New Build Suggestions

[j1mmers]

Hi everyone, I used to be a member years ago when I was big into the over clocking scene. I've been rocking a Q600 at 3.4ghz, Asus P5Q Deluxe motherboard and a Radeon 6870 HD for years now. I used to game a ton but things have since changed.

My son is starting to game on this PC and it has no issues playing older titles, but the main thing is that it cannot stream 4K and the old USB 2.0 ports are dreadfully slow.

The new build will need to stream 4K content to several TV's in our home as well as play some modern titles. Graphics don't need to be anything fancy as our monitors would need to be upgraded as well.

I have a Samsung EVO SSD drive that I will be keeping and a newer Corsair power supply.

I don't really have a budget but don't want to break the bank and plan to have this rig capable of gaming for a few years of newer titles. Again graphics aren't a major concern and my overclocking days are over!

I'm leaning towards a Ryzen 3600, but wonder if the 3700X would be better in the long run?
Hows the G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200? Seems like a popular choice on here.

Would the MSI PRO B-450-A Max be a good pairing? Do you think I could get by with the onboard video for awhile or would a X570 board be a better choice?

Difficult with all the part shortages as well.

Thanks!

 

[David]

Welcome! (or welcome back!)

Any rumours I've seen about the Ryzen 3000 refresh suggest there's not much of a speed bump but there is a price bump ... these might turn out to be wrong, however. I don't think they come with an integrated GPU so you'd need to factor one of those in separately.

There are B550 boards out now as well, which AFAIK include (limited) PCIE4 support and don't tend to be too expensive.

Still eyeing things up myself, but probably going to try to hold off to the autumn and do a Ryzen 4000 build.

 

[EarthDog]

I would go B550 as it supports future AMD processors. B450 will not.

DDR4 3600 is your sweetspot. Look at TridentZ NEO line (made for AMD).

The CPUs you listed do not have integrated video in the first place... so you would need a video card.

 

[bigtallanddopey]

I would go B550 as it supports future AMD processors. B450 will not.

DDR4 3600 is your sweetspot. Look at TridentZ NEO line (made for AMD).

The CPUs you listed do not have integrated video in the first place... so you would need a video card.

AMD has rolled back on the issue of B450 (and x470) boards supporting zen3 processors so it wouldn’t be a major issue to buy a b450. However I think there are only certain ones that will such as the msi b450 max tomahowk.

 

[EarthDog]

AMD has rolled back on the issue of B450 (and x470) boards supporting zen3 processors so it wouldn’t be a major issue to buy a b450. However I think there are only certain ones that will such as the msi b450 max tomahowk.

This is correct. It is specific boards only that will. This is why I said to go B550 as there are no worries. It also offers PCIe 4.0 and more robust power delivery in general to support current and next gen CPUs.

 

[j1mmers]

Good call thanks! I missed the lack of integrated video on the chip. Just noticed it on the motherboard.

I'll check into the RAM.

Any recommended B550 boards? Looks like they're not out yet?

Thanks!

 

[bigtallanddopey]

Good call thanks! I missed the lack of integrated video on the chip. Just noticed it on the motherboard.

I'll check into the RAM.

Any recommended B550 boards? Looks like they're not out yet?

Thanks!

The b450 tomahawk was a great board so I would look out for the b550 version as well. I cannot imagine they have changed much besides the chipset. As for not being released they should be released today? But I cannot find any for sale at the moment. And I have just read that most will be releasing early July. So will have to wait a little for them.

 

[EarthDog]

Any recommended B550 boards? Looks like they're not out yet?

B550 boards are out today... as of 1.5 hours ago and found on newegg/amazon, etc..

Honestly, most any will do... what is your budget? I'd look at features/specs, looks, and price around your budget and pick one that has what you need.

Where most users go, there is hardly a difference outside of that.

 

[bigtallanddopey]

I’ve just found them on one site in the U.K. took a while

Genuine question. With the prices of b550 looking a little higher than b450, is it worth just getting an x570?

 

[EarthDog]

Genuine question. With the prices of b550 looking a little higher than b450, is it worth just getting an x570?

That is the question of the day, for sure.

