Gaming PC refresh

Borolad

Borolad

Borolad

Associate
Joined
31 Jul 2019
Posts
8
Hi All,

Just after a bit of advice about upgrading my ageing PC. Currently running :-

fx 8350 on a MSI GDA970 MB with 16GB of DDR3 RAM with a GTX 970

I have a decent 850W PSU thats only a year old and a mid tower ATX case and HDD;s that I can re-use. I play a range of games but I am currently running 3 1080p monitors for racing/sims and my set up is struggling to say the least. I am trying to keep under £750 and was thinking of a b450 MB with a 2600x and a gtx 2070. I have no interest in overclocking to be honest, was thinking of going with a new Ryzen but the new 570 motherboards are well expensive. Also need to squeeze a copy of windows in there to as my current system has a OEM version installed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Borolad
 
Borolad said:
and was thinking of a b450 MB with a 2600x and a gtx 2070.
Click to expand...

Good move

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £732.97 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

You will need to update the BIOS of the motherboard first - OCUK may be able to do that for you. A Ryzen 2600 is £60 cheaper which would allow you to get a GTX 2070S

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £797.96 (includes shipping: £0.00)​
​
 
Borolad said:
fx 8350 on a MSI GDA970 MB with 16GB of DDR3 RAM with a GTX 970

I play a range of games but I am currently running 3 1080p monitors for racing/sims and my set up is struggling to say the least. I am trying to keep under £750 and was thinking of a b450 MB with a 2600x and a gtx 2070.

Also need to squeeze a copy of windows in there to as my current system has a OEM version installed.
Click to expand...
@Quartz gives 2 good examples of how you can mix up the builds to keep within your budget.

But, looking at how often you upgrade (rarely), i would argue that it's worth you spending an extra ~£50 and buying the 3600 and the 2070 Super especially with your setup.

Also, you may want to hold off a month as the MAX version of some of the B450's are being released - Zen 2 compatibly out of the box and from pre-orders prices are on parity with existing boards - Mortar and Tomahawk

Also, you can pick up Windows keys for ~£10 - if you Google (but be selective - it's a grey'ish market but there are legit keys to be had. I' have them on the kids units - no problems after a few years, plus office suits.)
 
Plec said:
@Quartz gives 2 good examples of how you can mix up the builds to keep within your budget.

But, looking at how often you upgrade (rarely), i would argue that it's worth you spending an extra ~£50 and buying the 3600 and the 2070 Super especially with your setup.

Also, you may want to hold off a month as the MAX version of some of the B450's are being released - Zen 2 compatibly out of the box and from pre-orders prices are on parity with existing boards - Mortar and Tomahawk

Also, you can pick up Windows keys for ~£10 - if you Google (but be selective - it's a grey'ish market but there are legit keys to be had. I' have them on the kids units - no problems after a few years, plus office suits.)
Click to expand...

Am i being dim or are the MAX boards nothing more than 32mb bios chip and and updated bios straight out of the box? As in, apart from the bios version (and size) differences, they are literally the same as the standard versions?
 
thedandyp said:
Am i being dim or are the MAX boards nothing more than 32mb bios chip and and updated bios straight out of the box? As in, apart from the bios version (and size) differences, they are literally the same as the standard versions?
Click to expand...

Is the USB 3.2 connector new?

@Plec makes a good point about waiting but if you can't wait then you might prevail upon OCUK customer support to pre-flash the BIOS to support your new CPU.
 
Thanks for replies guys.

Just wondering how my 970 would cope in a new MB and 2nd gen Ryzen (3600), if it would be ok I could stretch the budget a bit and get a decent MB, CPU and RAM now and hold off on the GPU for a month or so, I have heard good things about the 5700xt but the non reference boards with better cooling are a few weeks away yet. Thing is if I keep putting it off for yet another component to be released bugger all will get built lol

What you reckon peeps?
 
thedandyp said:
Am i being dim or are the MAX boards nothing more than 32mb bios chip and and updated bios straight out of the box? As in, apart from the bios version (and size) differences, they are literally the same as the standard versions?
Click to expand...
Yep -a face-lift, larger 32MB eeprom to fit on all their GUI crap, better memory support(sic) - and maybe something else minor...

But, they're struggling to hit all the buttons on their slimline BIOS (but suspect significant user error too) even though some x570s have 16MB eeproms. So it gave them a great opportunity to cash in - even though they'll probably have fixed all the issues by the time the MAX is released (but from pre-orders similar prices - but great/bad advertising - depending on your situation). May cut into their sales of the b550 even if they do have limited PCIe 4 support, especially if they're released with fans...

