off fluke or a trend that continues remains to be seen. I’m not buying into the "error" narrative either, because back when these first launched, everyone was speculating about potential "unlocking" once Coffee Lake arrived.
Zachary Nguyen2
I need to comb through Amazon a bit this weekend, but I suspect the final price will end up being pretty similar to what we're seeing here in the States. The week is printed on the second line of the processor itself (just Google a photo). It'll show four digits: the first two are 17 (representing 2017), and the last two indicate the specific week of that year.
Look, it probably isn't available like that, so don't go building up massive expectations—don't just head down to downtown Chicago specifically for this. Your best bet is to try reaching out and contacting them directly.
I suspect it’s only a handful of units, likely reserved for employees or someone on the inside getting an early tip. For everyone else, that whole thing feels like nothing more than some free marketing from a local retail chain.
EDIT
The Ryzen arrived. It wasn't actually an error; everyone who ordered was just a bit spooked because the dispatch was slightly delayed. We're looking at week 37 (those with the 8-core models were seeing arrivals around weeks 28 and 36), so we'll see. Honestly, I'm not stressing over it, though—I'm not expecting much since the price is already highway robbery as it stands.
I plan to get the motherboard ordered by Sunday night or Monday morning.
You can find some incredibly cheap DDR3 RAM over at Best Buy if you're looking to pick up some stock for your business. It doesn't look like a mistake; people have been placing orders left and right.
Discounts are live over at Kroger. Honestly, about 95% of this stuff is total garbage—it’s just a classic tactic where they jack up the price and then "slash" it back down to what it should have been in the first place. That said, there are a few gems in here if you approach them with a healthy dose of skepticism. I remember once when I was in a local Best Buy asking about a specific monitor during one of these sales; the guy just gave me this blank stare and basically implied it was just a handful of units in the whole store that would be gone in seconds.
So, here it is:
GIGABYTE AMD Radeon R9 285 WF2 OC graphics card, 2 GB GDDR5 - $318. This thing actually performs closer to a GTX 1050 than the cards currently sitting in this budget range (like the RX 560 or GTX 1050), though it does pull a bit more power. It's not a dealbreaker, though.
Fractal Design Define R5 Black case, no PSU included - $235. The price is solid, slightly lower than usual (I paid $263, which was the lowest I've seen so far). Fractal Design Define S case, black, no PSU included - $194
My advice? Hold onto that case and that high-end power supply, then sell off everything else. From there, you can use that cash—depending on what you're willing to spend—to pick up the rest of the components
Some deals are strictly reserved for Prime members, while this one is clearly open to everyone. For Prime members, the main perks are things like free fast shipping and such. A bit more context on that:
They offer exclusive deals specifically for Prime users. Sometimes, an item isn't even available for purchase unless you're a Prime member. Usually, this applies most often to household essentials. (For instance, 7 Lenor is significantly cheaper for Prime members—like getting a large 1.8L bottle for about $1.10 less than the standard price.)
Call of Duty: WWII—according to one source (TPU), the GTX 1060 6GB gets about 1 FPS more, while Guru3D claims the RX 580 8GB takes the lead by 1 FPS. We're talking about random, undefined settings here; honestly, you wouldn't even notice the difference.
Yeah, you could definitely ride that platform for a few years. Eventually, you can just jump up to an 8-core chip once the latest architecture hits—likely Zen 3, assuming they stick with the current socket layout.
We shouldn't conflate Zen 2—that brand-new 7nm microarchitecture—with what some people call the Zen 2xxx series, which refers to the Zen+ refreshes built on 12nm or 14nm+. It’s more likely that these refreshes will follow the pattern we saw with Intel, much like their transitions from Haswell to Devil's Canyon or Skylake to Kaby Lake.
It appears we’re looking at a 12nm process for the Ryzen successor arriving in early 2018, while AMD is planning the Zen 2 based Matisse follow-up for 2019 using 7nm.
Just like Fudzilla previously noted, In 2018, AMD will release Ryzen / Epyc refreshes built upon an updated 12nm core architecture.While the core architecture shares plenty of DNA with Zen, it’s definitely bringing a new trick up its sleeve. Think of this less as a complete overhaul and more like a refined, polished evolution of the existing architecture.
Moving to a 12nm process should allow for a higher transistor density per square millimeter and potentially bump up those clock speeds a bit. Given that Intel is still struggling to get its 10nm processors out the door, it looks like AMD might actually beat them to the punch with their 14nm shrink. It's anyone's game at this point, though. Intel Has The Power to pull an upset, and they certainly aren't going down without a fight. This 12nm news stems from a GlobalFoundries announcement where CTO Mark Papermaster made it official.
Matisse is the code name AMD chose for Zen 2 Core and 7nm Architecture. This is a massive milestone because we're looking at a projected launch within the first half of 2019. We’re looking quite far down the road here, but let's be real: it isn't going to be a walk in the park for the competition to make that jump to 7nm just to try and keep up.
