Upgrade time!

[Galatoni]

Hi. I've been out the upgrade game for about 4-5 years, my current spec is this:
CPU: i7-4820k (3.7ghz)
RAM: 16GB DDR3
GPU: 1070

I'm only really looking to upgrade the PSU (it's a bit old and simply needs replacing), CPU and RAM. I've taken a look at the bundles available for intel on Scan and spotted:
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/3xs-z370-overclocked-bundle-intel-core-i7-8700k-coffee-lake-asus-tuf-z370-plus-16gb-ddr4-be-quiet!-d which seems reasonable. I've also spotted the Ryzen bundle https://www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-gamer-bundle-asus-prime-b350-plus-amd-ryzen-7-2700x-16gb-ddr4-arctic-freezer-12 for a not inconsiderable price difference! Obviously the intel variant is overclocked, I have to admit, i'm quite nervous about that!

So whats the craic these days? Intel vs AMD. Assuming that mental Intel Wigig bug has been worked out of AMD processors (https://community.viveport.com/t5/Technical-Support/Wireless-adapter-incompatible-with-RYZEN-cpus/td-p/23285/page/4) i'm not a brand snob, and would just like to consider my options from more experienced people. I'm certainly not adverse to building from scratch either, or indeed, grabbing components from elsewhere. The Ryzen 7 3700X is looking tempting!

PCIe 3 vs 4 is also an issue of course!

[Penfold]

Chaos has just specc'ed me a PC and even the guys at Scan complimented me on the setup when they did their pre-build customer check.

Says it all to me :thumbsup2:

[RizZy]

I posted this on discord, but I'll post it here to if nothing else to see what Chaos has to say to it (it's the upgrade I'm planning on soon)

3700x, MSI B450 Tomahawk or MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon, 3600 CL 16 ram - £640 give or take + a PSU of your choice.

[Chaosphere]

Hi guys, I'll put a proper reply on here over the next couple of days. Just got home from a nightmare of a shift so don't have the energy to do it now!

[Chaosphere]

When it comes to price, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is the clear winner as it knocks the Core i9-9900K out of the park with excellent multi-threading performance, about as fast gaming performance for $170 US less. It’s the best in class 8 core processor that crushes the Core i7-9700K in terms of CPU performance and the Core i9-9900K in the value proposition. The AMD Ryzen 5 3600X does the same to the Core i5-9600K that the Ryzen 7 3700X does with the Core i7-9700K, offering a multi-threaded design that is about as fast in gaming and offers superior performance in multi-thread workloads. Along with the multitude of features such as PCIe Gen 4, 7nm process and far better efficiency than their competitors, the Ryzen 3000 proves that AMD is not the value brand anymore but a solid lineup for high-end gamers who want the best performance, features, and efficiency at absolutely fantastic price points.

Taken from the WCCFTech review of the new Ryzen chips.

These new CPUs from AMDs seem to be ticking all of the boxes. If you had asked me a few weeks ago I would have said 9600K or 9700K, depending on your use case, but now it is hard to recommend anything but the 3600X or 3700X. If you're an Intel fan the aforementioned CPUs are still perfectly good choices, and for your average gamer the differences between these modern CPUs become almost inconsequential. I don't think the more expensive CPUs (9900K, 3900X) are easy to recommend to gamers unless you specifically want to build a 'top of the line' PC, regardless of the price premium that demands.

Motherboard wise, the B450 chipset is fine for most. Moving up to the more expensive X470 brings a few more USB options to the table, but nothing revolutionary. Going for X570 may seem tempting with its PCIe 4.0 support, but these boards are seriously overpriced right now, and I wouldn't recommend them. You won't saturate PCIe 3.0 with any modern single GPU set-up, and by the time we need PCIe 4.0 you're likely to be building your next PC anyway.

