Considering a new Ryzen rig

OpenToSuggestions · 10 Jul 2019 at 19:31

Hey all.
This seems like a great value upgrade for my 3rd gen i5 3570k overclocked to 4.4Ghz. I would imagine the 3600 absolutely destroys my current rig.

Gigabyte B450 AORUS M (Socket AM4) DDR4 MATX Motherboard £83.99
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail £188.99*
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B32 £79.99
Total: £363.47

People seem to be recommending ram sticks that are far more expensive. Thinking back to my DDR1 days on AMD64 a few tighter timings add a couple of % performance at best.

I really am pondering the above upgrade. My case won't fit a full size ATX.
Still no reviews out on the 3600x, which has a higher TDP but costs £60 more.
I am into overclocking but it seems the Ryzen doesn't have much scope for that.
I casually game at 3k (3440x1440p) with a 980Ti.
Any comments anyone?

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Mr.Q · 10 Jul 2019 at 21:56

Looks like a solid build to me. I might have changed the mobo to an MSI B450 Tomohawk. Can the Gigabyte board update bios without a CPU?

OpenToSuggestions · 10 Jul 2019 at 22:26

Mr.Q said:
Looks like a solid build to me. I might have changed the mobo to an MSI B450 Tomohawk. Can the Gigabyte board update bios without a CPU?

Not sure if it does.
The MSI variant I'd need is the B450 Mortar as the Tomohawk is ATX.

Mr.Q · 10 Jul 2019 at 22:34

That's the one I meant.
Maybe wait a week and see if there are any issues with ryzen 2 compatibility that can be ironed out through bios updates. There is another post on here where an MSI board wont boot with a new Ryzen 2.

OpenToSuggestions · 10 Jul 2019 at 22:59

Mr.Q said:
That's the one I meant.
Maybe wait a week and see if there are any issues with ryzen 2 compatibility that can be ironed out through bios updates. There is another post on here where an MSI board wont boot with a new Ryzen 2.

Thanks for the heads up!

Mr.Q · 10 Jul 2019 at 23:00

OpenToSuggestions said:
Thanks for the heads up!

Pleasure, let us know how you get on.

LuckyBenski · 11 Jul 2019 at 07:50

I'm guessing the above means Ryzen 3000 (Zen 2) series CPU, as B450 is compatible with Ryzen 2000 (Zen+) out of the box. Yes it's confusing...

Have you considered your cooler as well? Ryzen stock coolers can be OK, typically upgrading is more about quieting them down than better performance. But worth thinking about because you'll need to borrow an older CPU for BIOS upgrades if your mobo isn't ready for Ryzen 3000.

Other than that the build looks good!

OpenToSuggestions · 11 Jul 2019 at 10:30

I have a huge Noctua cooler than would fit

. They provide AM4 kits for free if I can find the original invoice! If not...the kits are only ~£7.

orbitalwalsh · 11 Jul 2019 at 12:38

Mr.Q said:
Looks like a solid build to me. I might have changed the mobo to an MSI B450 Tomohawk. Can the Gigabyte board update bios without a CPU?

no, forum rep on here states they can collect board and flash it for you

Oggy · 12 Jul 2019 at 21:45

Be interested to hear how you go with that upgrade and the gift card as I have the same and I’m wondering if it would need a gfx card update also

OpenToSuggestions · 21 Jul 2019 at 11:44

A quick update....
CPU and motherboard ordered. I have also ordered an adapter kit for my huge 10 year old Noctua cooler

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Ram will be Ballistic 2 x 8GB 3200Mhz.

Went for the MSI B450M motherboard as the BIOS can be flashed without a CPU

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Terrorfirmer · 21 Jul 2019 at 12:52

Which one did you go for? Mortar seems OK (have one myself and updated bios with no issues) but lots of people having problems with some other models.

OpenToSuggestions · 21 Jul 2019 at 12:58

Terrorfirmer said:
Which one did you go for? Mortar seems OK (have one myself and updated bios with no issues) but lots of people having problems with some other models.

