Upgrade advice - help keep me sensible!

[Colin MacDougall]

I got my son a PC about a year and a half ago. At Xmas I upgraded the GPU to a GTX 1660 Super which made a big difference (old card was a GTX 1050 2Gb) but he is still not really getting smooth gameplay in games like FarCry5. The rest of the spec is:

AMD Athlon X4 950 CPU
8GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM
Seagate 1TB FireCuda SSHD Hybrid Drive
Fractal Design 80 PLUS 500W PSU

...I noticed the CPU was maxing-out when he was playing farcry but pausing the antivirus continuous protection function helped a lot (it had been using 20% CPU). Basically, I was thinking the CPU is probably the next thing to upgrade, right? The place I bought it from had suggested a Ryzen 3 3200G or possibly a Ryzen 5 3600.

They also suggested a M.2 SSD (I do have a slot). I also thought maybe it would be worth adding some RAM. Maybe adding 2 sticks of 8GB 3200MHz RAM instead of the single 8GB 2400 stick I have?

He doesn't have the cash to do all of this though...what do you think would be the biggest bang for his buck? Would it be better to go with the Ryzen 3 + SSD, or Ryzen 5 now and get the SSD later? Or just do the RAM first?

Thanks!

 

[Gray2233]

What exact motherboard do you have?

How much are you willing to spend?

I'd also remove the references to the vendor you bought from, this forum is owned and ran by OCUK and they don't allow talk of competitors.

 

[Quartz]

.I noticed the CPU was maxing-out when he was playing farcry but pausing the antivirus continuous protection function helped a lot (it had been using 20% CPU).

You've done the right thing by checking where the performance problem lies. Don't bother with the 3200G as you already have a GPU. The bang-for-the-buck CPU is the Ryzen 3600.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £154.99
• 1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £98.99

Total: £264.48 (includes shipping: £10.50)​

​

Substitute the MSI Mortar Max if you need a mATX motherboard.

RAM prices seem to have jumped recently.

 

[Gray2233]

The AMD Athlon X4 950 is an AM4 CPU, so there's a chance he wont need to switch out motherboard.

I'd say a CPU and RAM upgrade are the best bets, although there is still a chance a mobo replacement will be required.

No matter what I'd sell the current CPU and RAM, get a 2600 or 3600 and a 16GB of 3200 + DDR4.

 

[Colin MacDougall]

What exact motherboard do you have?

How much are you willing to spend?

I'd also remove the references to the vendor you bought from, this forum is owned and ran by OCUK and they don't allow talk of competitors.

The motherboard is an Asus PRIME A320M-K

Removed the vendor references - thanks for the tip!

 

[Colin MacDougall]

The AMD Athlon X4 950 is an AM4 CPU, so there's a chance he wont need to switch out motherboard.

I'd say a CPU and RAM upgrade are the best bets, although there is still a chance a mobo replacement will be required.

No matter what I'd sell the current CPU and RAM, get a 2600 or 3600 and a 16GB of 3200 + DDR4.

Yeah, the Asus site says the motherboard should be compatible with those CPUs...

 

[Gray2233]

The Asus PRIME A320M-K supports the 2600 and 3600 according to the CPU support list:

https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/PRIME-A320M-K/HelpDesk_CPU/

From looking around, it seems to be one of the least poor A320 boards on the market. I'd make sure you have good airflow in your case once you've upgraded the CPU though.

As above, either get a 2600 or a 3600 if you can afford the extra. Don't get the 3200G, it's weaker in games than the two chips I've mentioned, the "G" designated processors are those with onboard graphics, which you don't need. I'd also recommend getting a 2x8GB (16 total) set of 3000-3200mhz DDR4 as mentioned. A number of modern games are breaking the 10-12GB mark in RAM usage, 8GB in 2020 going forward isn't going to cut it.

You'll probably need to update the BIOS regardless, just a heads up.

 

[Quartz]

The Asus PRIME A320M-K supports the 2600 and 3600 according to the CPU support list:

Excellent, just remember to flash the BIOS first!

I'd also recommend getting a 2x8GB (16 total) set of 3000-3200mhz DDR4 as mentioned.

If cost-saving is the issue it seems, then an additional 1x 8 GB DDR4-2400 should be a much cheaper choice. Unfortunately, OCUK sells a single 8 GB DIMM for more than 2x 8 GB DIMMs! Fortunately you can get them elsewhere for £24 with next-day delivery.

 

[Joxeon]

Maybe look at getting a ryzen 5 1600AF variant as this CPU goes for about 85 quid and is essentially a ryzen 5 2600. YD1600BBAFBOX is the part number you want.

