Upgrade options

Associate
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Posts
49
Hi guys. I am currently running the following build:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair VII
RAM: Team Group Xtreem "8Pack Edition" 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4
PC4-25600C14 3200MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black
GPU: Sapphire Vega 64
Case: Corsair Obsidian 1000D
PSU: Superflower 850W
Boot drive: Samsung 970 EVO Polaris 500GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe
HDD: Seagate 3TB BarraCuda 7200RPM 256MB Cache Internal HardDrive (ST3000DM007)
Air Cooler: Noctua NH D-15
Monitor: Samsung G7 Odyssey 32inch

The amin use is gaming, photoshop and video editing. When I built this back in 2018, I was gaming mostly on consoles and editing mostly on a macbook pro. I am looking to switch completely to PC now and my options are either to sell these components and build again vs maxing out components on this motherboard (CPU, GPU). The one big issue on this build for me has been the Seagate HDD which has failed 3 times. I used to be into overclocking before life got busier so looking to explore that again as well. Looking forward to your suggestions!

Sanad.
 
Don
Joined
19 May 2012
Posts
17,222
Location
Spalding, Lincolnshire
Depends entirely on what your budget is, but a couple of upgrades could have you almost at cutting edge performance:

- 5800X3D is a drop in replacement for your 2700X - same number of cores but 2 generations newer (so each core is faster), and 3D Cache that helps with a fair amount of games
- RX7900 GRE is a decently priced option graphics wise that will be a huge upgrade from a Vega 64
- Another NVME drive means you could replace the HDD entirely - anything greater than 2TB seems to still have a premium attached, but nothing stopping you also getting a SATA SSD as well if you need more space.


My basket at OcUK:

Total: £947.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
 
Associate
OP
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Posts
49
Thanks for your suggestions! I can spend money if it gets me performance for at least the next few years. Also, any recommendations on a monitor? Not too impressed with the Samsung!
 
Man of Honour
Joined
23 Mar 2011
Posts
16,926
Location
West Side


I would suggest you open a thread in the monitor section of the forum with your dislikes of the above.

Maybe an oled monitor mite be worth a look at but sadly my knowledge is very limited.

 
Associate
Joined
6 Dec 2007
Posts
1,384
Location
Cambridge
For photo editing I'd definitely go Nvidia for photo editing. I sidegraded from a 3080ti to a 4070ti and the 3080ti was faster in DXO Photolab 7.

A used 3080 ti would be a good option, especially if you're going to be gaming at 1440p.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Posts
49
Sorry, another question. Is it worth going up to watercooling with the 5800x3d and overclocking it? I used to overclock a lot during my college days (15yrs ago!) and would like to get back into it. And would I see a significant performance uplift by upgrading the RAM? Ive decided to max out this motherboard and enjoy my PC for another 4-5 yrs.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
23 Mar 2011
Posts
16,926
Location
West Side
Sorry, another question. Is it worth going up to watercooling with the 5800x3d and overclocking it? I used to overclock a lot during my college days (15yrs ago!) and would like to get back into it. And would I see a significant performance uplift by upgrading the RAM? Ive decided to max out this motherboard and enjoy my PC for another 4-5 yrs.
Overclocking no, the gains are just not there anymore and not sure if you can overclock the x3d chip

Watercoolers are cheap enough and often compete with top air coolers but you have the Nh D 15 so I would reuse it.

Memory speed 3200mhz fine and you have 32gb of 8 pack although 4 sticks mite by problematic when changing the CPU.

See it goes before spending on memory install the CPU first.
 
Last edited:
Associate
OP
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Posts
49
Thanks @mickyflinn. Why would the 4 sticks be problematic? Space? I'll order the 5800x3D. Still debating about graphics cards. The 7900GRE and 4070 Super are similarly priced and the NVIDIA has slightly better performance in benchmarks. Is it better to keep the PC all AMD based or doesnt really matter?
 
Man of Honour
Joined
23 Mar 2011
Posts
16,926
Location
West Side
Thanks @mickyflinn. Why would the 4 sticks be problematic? Space? I'll order the 5800x3D. Still debating about graphics cards. The 7900GRE and 4070 Super are similarly priced and the NVIDIA has slightly better performance in benchmarks. Is it better to keep the PC all AMD based or doesnt really matter?
The memory controller on the CPU sometimes won't allow 4 sticks to run at the rated speed and worst case not let you run 4 sticks together although this latter is uncommon.

It's just something to be aware of before swapping CPU'S. And can trouble shoot if you have problems.

If it does happen try 2 sticks first.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
28 Aug 2017
Posts
2,797
Location
United Kingdom
just a side note double check your bios and make sure you have a version that supports x3d, if you dont and install the new chip the pc will not boot, you'll just a black screen.

checked asus's website the 5800x3d is supported from bios v4703, make sure to have this installed before changing the cpu over

when i had my 5950x i had issues getting 4 sticks to run as above i got a pair to work then added the other 2 sticks and it was ok.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
6 Dec 2007
Posts
1,384
Location
Cambridge
It's not really worth overclocking a modern cpu IMHO. You can get some gains out of efficiency tuning though.

Cooling wise, the 5800x3d is fairly easy to tame, so I'd go with whatever works better from a quality of life/aesthetic perspective.
 
Back
Top Bottom