Swapping out CPU or going for a cheap GPU?

InfiniteNoise · 10 Jan 2022 at 21:21

So, I have enough spare parts lying around to build a 2nd PC without spending too much, all I need to do is to get a PSU, RAM, and maybe a GPU, but the CPU I have is a Ryzen 1600, I'm not sure if I should keep that and get a GPU, or sell the CPU for Ryzen 3400G (3000 series is the latest I can go, motherboard doesn't support 4000/5000 series).

What would you do in this situation? I'm not too concerned about CPU & GPU performance (somewhere around GT 1030 performance would be ideal though), just something that's decent enough.

Joxeon · 10 Jan 2022 at 21:26

I'd probably sell the 1600 and go the APU route given that even a basic GPU is quite costly right now.

InfiniteNoise · 10 Jan 2022 at 21:37

Yeah I was thinking that, I had a look at the prices of GPUs, GT 1030 goes for 80-90 quid and GTX 1050 level GPUs seem to go for 2-3x as much, swapping the CPU for 3400G would save me about 70 quid I think, which is a decent saving, and I'd get a better single thread performance and decent enough graphics.

Journey · 10 Jan 2022 at 22:39

Which board do you have?

InfiniteNoise · 10 Jan 2022 at 23:34

Asrock AB350 ITX/ac, apparently there's a beta bios somewhere with support for series 5000 CPUs but it's beta, I can't find a reliable source for it and I'd rather not go down that route in case I end up bricking the board.

Joxeon · 10 Jan 2022 at 23:50

InfiniteNoise said:
Asrock AB350 ITX/ac, apparently there's a beta bios somewhere with support for series 5000 CPUs but it's beta, I can't find a reliable source for it and I'd rather not go down that route in case I end up bricking the board.

Yeah they did release an early beta for vermeer but it got pulled as AMD didn't want the 300 series to have support although this bios would be unlikely to support the Cezanne APUs as they released 6 months later.

There is currently talk of 300 series boards again receiving support and this time with AMDs blessing although it's not been comfirmed yet but maybe worth hanging on a while if your not in a hurry.

Journey · 11 Jan 2022 at 08:06

InfiniteNoise said:
Asrock AB350 ITX/ac, apparently there's a beta bios somewhere with support for series 5000 CPUs but it's beta, I can't find a reliable source for it and I'd rather not go down that route in case I end up bricking the board.

It's actually exactly the same board as the B450 ITX/ac is, so you can safely flash the B450 BIOS on to your board without any fear of issues arising from it. Pretty hard to brick the board unless you have a power cut in the middle of doing it, but the same applies to a none cross flash too.

5600G would be the go to processor if you want a great system with out spending a small fortune on a discrete GPU.

InfiniteNoise · 11 Jan 2022 at 17:06

Interesting, I'll have to look into this, 5600G is a lot better option and doesn't cost a lot more over 3400G, I'm in no rush though, but if I see 5600G go on sale at some point, I'll be sure to snag it.

Joxeon · 11 Jan 2022 at 18:21

Journey said:
It's actually exactly the same board as the B450 ITX/ac is, so you can safely flash the B450 BIOS on to your board without any fear of issues arising from it. Pretty hard to brick the board unless you have a power cut in the middle of doing it, but the same applies to a none cross flash too.

5600G would be the go to processor if you want a great system with out spending a small fortune on a discrete GPU.

I'm not sure this will work since as far as I know the cross flashing only worked up till agesa 1.1.0.0, you can flash later bios but the actual CPU support is locked.

Here's a post I found from someone whose tried it.

I have AsRock B350 Gaming ITX/ac, recently buy 5700g processor.

Cross flashed to B450 Gaming ITX/ac v4.20 bios which has which has 5000g APU support depending written on web site while not updated to 1.2...

My Ryzen 1700 boots up with that bios, working normal. But 5700G doesn't POST. I believe chip is locked via PSP firmware. ...

Hanuki · 11 Jan 2022 at 19:33

Do cheap GPU exist anymore :O

Journey · 11 Jan 2022 at 19:36

Joxeon said:
I'm not sure this will work since as far as I know the cross flashing only worked up till agesa 1.1.0.0, you can flash later bios but the actual CPU support is locked.

Here's a post I found from someone whose tried it.

I have AsRock B350 Gaming ITX/ac, recently buy 5700g processor.

Cross flashed to B450 Gaming ITX/ac v4.20 bios which has which has 5000g APU support depending written on web site while not updated to 1.2...

My Ryzen 1700 boots up with that bios, working normal. But 5700G doesn't POST. I believe chip is locked via PSP firmware. ...

Then that person isn't using a B350 ASRock board (or they didn't do it properly), but using another board with an ASRock firmware which a lot of people are trying to do, since one you've flashed your B350-ITX/ac you can flash it to any B450-ITX/ac firmware using the built in flash tool in the BIOS and it will boot all listed processors. I know this as I have installed a 5600G in B350-ITX/ac that has been cross flashed.

Probably helpful next time if you just link the actual random internet post.

EDIT: Also you need to be using v4.40 or above from March 2021 for it to actually work.

Energize · 11 Jan 2022 at 22:22

InfiniteNoise said:
Yeah I was thinking that, I had a look at the prices of GPUs, GT 1030 goes for 80-90 quid and GTX 1050 level GPUs seem to go for 2-3x as much, swapping the CPU for 3400G would save me about 70 quid I think, which is a decent saving, and I'd get a better single thread performance and decent enough graphics.

Eh, I just bought a 1050 for £75 off ebay?

Alan McFall · 11 Jan 2022 at 23:01

InfiniteNoise said:
GT 1030 goes for 80-90 quid

SoundsGood · 11 Jan 2022 at 23:35

I went for a USB DisplayLink adapter for 35 quid on ebay (search for USB32DP4K). Though it can only do 60Hz at 1440p so I am swapping to a 5600G soon.

InfiniteNoise · 12 Jan 2022 at 00:00

Energize said:
Eh, I just bought a 1050 for £75 off ebay?

Yeah, the prices I mentioned are new, these days I'm wary about buying used GPUs, I've had a bit of a bad experience, sellers not being honest and omitting the fact that they've been flashed with a custom BIOS and used for 24/7 mining left a bad taste in my mouth, maybe I'll look around the MM for something, I'd rather avoid places like eBay.

I think I'll probably end up selling the 1600 and grab the 3400G, the use-case I'll have for the build doesn't really require much, it's just gonna run Linux, some browsing, and a bit of retro gaming, don't really need a dedicated GPU here.