Borolad said:
Just wondering how my 970 would cope in a new MB and 2nd gen Ryzen (3600), if it would be ok I could stretch the budget a bit and get a decent MB, CPU and RAM now and hold off on the GPU for a month or so, I have heard good things about the 5700xt but the non reference boards with better cooling are a few weeks away yet. Thing is if I keep putting it off for yet another component to be released bugger all will get built lol
Click to expand...
If you're not planning on overclocking (no need anyway) - the B450/MAX will be fine - just the lack PCIe 4, no loss for your needs looking at predicted usage.

If you went x570 route - the Gigabyte x570 Gaming X (what i would recommend) is ~£180 - and gives you PCIE-4 and a fan - neither of which will benefit you, even if you were to get the PCIE 4 supported 5700XT AIB, a worthy wait if you want to save more money - plus drivers will be sorted.

The B450 supports up to 3900X 12c/24t - so you'll even have a hefty upgrade path, if required, in the future - and perhaps Zen 3, but that's all ifs-and-maybes at the moment.
 
Last edited:
^^^^^ See above post first

@Borolad - the Tomohawk B450 MAX is now on sale/released at £99. Not allowed to give you anymore information than that because of forum rules. As mentioned Zen 2 compatible out of the box and slight tweaks over original design but same price 'and supposedly' zero hassle.

*OcUK should get stock soon, may be worth contacting them via Customer Services.
 
Thanks for the info bud ^^^^^^^ I have sent customer service a message. The motherboard is what I cant make my mind up on, was looking for a MSi board just for the BIOS update without CPU installed feature tbh. At the moment I am swaying towards a 3600 with a 5700XT to keep costs down a bit, dont think I can wait until 3rd party boards are released though haha, like a big kid waiting for Xmas
 
Wouldn't it be better to go x570 for just a few quid more? Once you've selected the 3600 and 16gb of ram in that bundle, it comes to about £430. It's only £275 for the ram and the cpu seperately on here. So that's £160 to spend on a board...
 
I see what you mean but there is only one 570 board in that sort of price range. Also there is not a lot of info on them so far where as the x470 seems a more proven platform, from what I can tell anyway, confused again, lol
 
Quartz said:
Good move

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £732.97 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

You will need to update the BIOS of the motherboard first - OCUK may be able to do that for you. A Ryzen 2600 is £60 cheaper which would allow you to get a GTX 2070S

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £797.96 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​
Click to expand...

I've messaged OCUK before about updating the BIOS of a motherboard and was told they don't offer that service.
I know selected retailers do, only one I know of charges £10 for it.
 
matt1 said:
I've messaged OCUK before about updating the BIOS of a motherboard and was told they don't offer that service.
Click to expand...
When did you ask?

They offer it on an ad-hoc basis on request - but during the initial Zen 2 release they suspended it - but they may have resumed it again (depending on when you asked of course).
 
I asked last weekend.

Hi there, I'm afraid we don't currenly offer such a service - apologies for any disappointment.

If you have any further questions, please let us know.
Click to expand...

Maybe you asked more nicely? :)
 
matt1 said:
Maybe you asked more nicely? :)
Click to expand...
It's true, I am lovely - but I doubt my customer service forum skills are any better than yours.

I think they're still in the Ryzen-Rush-Window due to the enforced staggered release from lack of stock. Now that the MSI MAX board has come out (and when OcUK get stock) this may take the edge off a lot of flash requests. But, it would seem the service will be in hiatus for a little while longer.

I posted in the CS Forum before Zen 2 release to get clarification re BIOS flash during initial release as there was conflicting info floating about.

My below points were all clarified by an OcUK representative after he got confirmation:

Plec said:
To clarify:
  • it's not a service being offered on initial release
  • it will be available on an ad-hoc basis if requested a month or so after release (when initial demand settles)?
  • but even then will not be overtly advertised on the store web page - so only available to those who know/have the sense to enquire?
Click to expand...

So, assume they must expect to be inundated if service was to be offered - as it would hit the forums very quickly.
 
Thanks for all the advice peeps, went with a Tomahawk b450 Max, 3600 Ryzen, 16GB hyperX 3200 RAM and a Radeon 5700XT. Cant wait to get put together :-)
 
Borolad said:
Thanks for all the advice peeps, went with a Tomahawk b450 Max, 3600 Ryzen, 16GB hyperX 3200 RAM and a Radeon 5700XT. Cant wait to get put together :)
Click to expand...
Tidy spec.

Flash that motherboard to the latest release and use the latest 5700XT drivers to avoid potential conflicts. Also, use the latest May Windows 10 install - so you have the 1903 update installed.
 
Will the Motherboard need it, it's the new MAX edition, Zen 2 compatibility out of the box supposedly. Will check the Windows version and XT drivers though, thanks for the tip
 
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