AMD A10-9700 (AM4) Upgrade (Browser machine)

[Manbatius]

Hi all,

So my cheap build with my son has turned into my main machine...., it runs a lot so the plan is more efficient, quieter and more powerful.

Spec:
MSI A520 pro
16gb ram (from here cannot remember speed was b grade)
PSU is a cheap EVGA
Awful green case the boy picked
120gb generic SSD

CPU is a AMD A10-9700
I needed a in built gpu and at the time everything was crazy hence a bit of an odd old GPU.

Options
A 4600G with a cheap (quieter) fan
B 5600G
C Ryzen 3Pro 4350GE this has a tdp of 35watts!
D Switch my Ryzen 5 3600 from my gaming rig to here (had bent pins previously so do not want to sell) upgrade gaming rig to 5600, only issue with this option is I would nee a cheap GPU for the above machine! no idea what I could find second hand cheap, energy effiecnt that would be ok for pc building sim.

Use is, mainly excel, Microsoft edge, some pc building simulator thrown in, it just and I mean just is capable of this. Leaning toward option C, as I don't need real power per say. I stopped running the gaming pc all the time as it was noisy (eve after a cpu cooler change and figured pricey to run 12 plus hours a day!

Budget ideally £130, which bare in mind is the cost of the whole build! I would prefer the cheaper option lol

 

[Tetras]

What's the cheapest option for you? Personally I'd go for the 4600G or 5600G and if you want to limit power, then do it in the BIOS, since then you'll still have the power available if you need it one day.

The Ryzen 5 3600 would increase your idle power consumption considerably (with a GPU it might be 3, even 4x as much, compared to the 4600G/5600G), so I wouldn't swap them out if that's important to you.

 

[Manbatius]

What's the cheapest option for you? Personally I'd go for the 4600G or 5600G and if you want to limit power, then do it in the BIOS, since then you'll still have the power available if you need it one day.

The Ryzen 5 3600 would increase your idle power consumption considerably (with a GPU it might be 3, even 4x as much, compared to the 4600G/5600G), so I wouldn't swap them out if that's important to you.

The 4600G is cheapest, checked benchmarks and don't feel like for the price hike % wise the 5600G is worth it for me. I can get the 4600G with a decent cheap cooler, cheaper than the 5600g. The 4350GE is like £100 ish used.

I had considered limiting in bios but was not sure if that was as good as a chip being natively 35w

 

[Tetras]

I had considered limiting in bios but was not sure if that was as good as a chip being natively 35w

I don't really have enough experience with low power AMD chips to say conclusively, but as far as I know, AMD gives you the ability to make the CPU behave in the same way (IF the options exist in the bios) and generally speaking, when the CPU will be spending most of the time idle and doing very little continuous load, limiting the power doesn't really help you (in fact, when the load is mainly short bursts, a limited CPU can be less efficient if the clock speed is too low relative to the voltage). Where they do help is primarily in SFF builds where there's a limited cooling capacity available, or when there's a continuous load that requires very little CPU power. General office and browsing use is not usually continuous, since the CPU spends most of the time idle, or at a very low usage/clock.

 

[Jumper118]

4600G seems like the best option to me.

 

[Manbatius]

Prices kept fluctuating a bit so ended up ordering the 5600g was about £20 more but probably worth it If I ever sell up.

Need to remember to update bios before I dismantle !

 

[Cyber-Mav]

Prices kept fluctuating a bit so ended up ordering the 5600g was about £20 more but probably worth it If I ever sell up.

Need to remember to update bios before I dismantle !

Gonna be a massive jump over your old cpu