Build Options - AM4/AM5

Jellyb0ssman · 22 Feb 2023 at 20:01

Hey everyone. Just looking for any opinions or advice on which platform I should base my new build on.

I have already bought an AMD Radeon 6759 XT, if that matters. The two CPU options I’m deciding on are AMD 7600 or the 5800x3d.

I understand that in most cases it’s probably best to just hop on the new platform but wondered if my case would be different. I generally build PCs every 5-7 years when my one starts to struggle and have the money to do so rather them upgrade along the way. I only play World of Warcraft and Football Manager. Plus having too many browser tabs open. Sometimes all at the same time... No real plan to stream unless asked and no productivity work. The most triple A game I may play is Diablo 4. This is at 1080 although I would like to upgrade my monitors at some point

I understand another option would be to wait for favourable UK pricing and pick up the 7800x3d in April as I believe the x3d will be great for a CPU bound game like Warcraft, but I don’t really know if I need it.

Anyway thanks for anyone that takes a look.

tamzzy · 22 Feb 2023 at 20:12

the only sensible AM4 build is with a 5600/x
anything else just get AM5 (or an intel 13500 + ddr4 if wanting to spend a bit less)

tamzzy · 22 Feb 2023 at 20:13

Jellyb0ssman said:
7800x3d in April as I believe the x3d will be great for a CPU bound game like Warcraft, but I don’t really know if I need it.

7800x3d would be ~£450

Jellyb0ssman · 22 Feb 2023 at 20:32

tamzzy said:
the only sensible AM4 build is with a 5600/x
anything else just get AM5 (or an intel 13500 + ddr4 if wanting to spend a bit less)

Thanks bud. Is that due to the price to performance? Basically because the 5600x is half the price.

I think I’m just concerned about how long the AM4 build would last me. Would I likely get the 5-7 years I would want out of the platform playing at a decent FPS in WoW

Jellyb0ssman · 22 Feb 2023 at 20:32

tamzzy said:
7800x3d would be ~£450

That could be a stretch along with the other parts I want to purchase

tamzzy · 22 Feb 2023 at 20:53

Jellyb0ssman said:
Thanks bud. Is that due to the price to performance? Basically because the 5600x is half the price.

correct and a dead platform. not a wise investment to spend too much money on AM4 if buying new
(if you already had AM4 and wanted to upgrade to a 5800X3D then this would be a different conversation)

Jellyb0ssman said:
I think I’m just concerned about how long the AM4 build would last me. Would I likely get the 5-7 years I would want out of the platform playing at a decent FPS in WoW

what is your budget and what do you need?

Tetras · 22 Feb 2023 at 21:04

Do you have DDR4 and an AM4 motherboard already, or not?

Jellyb0ssman · 22 Feb 2023 at 22:22

tamzzy said:
correct and a dead platform. not a wise investment to spend too much money on AM4 if buying new
(if you already had AM4 and wanted to upgrade to a 5800X3D then this would be a different conversation)

what is your budget and what do you need?

Just noticed I can’t post links to the parts list and so it might just be easier to say I need a

CPU/MB/Cooler/PSU

I have about 1100 left I guess. Could stretch a bit more.

I would like the NZXT motherboard with the armour even though you pay a premium and a subtle AIO and I’ve selected EK Nucleus. RAM I’ve not really decided.

I know what most people will say about the MB choice. It’s not worth it but it’s more of a stylistic choice

The dead platform isn’t such a big deal if I continue to rebuild every cycle I suppose. It’s just ensuring it last the length of time I would like it to

If links can be used:
https://uk.************.com/user/Jellybossman/saved/#view=PYLkD3

https://uk.************.com/user/Jellybossman/saved/#view=RvFJnQ

Jellyb0ssman · 22 Feb 2023 at 22:23

Tetras said:
Do you have DDR4 and an AM4 motherboard already, or not?

i do not. This is a completely fresh build

Tetras · 22 Feb 2023 at 22:42

Jellyb0ssman said:
i do not. This is a completely fresh build

Then if you're going AM4, I'd get the 5600 like tamzzy suggested. This is enough for your 6750 XT and then pocket the rest.

You'll probably dump the lot when the 6750 XT needs upgrading in 2-3 years (though, if you only play WoW, then perhaps not).

