Urgent pre purchase advice

mediamatt · 13 Jul 2018 at 15:13

Hi just sold my 6700k pc so want to go all AMD .Just bought a 580 so want a 2700x and a decent x470 motherboard and 8pack ram.

The 4000hz ram is on offer. I know Ryzen can't run 4000hz but is this still a good buy and just drop it to 3200-3600 until it's stable and then if ever Ryzen does get better at allowing higher memory speeds then I'm all set.

Also what's the cheapest x470 board that will be stable and allow an overclock?

Thanks
Matt

Spankme · 13 Jul 2018 at 17:20

As far as i gather all x470 boards will allow an overclock and the processor itself is uocked too so your good to go

strumpusplunket · 13 Jul 2018 at 19:50

The RAM will be fine, but you'll have to set the speed and timing manually since the DOCP of 4000MHz won't work on Ryzen.

I think pretty much all motherboards are stable now, and your choice depends on looking into the features on each (USB3.1, M.2 slots, number of SATA connectors, etc.). The VRMs are better on the more expensive boards but unless you're looking quite low-end, most have VRM capacity and cooling to overclock. Any idea how much you were thinking of spending on a board, and what kind of overclock we're talking?

mediamatt · 13 Jul 2018 at 19:53

Just after say a 4.1 or 4.2 overclock eventually. Will be using the stock cooler for now but wanted something that I could drag more performance put when I put a decent cooler on it .

strumpusplunket · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:02

Well, most mid-range boards probably okay. Most people seem to regard the Gigabyte Aorus mid-range boards and the Asus Prime Pro as decent choices.

If you want to step up to the next tier, you have the Aorus Gaming 5 and the Asus Strix X470. Both have a few more features. The Strix has the better VRMs I believe, even though many people think them overkill for what Ryzen needs. I went with the Strix just to make sure I can get a good clock/boost from Ryzen 2. It may turn out I've spent more than I needed to. I don't know, but I wanted to err on the side of caution.

Between those, you pays yer money you takes yer choice, basically as far as I can see...

mediamatt · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:06

So even the cheapest auros x470 would be fine for overclocked and memory compatibility (get it to 3600)?

strumpusplunket · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:12

Well there are no guarantees with these things. The cheapest Aorus (Gaming K7) should be fine for a decent CPU overclock, but there's no way to guarantee you'll have stable RAM at 3600MHz. You might, but that also depends on the memory controller on the chip. There are diminishing returns on performance past 3000/3200MHz anyway, and precious little between 3400 and 3600. 3600 is pretty ambitious with Ryzen. I've seen some people say they've managed it, but it's pretty much as high as you can reasonably expect to go.

What are you goals here? Gaming? Rendering? Streaming? Something else?

mediamatt · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:23

Well,

Ive just sold a 6700k/msi gaming 5 z170/16gb ddr4 2666hz pc and looking to move solely to AMD as bought a Powercolor 580.

Will be used for gaming, 4k video editing and general computing but nothing hardcore if you know what i mean. Bought a HP Omen 32 1440p monitor today too so hopefully will all work fine (freesync etc)

Matt

strumpusplunket · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:29

Ah, cool. The Aorus K7 and that RAM should be grand. If you want to go overkill on VRMs for the future, the Strix might be an option. No one knows what Ryzen 2 will draw. The K7 is a solid mid-range choice if you're looking to keep the budget down a bit.

mediamatt · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:35

Having looked at some boards , i actually think im going to go with the Asus Prime Pro. Has the Aura lighting and white look, which will fit in with my colour scheme and seems a good mid range board. Going to ask ocuk tomorrow if that 4000hz ram will work at 3600hz. Been an expensive week lol

strumpusplunket · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:41

Solid choice for mid-range I think. Plenty of people on here have that board.

The RAM will work no problem at lower speeds than 4000, but you'll never get a guarantee from anyone that any RAM will run on a Ryzen system at 3600! Too many variables. The RAM isn't likely to be the issue - it will most likely be the memory controller on the chip.

mediamatt · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:46

Just been looking at a review off another store and he bought the asus prime pro and some b die corsair 16gb and shows the settings to get it to work at 3600mhz and says it runs perfect. Going buy the 2700x, asus prime pro, b die corsair ram and a decent psu tomorrow and put it all in my new case (kolink observatory) and put the powercolor rx580 in and then connect it all to the new monitor i bought (hp omen 32) and if it runs crap im going cry lol

strumpusplunket · 13 Jul 2018 at 20:55

Good stuff. Let us know how it goes!

davey_g10 · 14 Jul 2018 at 11:58

@strumpusplunket You mentioned most boards are stable now at mid-range. Is that X370 and up, or also include B350 boards and up? Do they all come ready to work with the 2700X and other chips now or do you still sometimes need to do something with the board to get it all to work?

strumpusplunket · 14 Jul 2018 at 12:13

The B350 boards are a bit more basic in general. I have one in my son's build and it's limited in terms of its VRMs and also how well cooled they are, but they should work. Depends how much headroom you want. I'd not want some of the lower end B350 boards with weak VRMs and no VRM cooling running an eight-core CPU (but then I am natually cautious...).

There's not much practical difference between X370 and X470 in general.

At the moment, there's no guarantee that an X370 or B350 board will come with a BIOS that supports second-gen Ryzen or Raven Ridge APUs. If you buy from OcUK you can ring up before your order is shipped and ask them to flash to the latest BIOS version before sending out. That's what I did with my son's B350 board and it went very smoothly.

davey_g10 · 14 Jul 2018 at 12:18

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, the cost of the B350 and an X370 don't seem too much actually. I'm considering an AMD build and not a gamer with no overclocking plans, so I guess X370 would be the most cost effective choice. That's great that OCUK can do that before shipping out! Makes things a hell of a lot easier.

strumpusplunket · 14 Jul 2018 at 12:51

Well, B350 should work fine, plus they're mATX which can be nice for a smaller build. I'd just personally avoid the cheaper ones with poor VRMs and no cooling for an eight-core (though I'm sure plenty of people have this set-up working okay).

But, the B450 boards are due out soon, so it might be worth hanging on to see what they bring if you're not in a massive rush.

davey_g10 · 14 Jul 2018 at 13:33

Do the boards themselves have an impact on cooling? What are the VRMs?
Been out the building loop for a while so a little lacking in some of the more technical detail.

strumpusplunket · 14 Jul 2018 at 14:04

The VRMs (voltage regulator modules) control the voltage supplied to the processor. They can get very hot, especially when the motherboards skimp a bit and use as few as possible lower-quality VRM phases to get by and keep costs down. Quality boards tends to use more and better VRM phases and also to put heatsinks on them to keep them cool.

You usually don't need to worry about them too much unless you're overclocking, when you want the board to be capable of delivering the stable voltage you'll need without overloading or overheating. Most boards are likely fine if they list 2700s in their compatibility list, but with an eight-core chip I'd feel better knowing that there were at least semi-decent VRMs on the board and they were adequately cooled.

davey_g10 · 14 Jul 2018 at 15:15

So a board like this has Ryzen 7 support, but not sure how to tell about VRM quality?
Also as this says onboard Radeon, you wouldn't need an additional GPU if non gaming?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Asus ROG Strix B350-F Gaming AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £106.99

Total: £117.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)