Ordered Corsair LPX ram as the Ballistix stuff was out of stock.

The CPU I ordered was the 3600. Everything above it doesn't come close to the performance per £. I only game on my PC, so perhaps in a few years time I could slap a 3900x in it when they're 'boring old tech'.

I am hoping the Mortar is a decent mid-range motherboard

. I've been a PC gamer since 2002 and have found the pricier motherboards offer nothing to the semi-keen overclocker with one GPU. From my Googling skills it seems that the Mortar's VRMs are pretty decent.

WantoN · 22 Jul 2019 at 13:06

Lovely little build. The uptake on Zen 2 is exciting to me, I won’t be upgrading for a long time (primarily because I can’t be arsed to muck around with my loop) but it’s always good to see the underdog produce popular new product.

Let us know how you get on mate.

OpenToSuggestions · 30 Jul 2019 at 21:23

All built up and working.
I started by updating the BIOS via USB flashback. I had some issues with it posting, but it eventually burst into life.
I ran cinebench on my old rig. The screenshot I took is not the easiest to read but I got around 1100. The Ryzen 3600 gets around 3400, so a serious boost in CPU power. Games run far better and the CPU usage is low. On PUBG I am averaging 25% CPU usage as I am GPU limited, but even so I am genuinely surprised how out of date my CPU was.

EDIT: I need to fiddle with the ram speed as it currently only runs at 2132mhz effective.

thedandyp · 30 Jul 2019 at 23:59

OpenToSuggestions said:
All built up and working.
I started by updating the BIOS via USB flashback. I had some issues with it posting, but it eventually burst into life.
I ran cinebench on my old rig. The screenshot I took is not the easiest to read but I got around 1100. The Ryzen 3600 gets around 3400, so a serious boost in CPU power. Games run far better and the CPU usage is low. On PUBG I am averaging 25% CPU usage as I am GPU limited, but even so I am genuinely surprised how out of date my CPU was.

EDIT: I need to fiddle with the ram speed as it currently only runs at 2132mhz effective.

Did you stick with the stock cooler in the the end, or go with the Noctua? In either case, do you know what kind of temperatures your seeing at idle/ gaming load?

Grafter67 · 31 Jul 2019 at 01:46

Very nice. The 3600 is the sweet spot for most of us for now, but the 3600x is very close in price in some places.

Ram speed is a simple enter bios and enable xmp thing or can maybe be done in your mobo software.

edit : go into bios, look for xmp. It could be enable or it could be profile 1. Save and exit.

EsaT · 31 Jul 2019 at 09:17

OpenToSuggestions said:
Games run far better and the CPU usage is low. On PUBG I am averaging 25% CPU usage as I am GPU limited, but even so I am genuinely surprised how out of date my CPU was.

EDIT: I need to fiddle with the ram speed as it currently only runs at 2132mhz effective.

4c/4t CPU is simply very low end and background junk can very easily hog processing time from games.
3770K would have no doubt fared better with extra threads to decrease impact of background junk to execution of critical game (+display driver) threads.
And all the vulnerability patches have surely worsened situation.

A-XMP setting in Overclocking "tab" should enable XMP profile of the memory.
Page 47/48:
http://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/E7B89v1.4-GSE-LITE.pdf

OpenToSuggestions · 1 Aug 2019 at 08:18

Xmp now enabled

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The 3600X offers little extra really.
The 3700X is worth considering for more performance but it isn't worth the extra over the 3600. I really do hope that either zen 3 is compatible with B450 or in a couple of years I can just drop a 3900X in when they're 'cheap'.
My huge Noctua cooler fans barely spin up at all. At idle I bet they're 200rpm tops.

OpenToSuggestions · 1 Aug 2019 at 09:36

thedandyp said:
Did you stick with the stock cooler in the the end, or go with the Noctua? In either case, do you know what kind of temperatures your seeing at idle/ gaming load?

I used the Noctua cooler. It is absolutely massive compared to the stock cooler and will be far quieter.
Will have a look tonight and post back

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