I never got around to upgrading in 2019 - new build advice please

[sparkyb]

Hi,

Please can you help me?

I posted in December 2019 about upgrading my i7 (which I built in 2010), I never got around to upgrading it. But now I want to replace the whole system with a new build, I have taken the first steps and purchased a new case from Overclockers.

This build will be for CAD and 3D modelling / rendering, I am not planning on gaming. But I do want a system that will last me years like my i7 - I never upgraded it over that time and so want to max out the new build as I most likely won't upgrade it either.

I haven't looked fully into all the parts as yet, but I am planning on basing it on the following:

Ryzen 9 7950X (AM5)
Cooling = AIO

New case purchased = Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic Razer

I have a few questions, so will break them up into separate posts to try and keep it concise

Thank you

 

[sparkyb]

First question about motherboards and AM5:

I have seen a lot negativity about AM5 and Ryzen CPU's burning out, particularly on Asus boards with 3D CPU's. I have also seen quite a bit about hassle regarding stability with the AM5 CPU's. I am no expert, thus please excuse me if this is wrong, but just trying to get an idea for my build;

I have had no trouble with my current Asus motherboard and I like that the new ROG Strix has the USB 3.0 connector on its side rather than at the bottom like the Gigabyte's. When I built my sons pc with the Razer case like mine, using a gigabyte board. We had to force in the USB 3.0 cable from the case onto the motherboard as the bottom fans just clashed with the motherboard USB connector. The USB cable head is bent up a little but it all works fine.

These are the motherboards I am looking at

Asus ROG Strix X670E-E gaming WIFI (AM5 / DDR5)
Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite AX (AM5 / DDR5)

-- Do you think it's wise to choose the Asus motherboard after the negativity I have seen? What are your experiences with it?

-- Do you think it's better to go with AM4 due to stability issues reported with AM5? How have you got on with AM5

Thank you

 

[Dg834man]

The burning CPUs issue has been fixed, was never a wide spread issue either just got pushed for some sensational headlines, Asus boards up to yourself just there is a sizable group that find them over hyped and costly. Am5 fairly mature platform now wouldn't buy am4 now unless at the budget end.

 

[sparkyb]

The burning CPUs issue has been fixed, was never a wide spread issue either just got pushed for some sensational headlines, Asus boards up to yourself just there is a sizable group that find them over hyped and costly. Am5 fairly mature platform now wouldn't buy am4 now unless at the budget end.

Thank you,

I did a quick cost comparison earlier in the week between AM5 and AM4 and there wasn't a great deal of difference. So it would be sensible to go with AM5

With the Asus board (or any board), would I need to update the bios prior to adding the CPU? Some of the negivity I saw was to do with a "beta" bios they released that invalidated your warranty if used

 

[jigger]

Thank you,

I did a quick cost comparison earlier in the week between AM5 and AM4 and there wasn't a great deal of difference. So it would be sensible to go with AM5

With the Asus board (or any board), would I need to update the bios prior to adding the CPU? Some of the negivity I saw was to do with a "beta" bios they released that invalidated your warranty if used

No, will be fine out of the box. As stated the burning issue was never an issue.

Memory performance gains are pretty significant with the latest BIOS’s.

 

[sparkyb]

No, will be fine out of the box. As stated the burning issue was never an issue.

Memory performance gains are pretty significant with the latest BIOS’s.

Ok, sounds good. Bios updates can be one less thing to worry about for now.

I think I will go with an Asus board, mainly because of the location of the usb 3.0 connector. I was worried it would break off when I fitted my son's gigabyte board.

Does anybody have the Asus board, just to get an idea of what it's like?

Thank you

 

[jigger]

Yeah, I’ve used the Asus board. It’s decent with some very nice features. I’m not a fan of the giant M.2 heat sinks as they are a PIA to remove and refit. I would definitely fit the drives before installing the motherboard.

 

[sparkyb]

Yeah, I’ve used the Asus board. It’s decent with some very nice features. I’m not a fan of the giant M.2 heat sinks as they are a PIA to remove and refit. I would definitely fit the drives before installing the motherboard.

I haven't looked at the drives just yet as I wanted to sort the motherboard first. For the drives do you mean the ones that fit directly to the motherboard?

I was thinking originally for the drives, an sdd for os and software, then HDD or sdd for personal files. Old school maybe??

 

[jigger]

I haven't looked at the drives just yet as I wanted to sort the motherboard first. For the drives do you mean the ones that fit directly to the motherboard?

I was thinking originally for the drives, an sdd for os and software, then HDD or sdd for personal files. Old school maybe??

Yeah, M.2 form factor NVME drives. SATA would be no problem at all.

 

[Tetras]

I'd take a look at the B650E-F if you don't mind dropping an M.2 slot. It retains PCI-E 5.0 graphics and one M.2.

 

[sparkyb]

Yeah, M.2 form factor NVME drives. SATA would be no problem at all.

Ok, one if those and a sdd

I did see something about adding a nvme redused the bus lanes of the gpu from 16 to 8 lanes. But I don't know what this means and if will effect me?

 

[sparkyb]

I'd take a look at the B650E-F if you don't mind dropping an M.2 slot. It retains PCI-E 5.0 graphics and one M.2.

Ok, I haven't seen that but will take a look, thank you

 

[jigger]

Ok, one if those and a sdd

I did see something about adding a nvme refused the bus lanes of the gpu from 16 to 8 lanes. But I diht know what this means and if will effect me?

Depends which slots and how many drives you use to some extent, but Ryzen has dedicated PCIE lanes for drives and maintains 16 lanes for the primary PCI-E slot.

 

[sparkyb]

Depends which slots and how many drives you use to some extent, but Ryzen has dedicated PCIE lanes for drives and maintains 16 lanes for the primary PCI-E slot.

I think the reduced lanes was the skit closet to the CPU, but will have to check.

I would most likely only use one nvme and one ssd

 

[jigger]

I think the reduced lanes was the skit closet to the CPU, but will have to check.

I would most likely only use one nvme and one ssd

Will be fine. You have 28 lanes of PCIE to work with. An NVME drive will use 4.

 

[sparkyb]

Will be fine. You have 28 lanes of PCIE to work with. An NVME drive will use 4.

Excellent, thank you

This has all given me a good idea to start properly looking at other parts now

The other question I was going to ask from my first post were about windows and the software I use, bit I'll come to that tomorrow night

 

[Spudgun]

If you use a wired LAN connection, I would recommend avoiding any AM5 motherboard with the Intel 2.5G connection unless you are happy to use an add-in card for your LAN as they are still problematic for some users

 

[sparkyb]

If you use a wired LAN connection, I would recommend avoiding any AM5 motherboard with the Intel 2.5G connection unless you are happy to use an add-in card for your LAN as they are still problematic for some users

Thank you, that's good advice. I don't think I will be using a LAN connection, but will keep that in mind

 

[jigger]

If you use a wired LAN connection, I would recommend avoiding any AM5 motherboard with the Intel 2.5G connection unless you are happy to use an add-in card for your LAN as they are still problematic for some users

Depends on the model of NIC.

 

[pastymuncher]

Ok, sounds good. Bios updates can be one less thing to worry about for now.

You should still update the bios. AM5 is still a maturing platform and every bios release includes the latest Agesa which can improve performance, sometimes substantially like the one released a couple of months ago that improved memory speeds by a big amount. On top of that there are also compatibility fixes and security fixes so it's always worth keeping the bios up to date. There is also a firmware update for the onboard audio of your selected board.