The AM5 option, I think would give you 1 decent midrange GPU upgrade, without a CPU change, possibly 2, but in 4-5 years you'll have the option of both a CPU and GPU upgrade.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail - £149.99
Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard - £115.99
Lexar Hades 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit - £79.99

Grand Total: £353.96

AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £338.99
Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £237.95
Corsair Vengeance EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK32GX5M2D6000Z36) - £179.98

Grand Total: £764.92

tamzzy · 22 Feb 2023 at 23:04

Jellyb0ssman said:
If links can be used:

the forum is owned, run and paid for by ocuk so that's why those links are redacted

so basically you're looking at a full new build?

tamzzy · 22 Feb 2023 at 23:08

i guess you'd have probably spent/have budget of ~£2k on your build from my calculations.
a £2k system with only a 6750XT is pretty poor value

personally i would send that back and get a proper build and tone down on the bling bling

Joxeon · 23 Feb 2023 at 09:18

If I was building from scratch I'd go AM5 and given your using a 6750XT then I'd say to grab a cheap 7600 for now and upgrade again when you next do the GPU.

JollyJamma · 23 Feb 2023 at 09:31

I generally build PCs every 5-7 years when my one starts to struggle and have the money to do so rather them upgrade along the way.

Based on that criteria, I would be inclined not to go AM4 or 13th gen.

I’d go AM5 because it’ll be supported with new CPUs for a few years now.

Easy drop in upgrade and they have their X3D models which should retake the gaming crown.

dave28 · 23 Feb 2023 at 11:41

better to go for AM5 in 2023, the 7600 sounds pathetic but its actually a very good gaming price / performance / efficiency ratio.

the problem with AM5 at the moment though is very expensive motherboards, the cheapest one is £170 and a half decent one is £230+

Jellyb0ssman · 23 Feb 2023 at 14:51

Tetras said:
Then if you're going AM4, I'd get the 5600 like tamzzy suggested. This is enough for your 6750 XT and then pocket the rest.

You'll probably dump the lot when the 6750 XT needs upgrading in 2-3 years (though, if you only play WoW, then perhaps not).

The AM5 option, I think would give you 1 decent midrange GPU upgrade, without a CPU change, possibly 2, but in 4-5 years you'll have the option of both a CPU and GPU upgrade.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail - £149.99
Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard - £115.99
Lexar Hades 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit - £79.99

Grand Total: £353.96

AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £338.99
Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £237.95
Corsair Vengeance EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK32GX5M2D6000Z36) - £179.98

Grand Total: £764.92

Thanks you for the two options, i will look over them both now im back at my PC

tamzzy said:
the forum is owned, run and paid for by ocuk so that's why those links are redacted

so basically you're looking at a full new build?

That makes sense, i only left them as it said it was being checked by a Moderator so i thought they may be "fixed" once it was done.

tamzzy said:
i guess you'd have probably spent/have budget of ~£2k on your build from my calculations.
a £2k system with only a 6750XT is pretty poor value

personally i would send that back and get a proper build and tone down on the bling bling

You are right I started with an estimate of £2k, and im about £1k in with what i have bought.I think maybe i should have framed the question in another way. If i asked "Parts list for a PC that will run World of Warcraft and Football Manager for 5 years at 1080/1440 ultra" i expect i would have received builds that was lower than the original £2k budget. Maybe something like £1500-£1800, then I could have picked parts for the "bling bling"

, spending £250 on fans, or £220 on a case has inflated the "build cost" rather than the "spec cost". I guess if that factored in the 6750xt may not't seem as bad value? I'm not against sending it back, but when i look at anything like 6800/3070 its much more expensive when i didnt think i would need more than that for World of Warcraft. It seem to review OK. I'm no expert so would bow down to your superior knowledge on the topic

Joxeon said:
If I was building from scratch I'd go AM5 and given your using a 6750XT then I'd say to grab a cheap 7600 for now and upgrade again when you next do the GPU.

JollyJamma said:
Based on that criteria, I would be inclined not to go AM4 or 13th gen.

I’d go AM5 because it’ll be supported with new CPUs for a few years now.