If a user isn't going to use multiple GPUs nor multiple M.2 drives at PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds, then B550 is what you need. Boards have multiple M.2 modules, but they are PCIe 3.0......... which for most is plenty fast enough to last several years. So, it depends.

 

[j1mmers]

B550 boards are out today... as of 1.5 hours ago and found on newegg/amazon, etc..

Honestly, most any will do... what is your budget? I'd look at features/specs, looks, and price around your budget and pick one that has what you need.

Where most users go, there is hardly a difference outside of that.

Thanks! I'll take a peek. Maybe they weren't on sale when I checked quickly earlier!

Budget isn't really a concern. I just don't need anything crazy.

Is it worth it to go to a Ryzen 3700x from the 3600? Extra cores worth it?

 

[trents]

Thanks! I'll take a peek. Maybe they weren't on sale when I checked quickly earlier!

Budget isn't really a concern. I just don't need anything crazy.

Is it worth it to go to a Ryzen 3700x from the 3600? Extra cores worth it?

If you can afford it, definitely go with the 3700X. They are on sale now and the extra cores will give you some head room for the future. There is a small bump in per core frequency as well. I saw the 3700X for under $270 yesterday on Amazon or Egg, can't remember which or both. And go for the G.Skill Flair X series 3600 memory. The Flair X series is made specifically for Ryzen and it pretty much ensures you will have no memory compatibility issues with any motherboard you choose. The 3700X comes with a better cooler as well.

 

[j1mmers]

If you can afford it, definitely go with the 3700X. They are on sale now and the extra cores will give you some head room for the future. There is a small bump in per core frequency as well. I saw the 3700X for under $270 yesterday on Amazon or Egg, can't remember which or both. And go for the G.Skill Flair X series 3600 memory. The Flair X series is made specifically for Ryzen and it pretty much ensures you will have no memory compatibility issues with any motherboard you choose. The 3700X comes with a better cooler as well.

Thanks I'll grab the 3700x and RAM.

I can't however find any 550 motherboards. I'll keep looking.

Any mid range video cards that would pair nicely?

Appreciate the help!

 

[trents]

Where are you located. In the US the b550 motherboards are available at both Amazon and NewEgg but many or most models are sold out for now. You might have to back order.

 

[j1mmers]

I'm in Canada. Probably the problem!

 

[trents]

Some good mid range cards would be the Rx 5600XT or the GTX 1060 Super.

 

[j1mmers]

Hey everyone, so I just received all my parts for the new build but might have an issue.
I got the Ryzen 3700X, ASUS ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING and 16G of G.SKILL Trident Z Neo 3600.

The motherboard states that 3600 RAM is only available by OC and the part number isn't even on the QVL. - F4-3600C16D-16GTZNC
I've never really followed the QVL in the past but is this a problem? The computer is stable but memtest is giving errors.

I'm getting quite a bit of isDone.dll errors when trying to install some games. Internet search points to possible bad RAM so that's why I did the memtest.

 

[trents]

Don't be confused by the term "overclock". It is typically used in that context to refer to the XMP frequency of the RAM as opposed to the baseline platform speed of the CPU generation and the board's chipset. The baseline platform speed may be something like 2400 or 2666 mhz but the XMP speed of the RAM will be 3600 mhz which is the advertised frequency of the RAM when run at stock voltage and timings. Most all CPUs and motherboards will be able to run RAM rated for higher than the platform baseline. Start by choosing the XMP setting in bios for the RAM.

To see f the RAM is causing the errors, run the Microsoft Memory Diagnostic tool built into Windows 10. Just type the words into the Windows search tool.

You may need to increase your page file size:
https://medium.com/pcfixes-com-tech...xt=🎮 isdone.,the installation files in memory.

 

[j1mmers]

Appreciate the reply! I just actually read about the page file size as well.

So essentially the RAM is compatible for the motherboard. I can just simply set it to 3600 in the BIOS?

I'll run the Windows tool. I always though the memtest was better?

 

[trents]

memtest86 is the standard but it takes so long. The Microsoft dx tool should be sufficient.

Set the RAM frequency to XMP. There literally should be an "XMP" choice for the RAM. That will not only give you the correct frequency but should assign the correct timings specified by the RAM manufacturer.