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/custom-pc-hardware-bundle-uk-3xs-custom-am4-pc-bundle

That link takes you to the Scan AM4 bundle page, where you can assemble a Ryzen based bundle. For example, the TUF B450, 3600X, 16GB of 3200MHz DDR4, and Dark Rock 4 can be had for £500. This would be a pretty good set up. It may be worth stepping up to 32GB of RAM if budget allows (£577), as although 16GB is 'enough' for now, it doesn't give you much breathing room for the next few years.

Changing to the 3700X (with 32GB of RAM) brings the price to £674, but I'd probably recommend an AIO water cooler with that CPU, something like the H100i (avoid the H100x) for a total of £715.

Let me know if you need any more help on specific build advice - if you provide a budget I can perhaps be of more use, or even do a bit of shopping around.



As a side note - if you buy a B450 motherboard as a standalone (i.e. NOT in a pre-configured bundle), it may not support the new Ryzen CPUs out of the box. There is a solution for this, but it can be a bit of a faff. Let me know if you intend to buy your parts individually and I will go into it further. If you're buying a bundle from Scan or another reputable seller, this should not be a problem.

[Galatoni]

That's really solid advice. Thanks so much for taking the time, especially on your birthday! I think I'm going with the more expensive set up so I'm going to wait just a few weeks more. Looking at the prices it'll be more worth it to Push to the slightly higher near 700 Mark

[RizZy]

From what I've read & seen changing the coolers on the new Ryzens makes very little difference in how fast they'll run, only how hot they run, so if you're not planning on doing anything more than gaming & general use I reckon just the stock cooler will be fine if you don't wanna go all in on the price just yet - Wraith Prism RGB vs. 360mm Liquid Cooler, Ryzen 9 3900X

[Chaosphere]

Yeah, my avoidance of stock coolers and recommendation of the AIO was not a performance thing... Heat means noise, and noise is bad! :roflmao: I'm a fan of a cool and quiet PC, so I suppose my suggestions might often be coloured in such a way .

[RizZy]

It's not that I would say not to do it, but it's not like the system won't run fine with the stock cooler, you can always save a few quid later on & chuck something better on if you feel the need, as I mentioned before I'm looking at the 3700x as an upgrade myself & I plan on trying the stock cooler out 1st - if it sucks then I'll abuse the bank balance a little more!

[Chaosphere]

Absolutely, it's a very sensible approach. And credit to AMD, these stock coolers are a considerable step up from Intel's monstrosities. :lmfao:

I hope you'll both post up how your builds go in the end, always good to see the results.

[RizZy]

I'll definitely be taking pictures, planning on going all in - new monitor, desk, pc, I think the only things that will survive will be a few hdd's & my mouse & keyboard.

[Twyst]

think the only things that will survive will be a few hdd's & my mouse & keyboard.

HDD Is still a thing?
I last used spinning platters about 3-4 years ago - even my 10y old laptop has a SSD now.

I took advantage of Amazon Prime Day and picked up a Samsung 1TB SSD for £99 (now back to £132).
Best upgrade ever.

And just to echo a few others thoughts here - I've been rocking a watercooled setup for 2 years now - Kraken X61 AIO CPU cooler and a Vega64 Liquid Cooled reference card. This isn't for overclock - it's for noise reduction.
I hardly hear this beast!

OK, it *is* overclocked, but it's the same OC I had on air, just now on water.

[RizZy]

Just a couple of old storage drives full of junk, systems on a SSD & I plan on going for something like you with a 1TB SSD for games & etc's

[kregoron]

The 3700x is really a brilliant CPU so far, installed it a few days ago.
Sadly i made the mistake of forgetting a AM4 bracket for my AIO cooler, so forced to use the Wraith prism till it arrives.
Its so noisy

[RizZy]

Dunno if you've brought anything yet or are planning on going with an MSI board Galatoni, but MSI are releasing newer versions of some of their 300 & 400 series board that come with extra support for the new Ryzens - https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/msi-launches-new-revisions-of-amd-300-and-400-motherboards-with-32mb-firmware.html