*** AMD "Zen" thread (inc AM4/APU discussion) ***

[loxocemus]

Does anyone know if the am4 adapters for various CPU air coolers increase the height of the heatsink? The larger ones at 165-169mm are already very close to the case side on towers.

i have a be quiet am4 kit on the way and from the pics it seems identical to stock except the hole positions http://www.bequiet.com/volumes/PDM/_groups/aircooler_am4_manual.pdf i would expect others to be the same.

 

[SiDeards73]

Is it odd that my biggest gripe with Motherboards is not the features but the look? most of them are geared towards red and black, i want a blue and white and black theme, which basically means Asrock is pretty much the only option for me lol.

 

[old gamer]

Is it odd that my biggest gripe with Motherboards is not the features but the look? most of them are geared towards red and black, i want a blue and white and black theme, which basically means Asrock is pretty much the only option for me lol.

a tin of blue paint will sort that

 

[Sargatanas2511]

I didn't realise mATX boards were in such high demand. It seems to be a must for a lot of people.

 

[Curlyriff]

I am holding out for ITX in honesty unless suddenly X-fire really becomes viable again to go down the MATX route. Honestly I personally don't see the need for supper large Mobo or even going for more than dual GPU setup at most. Compact and powerful is what works for myself.

If I can build something that fits in my TV cabinet then that's a plus because I will hook it up there.

 

[Alexrose1uk]

Looking like, providing reviews are good, it'll be between the £145 Asrock Killer and the £170 MSI Carbon for me! The Asrock only lists lower memory support however and I don't need WIFI so will have to factor that in. The MSI looks pretty sweet with the custom lighting.

Can't wait for reviews.
Both using Intel LAN which was important for me as didn't want Realtek if I could help it. Use a USB DAC so onboard not important but think the MSI has better onboard audio, and better PWM/power.

DECISIONS!

 

[Chrisc]

ive decided to buy the asrock x370 board at £150. That is right in my budget.

 

[dbmzk1]

Why does no one else find these disappointing? All the hype and they are only kind of the same as Intels offerings. Some are cheaper, some are not, but all round the performance is nothing new. Intel must be quietly chuckling under their breaths. When are we truly going to get something revolutionary?

 

[Jeps]

It doesn't matter if a game takes advantage of "more than 8 threads". It matters if it uses more than 4 threads, because 6 real cores will be faster than 4 real cores + SMT. It ultimately depends on how loaded those threads are and the implementation within the game engine but generally a 6c/12t chip should best a 4c/8t chip if the game is using 5+ evenly loaded threads.

In theory yes but you have to take into account IPC and clock speed as well. From what we know, the ryzen CPUs have an IPC similar to haswell and they don't clock much higher then 4Ghz (mabe 4.2 max?) No way is a 6c/12t ryzen chip going to top a kaby lake i7 running at 4.8ghz. The higher clock speed/IPC of the i7 should also beat out the 8c/16t ryzen chips as well. Keep in mind this is purley for gaming. If i was a content creator i'd be snapping up a ryzen CPU in a heartbeat (and as i'm currently on a 4770k i might go ryzen anyway).

 

[loxocemus]

il be choosing the one with the most sata ports, i think its the 370 taichi (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asro...ocket-am4-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-14z-ak.html), though on its spec page it says 8 ports then down in the description it says 8+2 so im not sure. asrock havent listed am4 on their site yet which is a bit silly

 

[MDPlatts]

asrock havent listed am4 on their site yet which is a bit silly

yes they have - http://www.asrock.com/mb/index.asp#AM4

I only need a single M2 port for the 2TB Samsung 960pro

 

[loxocemus]

just had confirmation from be quiet! that the am4 mounting kit will not increase the overall height of the dark rock pro3 if thats of any use to anyone considering that particular air cooler.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

In theory yes but you have to take into account IPC and clock speed as well. From what we know, the ryzen CPUs have an IPC similar to haswell and they don't clock much higher then 4Ghz (mabe 4.2 max?) No way is a 6c/12t ryzen chip going to top a kaby lake i7 running at 4.8ghz. The higher clock speed/IPC of the i7 should also beat out the 8c/16t ryzen chips as well. Keep in mind this is purley for gaming. If i was a content creator i'd be snapping up a ryzen CPU in a heartbeat (and as i'm currently on a 4770k i might go ryzen anyway).

Which means diddly squat when the Ryzen 6C/12T CPUs are being targeted against 4C Intel CPUs.

