How I got everything wrong when upgrading

[Vexr]

So in December 2018 I'd finally had enough of my FX-8350 and GTX 970 failing to provide a good experience on my Dell 34" 60 hz 3440x1440 ultrawide. The game that finally broke its back was Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

The events that subsequently followed:

1: Bought a GTX 1070 Ti in December 2018 for ~£400. Despite DX12 helping out the FX-8350 and the enormous resolution of the monitor suggesting it'd be GPU bottlenecked, this upgrade was hardly noticeable over the GTX 970 in the vast majority of games.

2: Bought a Ryzen 7 2700 and MSI B450 motherboard, with 16 GB of very expensive RAM (by today's standards). This finally made the system 'click' and I got a good experience even on SOTTR at 3440x1440 @ 60hz.

3: NVidia announces its allowing GSync on FreeSync monitors. I decide to invest in a 100 hz FreeSync Ultrawide, as I'd long had a fear I was missing out regarding adaptive sync / higher refresh rates, but was always unwilling to commit to a GSync model and be locked into the NVidia ecosystem.

4: Despite official reviews stating my new monitor had 'flawless GSync compatibility' (though never listed by NVidia as being so) I discovered that FreeSync over GSync is only working in a minority of my games. I end up finding out its borderless windowed games only that aren't working properly with GSync over FreeSync. Very confusing as it's therefore more likely a software issue - but either way, no sign of it being fixed as such things have been reported by a minority of NVidia GSync users on Windows 10 for well over year at this point.

5: The monitor I got on sale for £600 appears on another mega sale for £450. £150 lost by not waiting a couple of months.

6: RAM prices fall massively. £70+ lost on my RAM purchase by not waiting.

7: I sell my GTX 1070 Ti as I accept its nowhere near powerful enough for 75-100 FPS @ 3440x1440, plus my GSync issues. £100 loss on that. I buy a used RX 550 to tide me over while I wait for Navi or something similar and to test FreeSync @100 hz @ 3440x1440 is working as it should be on the AMD side. Fortunately it is.

8: MSI B450s, which had the best VRMs of the B450 series and were deemed most likely to be able to handle the 3rd generation Ryzens, turn out to be fatally flawed due to BIOS issues, hence them now being re-released with fully compatible MAX versions.

9: Still waiting on AIB 5700 XTs to be released, and rumours are swirling that the 5800 XT may hit soon (which would really hit the spot for me and make the purchase of a 5700 XT now yet another bad decision)

Weirdly, the only possibly good decision I made turned out to be the one most recommended against (getting the Ryzen 7 2700 over a Ryzen 2600). If the compatibility issues aren't sorted on these non-refreshed MSI B450 boards, then sounds like I may well be trapped with the Ryzen 7 2700 for the rest of AM4s lifespan - and hopefully that'll do the job whereas a 2600 might not.

 

[Vexr]

Encouraging, though I can't help but be envious of those who bought into the right thing at the right time. The 2500k is a good example @PC777 , and more recently I'm guessing those who invested in a 1080Ti and something like an i7-7700K (not that familiar with Intel processors - I assume that was a standout) in early 2017 are laughing it up regarding the longevity, value, and high performance they're still getting from that initial investment so long ago.

I suppose I should've anticipated a faltering upgrade path. For a moment there it was all very good and I looked forward to sitting back satisfied, but then NVidia's opening up to FreeSync made it too irresistible to not upgrade my monitor, and 100 hz is a very different ball game to 60 hz @ UWQHD as I found out - assuming you're one of the 'unlucky ones' who suddenly see the difference and can't go back to 60 fps.

 

[Vexr]

Good advice, though I won't forget how certain games apparently couldn't tell the difference between a R7 2700 & GTX 1070 Ti vs an FX 8350 and GTX 970 at UWQHD (Dishonoured 2 and Final F%!ckup XV come to mind)

I suppose I've increased my headroom monitor wise to 100 hz and have adaptive sync, so the only missing piece of the puzzle is a capable graphics card now - 9 months after I started this upgrade.

 

[Vexr]

Personally I think MSI should allow you to RMA the boards or take them to a service centre so they can change the bios chip on the board for a bigger one, a simple task for them, their screw up not yours, and thats the only difference between the max board and the standard version, nothing else has changed.

If they were still plug into a socket chip like they used to be instead of soldering them to the motherboards now, it would be an even easier task, even if they charged a very small fee for it, couple of quid for the postage etc.

Something like this:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...gt-series-laptops-with-mxm-graphics.18746748/
?

I suppose this wouldn't be possible as MSI didn't specifically claimed that third generation Ryzen would be compatible with their B450 boards, it was AMD that merely said 3rd gen Ryzen would be compatible with AM4.

Either way, becoming rather disillusioned with MSI. Their previous crime was awful AM3/AM3+ motherboards. They seemed to redeem themselves with AM4 and B450, but apparently this isn't the case now 3rd Gen Ryzen is on the scene, and MSI is again a poor choice.

 

[Vexr]

You can still update for Ryzen 3000 series in the old MSI boards, even with the smaller chip. Not ideal as you lose 1000 compatibility but an easy 20% performance uplift for cheap in a couple of years

It's a minor point on my list, and one I apparently pre-empted by going for the R7 2700 with the intention of sticking with it for a while 'no matter what' the third generation brought. Though I've since learnt utter lemon games like those stated above could definitely do with the new Ryzen's IPC, assuming their engines don't just fall apart by themselves after 60 fps. TBH sounds like I might have to look up how FFXV and Dishonoured 2 do on the new Ryzen to see what's what, as they were beyond hope just a few months ago.