While most mobile manufacturers are gunning for 10nm and eventually 7nm, they’ll be navigating a landscape filled with 12nm options and Samsung's 11nm architecture in the interim. Intel was clear 10nm is next, likely kicking off with some low-power notebook components in late 2017 before scaling up to high-performance chips throughout 2018.
It’s great news that the future Ryzen will continue to use the same AM4 socket—consistency like that is always a win for builders. However, the big question remains: will you actually be able to upgrade seamlessly? It’s still unclear whether you can jump from the initial Summit Ridge 2017 chips straight to the Pinnacle Ridge 2018 desktop part and later in 2019 the Zen 2 based Matisse without being forced to buy an entirely new motherboard.
We still don't know whether Matisse is actually named after Henri Matisse and, if so, then the name promises a lot of innovation.
Here is the latest update regarding the node.
The transition to EUV lithography appears to be progressing smoothly.
GlobalFoundries is making serious headway in its transition toward EUV lithography, reporting that they've successfully bumped their extreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask yield rate to nearly 65 percent. Company CTO Gary Patton told the assembled throngs at a Shanghai company shindig that chipmakers were finding EUV lithography mask defects in the development of EUV-based process technologies.
GlobalFoundries anticipates facing further hurdles with EUV mask fabrication before they can transition into full-scale, high-volume manufacturing. That said, there is a silver lining: the company is currently seeing a 65 percent mask yield rate. While that sounds decent, it’s still a far cry from the 95 percent threshold required to make this commercially viable.
GlobalFoundries is set to roll out EUV lithography technology for its 7nm FinFET node, and Patton confirmed they have already kicked off process development in collaboration with AMD.
The company is gearing up to roll out its 12nm leading-performance (12LP) FinFET manufacturing process. This move is designed to pack more density into the chips while providing a noticeable performance boost compared to the current 14nm FinFET lineup. According to him, the 12LP node is slated to hit volume production in the first quarter of 2018..
Underlined refers to Zen 2 (Matisse), specifically the 3xxx series, while bolded indicates Zen+ or the refresh (2xxx series). Perhaps we should move this over to the news section instead of keeping it here.
To ensure smooth sales, let’s set $800 as our baseline—though you can certainly push toward $1000 if you happen to encounter a client willing to pay more.
Dual-fan models like the GTX 1060 6GB usually come with a 3-year warranty. You might see some 2-year options or those tiny ITX versions with just a single fan, sometimes with extra registration perks, but they’re all pretty much the same when you're shopping around. Looking at Best Buy, the cheapest GTX 1060 meeting those specs is a Gigabyte Windforce 2-fan model for $850 at places like Micro Center or Newegg. Honestly, if I had to choose between these two GPUs—and power draw isn't an issue since my PSU can handle it—I’d go with the RX 580 8GB. It's the more powerful card, and it holds its own much better in titles like Battlefield 1, Wolfenstein II, and other modern games that rely on newer APIs.
Sure, back in the day, you could occasionally snag a 480 8GB for less than $633, but those were different times—just like how RAM used to be dirt cheap.
You definitely made the right call picking that up when you did; I remember those old Chase Mastercard promotions. I was actually looking to grab one myself back then, but nobody in my house had that specific card to qualify. That deal really sold me. It ended up being around $1,600 plus change, right? Honestly, that’s pretty much standard pricing at the budget retailers these days. This Amazon price is likely just a temporary flash sale, though it’ll probably settle back down to that level eventually anyway.
You can't just sit around waiting forever—if everyone did that, nobody would ever buy anything. I saw someone posting about how we should wait for the Ryzen refresh, but give me a break; I’d be gray by then. Even if the node is ready in three months, they'll probably drop the R7 first, making us wait even longer for the R5, not to mention the inevitable supply chain issues. I wouldn't be surprised if this drags on until summer. And most likely, all that waiting would only net us a tiny 200MHz boost or maybe saving 5W of power.
I might eventually pick up an EVGA RX 580 with a three-year warranty nitro for $853 cash. Or, even better, I'll look for a deal on Amazon US if I can snag a GTX 1060 6GB or an RX 580 8gb (there was an EVGA model for 2100-$733 the other day)
Look, I get it. For that specific budget, it’s a solid recommendation and one I find myself suggesting quite often. However, if I were picking, I’d personally opt for something with beefier VRMs—think of it like moving from a standard power supply to a heavy-duty industrial unit to ensure much more stable voltage delivery. As far as features, pricing, and general user feedback go, this board is a winner, and that holds true for the ATX version as well.
I'm not strictly tied to a budget, but I just don't see the point in dropping an extra $180 on a motherboard for a Ryzen build. I have zero use for CrossFire or SLI, and since this generation doesn't see massive overclocking gains anyway, it feels unnecessary. Plus, I'm perfectly fine running the stock cooler for a while before upgrading.