 

[Colin MacDougall]

Thanks guys...interesting nobody has pushed the SSD as a priority upgrade...the vendor was pushing that quite hard. Suits me...it's a trickier upgrade having to change drives, manage partitions etc

One question - the CPU cooler in there at the moment has a cable plugged into a connector on the motherboard and another one which seems to be connected to one of the screws holding the cooler to the motherboard...but the Ryzen stealth coolers don't seem to have those connections (from the YT vids I have watched anyway) - is that right?

 

[Colin MacDougall]

RAM prices seem to have jumped recently.

Thank you corona virus!

 

[Marine-RX179]

Thanks guys...interesting nobody has pushed the SSD as a priority upgrade...the vendor was pushing that quite hard. Suits me...it's a trickier upgrade having to change drives, manage partitions etc

One question - the CPU cooler in there at the moment has a cable plugged into a connector on the motherboard and another one which seems to be connected to one of the screws holding the cooler to the motherboard...but the Ryzen stealth coolers don't seem to have those connections (from the YT vids I have watched anyway) - is that right?

Upgrading to SSD does make a big difference when it comes to how much quicker in responsiveness and game loading time comparing to mechanical HDD, BUT if you just want to spend the absolutely minimum, then upgrading CPU would make sense as at the moment your CPU would be heavily bottlenecking the 1660ti.

To put simply:
Upgrade SSD but not the graphic card= much faster load time but gaming performance and frame rate largely remain the same

Upgrade CPU but not to SSD= still long loading time and PC boot up take longer, but gaming performance (frame rate) would be better


Ideally if you can afford, both should be upgraded. But considering you have a SSHD, it is at least quite a bit faster than a traditional HDD when it comes to boot-up time.

 

[Gray2233]

Thanks guys...interesting nobody has pushed the SSD as a priority upgrade...the vendor was pushing that quite hard. Suits me...it's a trickier upgrade having to change drives, manage partitions etc

One question - the CPU cooler in there at the moment has a cable plugged into a connector on the motherboard and another one which seems to be connected to one of the screws holding the cooler to the motherboard...but the Ryzen stealth coolers don't seem to have those connections (from the YT vids I have watched anyway) - is that right?

There will be a fan cable leading from the HSF to the motherboard.

As for the SSD, they definitely make a system feel snappier, but in terms of raw gaming performance I'd say CPU and then RAM are the priority upgrades. @Quartz suggestion of just getting another 8GB stick if you're currently using 1x8GB is solid, will save you some cash.

If you do switch over to an SSD, there's cloning software you could make use of to simplify the process.

 

[Colin MacDougall]

On the CPU - if I go for a Ryzen 5...I could save over £50 going for the 2600 instead of the 3600 and the benchmarks are in the same ballpark. Sensible compromise?

 

[Colin MacDougall]

Maybe look at getting a ryzen 5 1600AF variant as this CPU goes for about 85 quid and is essentially a ryzen 5 2600. YD1600BBAFBOX is the part number you want.

Or this! Sorry - missed that comment earlier...thanks for the tip!

 

[Gray2233]

Yeah, the 2600 or 1600 AF (make sure it is the AF, mind you) are excellent alternatives and would pair well with your 1660S.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Or this! Sorry - missed that comment earlier...thanks for the tip!

Yea the difference between 2600 and 1600 AF is minimal...just slight difference in clock speed:

 

[Colin MacDougall]

So one thing I hadn't considered is there's not much point shelling out for 3200 MHz RAM if I am going for the 2600 CPU as the max speed those can support is 2933 MHz.

So I guess a budget conscious upgrade would be to get a Ryzen 5 2600 and one more 8GB stick of 2400 MHz RAM - total cost about £130.

If I went for the Ryzen 5 3600 and 2x8GB 3200MHz sticks, I'd be looking at more like £230.

...which sounds like a lot more but I wonder if going the cheaper route will be a false economy. Not sure. I imagine in a couple of years I will probably be looking at getting a new system in any case.

Do you think the Ryzen 5 2600 + 2400MHz RAM will keep the system going for a couple of years? Or should I spend the extra £100?

 

[Gray2233]

If you're willing to spend an extra £100 grab an SSD instead, you'll feel more of a difference over the faster RAM. A 2600 with 16GB of 2400MHZ memory will be fine for a few years yet.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Do you think the Ryzen 5 2600 + 2400MHz RAM will keep the system going for a couple of years? Or should I spend the extra £100?

If you are absolutely strapped for cash, I think you can get away with just upgrading the CPU to 1600 AF or 2600 and keep your existing rams. I think for the Zen+ CPUs, the real world gaming performance between the 2400MHz and 3000MHz ram probably only amount to may be 1-3fps difference at most.