This is from the Digital Foundry review of the Core i7 7700K:

http://i.imgur.com/FW0KpFV.png



I know some are trying their best to sell the Core i5 7600K,but in the end even Eurogamer results are showing an overclocked Core i7 3770K holding its own against a higher clockspeed Core i7 7600K,it shows how many are getting obsessed with MOAR MHZ marketing.

6C/12T against an overpriced 4C/4T quad core.

Its going to get even worse with Ryzen 4C/8T CPUs.

I love how everybody ON PURPOSE ignores the Core i5 7400,Core i5 7500 and Core i5 7600 which are all locked and don't boost that high. They seem to just hope nobody notices the leaked pricing showing 4C/8T and 4C Ryzen is against locked 4C and 2C/4T Intel CPUs.

Ryzen 4C/8T against those is going to be very interesting as is Ryzen 4C CPUs against Core i3 CPUs. The MORE MHZ won't save most of the sub £300 Intel range unless AMD gets less than Haswell level IPC in games.

Intel will need to drop pricing.

All this excuse making for the current Intel pricing tiers is only going to mean Intel won't drop prices.

 

[loxocemus]

just had confirmation from be quiet! that the am4 mounting kit will not increase the overall height of the dark rock pro3 if thats of any use to anyone considering that particular air cooler.

 

[loxocemus]

yes they have - http://www.asrock.com/mb/index.asp#AM4

I only need a single M2 port for the 2TB Samsung 960pro

cheers mate couldn't find it myself

 

[SniperDude]

Have no idea what motherboard to get for my 1800x

 

[Curlyriff]

Why does no one else find these disappointing? All the hype and they are only kind of the same as Intels offerings. Some are cheaper, some are not, but all round the performance is nothing new. Intel must be quietly chuckling under their breaths. When are we truly going to get something revolutionary?

Some are not cheaper than what exactly?

The CPU are cheaper, the boards are a little cheaper but that is coming from the Mobo manufactures rather than AMD from the looks of things and tbf

And the performance is massive to the price which is what is important. The fact that AMD were so far behind and have it seems brought a product to market that levels the playing field in terms of performance but then smashes it with costs is impressive.

Assuming the 4/8 cpu is of similar ability for gaming to Intel we already know pricing is around 40% less and thus that is a big plus. Put one those cores on a £90 board and 16GB RAM you could have a build for £600-700 that happily maxes games with constant 60FPS at 1440p which is pretty impressive.

 

[Jeps]

just had confirmation from be quiet! that the am4 mounting kit will not increase the overall height of the dark rock pro3 if thats of any use to anyone considering that particular air cooler.

Thats actually really helpfull thanks. My dark rock pro is about 2mm from hitting my case window!

 

[Smoogels]

Is the primary difference between the three models the clock speed? If so, is the 1800X really worth the £169 extra since the 1700 is overclockable?

On a side note, is stock of motherboards plentiful also? I can imagine if Ryzen lives up to expectations then they will be pretty hot products.

I'm hoping to wait a month or two to see reviews and user experiences of both the CPU and motherboards before I pull the trigger but it will be a challenge

 

[Jeps]

Which makes diddly squat when the Ryzen 6C/12T CPUs are being targeted against 4C Intel CPUs.

This is from the Digital Foundry review of the Core i7 7700K:

I know some are trying their best to sell the Core i5 7600K,but in the end even Eurogamer results are showing an overclocked Core i7 3770K holding its own against a higher clockspeed Core i7 7600K,it shows how many are getting obsessed with MOAR MHZ marketing.

6C/12T against an overpriced 4C/4T quad core.

Its going to get even worse with Ryzen 4C/8T CPUs.

I love how everybody ON PURPOSE ignores the Core i5 7400,Core i5 7500 and Core i5 7600 which are all locked and don't boost that high. They seem to just hope nobody notices the leaked pricing showing 4C/8T and 4C Ryzen is against locked 4C and 2C/4T Intel CPUs.

Ryzen 4C/8T against those is going to be very interesting as is Ryzen 4C CPUs against Core i3 CPUs. The MORE MHZ won't save most of the sub £300 Intel range unless AMD gets less than Haswell level IPC in games.

Intel will need to drop pricing.

Nowhere have I mentioned price at all though. I'm talking on pure performance which is also why i haven't mentioned the i5s. The 7700k will still be the performance king in games is all i'm saying.