New Ryzen Build Advice

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Been having trouble with my current PC and considering biting the bullet and doing a major upgrade rather than repairing.

My computer is for general browsing and office use, but I do game, for example the Tomb Raider games, and just got Ace Combat 7, but only at 1080P. I like them to run well but not fussed whether they are at ultra high graphics or at the highest refresh rate, just as long as it plays and looks good enough.

But if I am going to spend a few hundred, I want to see a decent step up for my money, no point paying a little less and barely seeing a difference.

My current is a Phenom II 955, GTX 1060 and 16GB RAM, I would not be changing the graphics card at this point.

I haven’t built PCs since around 2012 so I’m quite out of touch.

So CPU-wise, I’m thinking the Ryzen 5 3600 as that seems to be the ‘best bang for the buck’ from what I have read, is that correct.

But a little unsure on motherboards. I’ve always been guilty of buying more than I need, gaming boards with the top chipset and support for SLI which I will never use. With the Ryzen MoBos I’m a bit bewildered by the choice, I can see A320, B450, X370, X470, X570.

The only reason that I have bought higher cards in the past is for overclocking but in reality I have never overclocked so all those high-end boards, big heatsinks and Black and K-class CPUs in the past have been a bit of a waste.

Does the Ryzen 5 3600 overclock, if so does it need more than the wraith stealth for cooling?

What is the ‘best bang for the buck’ MoBo to go with it? I’d probably rule out the X570 but why would I choose an X470 over a B450.

And I understand that some of the B450 and X470s need a BIOS update to support the Ryzen 5 which means that they need to be flashed before the CPU is even installed - how can I tell whether a motherboard supports that.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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Man of Honour
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So CPU-wise, I’m thinking the Ryzen 5 3600 as that seems to be the ‘best bang for the buck’ from what I have read, is that correct.
The best value CPU is actually the 2600. The 3600's older brethren. Just that with the 3600's jump in performance, it may be worth paying the extra. Depends on your budget of course.

Does the Ryzen 5 3600 overclock, if so does it need more than the wraith stealth for cooling?
None of the ryzens overclock particularly well...but it is still worth to get a cheap cooler so that the chip can maintain its boost clock for longer. Again how important this is, is dictated by your budget

What is the ‘best bang for the buck’ MoBo to go with it?
MSI b450 tomahawk (atx size)
MSI b450 mortar (matx size)

For the 2600 can additionally consider asrock b450 (m) pro4
 
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Many thanks.

Are those 450 MoBos suitable for air-cooled overclocking?

And realistically, what is the difference between a 2600 and a 3600.

The way I see it, either is going to be a few hundred quid, so I may be able to get a 2600 for £300 compared with £350 for 3600. Because either is a significant spend, there really isn’t that much difference - so if the 3600 is significantly better I’d prefer to go with that.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
Man of Honour
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Are those 450 MoBos suitable for air-cooled overclocking?
None of the ryzens overclock particularly well
But to answer your question in a roundabout fashion, those msi b450 boards I listed are the best in their price range.

And realistically, what is the difference between a 2600 and a 3600.
About 15% in raw CPU performance. Of course it is highly program/game dependent.
 
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Agreed but the question was

3600 - £175 with wraith cooler
3600X - £188 with spire cooler

which would you get given the difference in price is so slight.

Had the 3600X been £215 I wouldn’t have been asking, I’d have gone for the 3600 without question.

Cheers,

Nigel

With £13 difference, I would definitely pick up the 3600X, just the cooler alone is probably worth the price difference, especially if you're gonna use it.
 
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Price difference definitely isn't worth the cooler.
This would certainly beat Wraith Spires:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/amd-wraith-max-am4-rgb-cpu-cooler-hs-002-am.html
And new copper core lacking Wraith Spire is even some degrees worser than old Wraith Spire.

That is useful, didn’t realise that. Before buying I googled the wraith and spire to see the difference but I was clearly looking at older spires, didn’t realise they had changed.

Unfortunately, the advice comes a little late, the 3600X is arriving today, otherwise I think I would have taken your advice and gone with the standard 3600 and the Max heatsink.

Actually pretty good result in the end. I have just been sent the AMD promotion that AMD do for the3600X - I had thought that Amazon were not participating in it. So that means I get a free game to keep or sell. So I’ve ordered the wraith max. So all in all it still works out as a pretty good deal.


Cheers,

Nigel
 
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