Easy drop in upgrade and they have their X3D models which should retake the gaming crown.

dave28 said:
better to go for AM5 in 2023, the 7600 sounds pathetic but its actually a very good gaming price / performance / efficiency ratio.

the problem with AM5 at the moment though is very expensive motherboards, the cheapest one is £170 and a half decent one is £230+

Thanks for your reply all, I think with the help everyone is given me, i will continue the AM5 route. While i can build PCs, I'm always a little worried playing with them post completion, for me, it might be better to get the 7800x3d now for the likely lifetime of the build, than the 7600 and swap down the line, playing with the CPU always gives nightmares, even though im sure its easy

I wish the Board i wanted was only £230

£310...

I guess the last think is would the CPU be bottlenecked with only a 6750xt in a CPU bound Game like WoW? I'll be honest, when i built my current PC i didnt even know it was a thing, my current 970 is only like 30-35% utilised standing AFK in game. If it will i will either just go with the 7600 or swap graphics card

Tetras · 23 Feb 2023 at 14:57

Jellyb0ssman said:
I guess the last think is would the CPU be bottlenecked with only a 6750xt in a CPU bound Game like WoW? I'll be honest, when i built my current PC i didnt even know it was a thing, my current 970 is only like 30-35% utilised standing AFK in game. If it will i will either just go with the 7600 or swap graphics card

In an ideal situation that's what you want, because it means you are getting most of the GPU performance (and this defines the experience in games more than the CPU does, unless the CPU is not good enough, or you're a competitive / high-refresh gamer). I'd expect a 7800X3D to be hugely bottlenecked by a 6750 XT, but that's fine, it'll give you plenty of upgrade room

Joxeon · 23 Feb 2023 at 15:17

Jellyb0ssman said:
I wish the Board i wanted was only £230 £310...

Why do you need a £310 board though if you just want to play a few games?

Jellyb0ssman · 23 Feb 2023 at 16:08

Tetras said:
In an ideal situation that's what you want, because it means you are getting most of the GPU performance (and this defines the experience in games more than the CPU does, unless the CPU is not good enough, or you're a competitive / high-refresh gamer). I'd expect a 7800X3D to be hugely bottlenecked by a 6750 XT, but that's fine, it'll give you plenty of upgrade room

Ah ok, interesting, thanks, maybe i have been too blindsided with "WOW is CPU bound game" and i underplayed the GPU

Joxeon said:
Why do you need a £310 board though if you just want to play a few games?

I dont, but if i can hit my build criterea with money left in the budget, i really like the NZXT N7 B650E ATX AM5 Motherboard for the looks of the build. I dont know if im unusual that i would like to hit my build goal and stay there but buy hardware i like the look of, than spend that money and get better hardware i dont like. I will likely bottle it and buy something like the TUF one which is cheaper

Haz123 · 23 Feb 2023 at 16:32

Jellyb0ssman said:
Ah ok, interesting, thanks, maybe i have been too blindsided with "WOW is CPU bound game" and i underplayed the GPU

I dont, but if i can hit my build criterea with money left in the budget, i really like the NZXT N7 B650E ATX AM5 Motherboard for the looks of the build. I dont know if im unusual that i would like to hit my build goal and stay there but buy hardware i like the look of, than spend that money and get better hardware i dont like. I will likely bottle it and buy something like the TUF one which is cheaper

Do not get to caught up in trying to get a perfectly balanced system. Any modern hardware of a certain level will be more than good enough to run WOW , it is essentially a game from 2004. If you did go for a 7800x3d with a 6750xt then you would be in a perfect situation to do a gpu upgrade in 3-4 years times and would help extend your pcs lifespan.

You are not crazy to want your PC to look nice. This is the ocuk forums where members have been watercooling pcs for over a decade, most of that these days is purely for the aestetic value and not performance related.
The NZXT mobos do look very nice and I wish the mainstream mobo manufacturers also went to those lengths to improve the looks. The previous NZXT mobos were made by Asrock but not sure if that is the situation with the B650 version. In the past there was issues with bios support and with AM5 being a relatively new platform this is quite an important factor.

You may want to have a watch of this video even though the NZXT mobo is not in the reviewed mobos- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTFUa60ozKY

The B650 mobos do vary in quality more than the X670 versions. In general I like MSi mobos but for the B650 options it looks like Gigabyte are the best choice and Asus just stink. What is clear is that most of the mobos will require bios updates and that is not something you can guarantee will happen with the NZXT mobo. I am not saying do not buy it , i am just warning you that if you have memory timing issues you will have to research and fix them yourself or potentially wait a long time for a bios update to fix them.