Build now or wait

Colonel D · 6 Jun 2019 at 04:37

Hi all, new member here looking for advice

I'm going to build a new PC, always used AMD without problems, so Ryzen seems the obvious choice. I was going to get a 2600 or 2700x and x450/470 mobo. Now seeing as the 3000 series is a month or so, are they worth waiting for?

It will be used for gaming, browsing and watching Netflix. Never OC'd, might use the turbo boost, but nothing serious. Will Pcie 4 make a difference? Any advice welcomed.

DragonQ · 6 Jun 2019 at 07:30

Depends how long you intend to keep the system. If more than a few years, it's definitely worth waiting for a board with PCIe 4.0 and CPUs with ~15% IPC uplift (plus higher clock speeds and/or lower power consumption).

an0nym0us · 6 Jun 2019 at 07:32

If you can wait, then 3rd gen Ryzen appears to be worthwhile waiting for. At Computex, AMD announced 3rd gen Ryzen would have approx 15% increase in IPC vs 2nd gen Ryzen. So for gaming, 3rd gen Ryzen looks promising.

PCIe 4.0 isn't going to make much difference for your given use case. Current GPUs can't yet make full use of PCIe 4.0 lanes to make any difference.

Burnt_Custard · 6 Jun 2019 at 07:33

In all it really depends on what type of user you are and how much you to spend. If you are causal AAA gamer and want to spend around £700 for the tower then 95% of users would be happy with a Ryzen 5 2600 and even a 1600.

But I would wait for reviews of the new 3000 series, how big the performance difference is. Also prices of the 2000 will drop. Then you can decide where the value for the money is. And most likely the x570 boards will be expensive and the PCI-E 4.0 will not benifit the majority of current GPUs

Colonel D · 6 Jun 2019 at 08:00

Thanks for the input. I'm a casual gamer, GTA, Project Cars, and Assetto Corsa would probably be the most taxing games I play.

Currently have an fx4100 that struggles to run the racing games, playable but stuttering can be a pain. A damaged pcie slot is forcing the change, GPU is being held up with a makeshift bracket. ATM anything would be an upgrade but no point in buying now if the 3000 series is going to be a major improvement. I guess waiting a few weeks won't do any harm.

NinjaCool · 6 Jun 2019 at 08:29

Even a Ryzen 2600 with a good none expensive B450 motherboard such as the Gaming Pro Carbon, or alternative the Tomahawk would be a big upgrade over your FX4100 system.
With a month to go for the next gen Ryzen CPU's build on 7nm, a lot of us with older CPUs will probably be waiting for the reviews, but it will be more expensive building a bleeding edge system.

DragonQ · 6 Jun 2019 at 09:05

Of course, even if you don't want a Ryzen 3000 series, you'll probably see a flood of 1st and 2nd generation Ryzen CPUs in the MM in a month or so.

H3RBSKI · 6 Jun 2019 at 09:09

i was in the same boat, wait or upgrade, i got a decent deal on a 2600x and mobo to go with it so went for that and dont regret it one bit. watching reviews of the 2600x were what tipped me over the edge. it was MORE than enough for what i want/need so made no sense for me waiting for something a bit faster

Dirk Diggler · 6 Jun 2019 at 09:23

You need to wait, it's too close. You'll get more for your money.

Burnt_Custard · 6 Jun 2019 at 09:25

If your casual then I would say just buy now or wait for discounts when the new 3000 series comes out. I would also recommend a 2600x instead of a 2600 cause then XFR (self overclocking) is better and requires no user input. Motherboard wise..... I would say a decent level mid - high range B450 motherboard (don't go super cheap basically)

KiNgPiN83 · 6 Jun 2019 at 11:10

Personally i’d wait. Then you can always go for the current Ryzens if the new ones are too expensive/aren’t as much of a performance jump as expected.

easyrider · 6 Jun 2019 at 12:05

EsaT · 6 Jun 2019 at 12:18

Colonel D said:
It will be used for gaming, browsing and watching Netflix. Never OC'd, might use the turbo boost, but nothing serious. Will Pcie 4 make a difference?

PCIe v4 won't make difference to that, unless GPU architectures/GPU use somehow change to need much more bandwidth.
Current fastest gaming card barely saturates v3.0 x16 slot
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_RTX_2080_Ti_PCI-Express_Scaling/6.html

But Zen2's improved performance will help in years to come.
Or current CPUs dropping in price.
Next-gen consoles are going to bring huge jump to CPU power of consoles and when games fully utilize that, it's ouch time for average consumer PC CPU.

sunshinewelly · 6 Jun 2019 at 18:43

Buy now. Get a 2600x or 2700 or 2700x and a decent b450 board and your good to go. You can then buy a ryzen 3 in 2 years time and still use that ryzen 3 cpu with your existing motherboard. For example you should be able to get a decent b450 board for £90 and a 2700 for under £180

The new ryzen 3 boards will not be that cheap and you won't get an equivalent ryzen cpu for under £200

GAC · 6 Jun 2019 at 18:52

wait a month and either buy a new ryzen 3000 cpu or get a bargin on a 2000. but if you do wait id possibly look at buying a 500 series motherboard even if you do grab a 2000 series cpu just for future upgrades down the line.

decto · 6 Jun 2019 at 21:25

sunshinewelly said:
Buy now. Get a 2600x or 2700 or 2700x and a decent b450 board and your good to go. You can then buy a ryzen 3 in 2 years time and still use that ryzen 3 cpu with your existing motherboard. For example you should be able to get a decent b450 board for £90 and a 2700 for under £180

The new ryzen 3 boards will not be that cheap and you won't get an equivalent ryzen cpu for under £200

The 3600X (6 core) is supposed to equal the 2700X (8 core) in productivity and has better base / turbo clocks.
Worth waiting for unless there are some significant deals and cash is then put to a GPU.

The X versions are preferable as the all core turbo is significantly better on 4** series boards if you don't intend to OC manually.

Orange Nexus · 6 Jun 2019 at 22:37

Colonel D said:
Thanks for the input. I'm a casual gamer, GTA, Project Cars, and Assetto Corsa would probably be the most taxing games I play.

Currently have an fx4100 that struggles to run the racing games, playable but stuttering can be a pain. A damaged pcie slot is forcing the change, GPU is being held up with a makeshift bracket. ATM anything would be an upgrade but no point in buying now if the 3000 series is going to be a major improvement. I guess waiting a few weeks won't do any harm.

I would assume you need a gpu upgrade as well. If you do, then that would add to the cost. R5 2600 would be quite an upgrade from the FX 4100 but if gpu will hold you back, the benefit might be minimal.

My bad. @decto covered it.

TangoEchoAlpha · 6 Jun 2019 at 23:09

Definitely wait if you can - see what the 3000 series are like and wait for some second hand 2000 series processors to be available second hand.

humbug · 6 Jun 2019 at 23:38

easyrider said:
wait

Colonel D · 7 Jun 2019 at 03:17

Again thanks to all for input.
The biggest put off the 3000 chips is the price of the motherboards.

If I was to go for the current CPU it would be 2600x or 2700. MSI Carbon pro x470 (have found a deal on them for just over £100) 16gig of 3000/3200 ddr4, and more storage.

GPU is an nitro+ rx480 and still good enough for now anyway, PSU is alright for now.