Ryzen 5 1600 or 3600?

[Vishera]

So I'm looking to upgrade from an R3 1200 in the next few months, likely around black Friday/cyber Monday, and I'm split between whether I should get the 1600 or 3600 to replace it. It might seem a bit weird, but for $100 less, I'm not sure the 1600 is a terrible choice for me, even with the significant IPC difference. All I do is play Minecraft, albeit usually heavily modded which does increase the resource requirements quite a bit, and emulate console games. I very rarely play games that are even remotely new or "demanding", though I do play titles like that on occasion. Usually though, the load is pretty light.

With that in mind, what should I go with? That $100 only really affects how soon I can buy the CPU. I know there might be the rumored 3500 to consider as well.

 

[bignazpwns]

So I'm looking to upgrade from an R3 1200 in the next few months, likely around black Friday/cyber Monday, and I'm split between whether I should get the 1600 or 3600 to replace it. It might seem a bit weird, but for $100 less, I'm not sure the 1600 is a terrible choice for me, even with the significant IPC difference. All I do is play Minecraft, albeit usually heavily modded which does increase the resource requirements quite a bit, and emulate console games. I very rarely play games that are even remotely new or "demanding", though I do play titles like that on occasion. Usually though, the load is pretty light.

With that in mind, what should I go with? That $100 only really affects how soon I can buy the CPU. I know there might be the rumored 3500 to consider as well.

3600 all day long.

Just checked

Used market in michigan i seen some 1600's for $80. 2600 for $100. 3600 new is $189 at microcenter.


My pick would be a used 2600 if money is tight. But the 3600 is the best deal and a great cpu. If you get it from microcenter you can get some more money off with a mobo combo deal and you could sell the mobo for retail and save a few bucks on your cpu. I know a guy who's looking at x570's in michigan and he would do it since he already has a 3900x.

 

[Woomack]

I would say that if you don't want to spend much money then 1600 seems like a nice option.
If we compare CPUs then I would say that the 3600 is faster but heats up much more so if you have ITX or any other small PC then 1600 is a better idea while if you have a typical ATX case and larger cooler then go for 3600 as it will last longer without next upgrade.
I don't know how GB 450 motherboards work with 3000 Ryzen series but some users have various problems with some 300/400 mobo setups and 3k Ryzen. For mentioned 1 game there is no point to invest too much. In next year will be another Ryzen refresh so maybe if you don't need it now then get something 2nd hand or from sale and wait some months.

 

[mackerel]

If you "need" the faster CPU presumably the question wouldn't be asked if you should get it, so it is more of a "want". While there is no question the 3600 is a lot better performing, if you don't need it, why get it? How is the 1200 doing now?

Assuming pricing bignazpwns gave is representative, I'd agree a 2600 would be a good middle ground and worth it over a 1600.

I only have experience of Zen 2 on two older boards, but haven't had any problems. Check you're on latest bios before swapping and it should be fine.

 

[DaveB]

3600 all day long.

Just checked

Used market in michigan i seen some 1600's for $80. 2600 for $100. 3600 new is $189 at microcenter.


My pick would be a used 2600 if money is tight. But the 3600 is the best deal and a great cpu. If you get it from microcenter you can get some more money off with a mobo combo deal and you could sell the mobo for retail and save a few bucks on your cpu. I know a guy who's looking at x570's in michigan and he would do it since he already has a 3900x.

Microcenter also sells the 1600 brand new for $80 with $30 off a motherboard. Great deal IMO.

 

[Vishera]

If you "need" the faster CPU presumably the question wouldn't be asked if you should get it, so it is more of a "want". While there is no question the 3600 is a lot better performing, if you don't need it, why get it? How is the 1200 doing now?

It's not doing terribly, but my computer does feel a bit sluggish, and in the few "demanding titles" I play, having anything other than the game open incurs a pretty noticeable hit to FPS. I'm really just looking for some more breathing room here, that's why I was thinking the 1600 might be the better buy. 2600 doesn't seem terrible either though.

3600 new is $189 at microcenter.

I'm only 1 hour away from the Detroit Microcenter, but I don't have a car. So close, yet so far...

I think I'll try the 2600 on for size, if I decide it's still not quite the bump I need, I'll jump to the 3600. If the 3500 turns out to be real, I'll just return the 2600. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[wingman99]

The processor for the games you play now is fine. You need to upgrade the EVGA GTX 1050Ti 4GB RAM Video card for the Minecraft, heavily modded. I would purchase something like a nvidia 2060 class or better. One thing good with purchasing a good video card, it will move along with the next CPU motherboard update.

 

[EarthDog]

For minecraft you would want the fastest cpu you want to afford... especially with mods. It's not a thread heavy title, but 1080p and minecraft I'd be looking for higher speeds and IPC. There was very little change in IPC from zen to zen+. A better gpu wouldnt hurt either.

 

[wingman99]

The OPs 1080p monitor is only 75Hz. The AMD Ryzen 3 1200 Quad Core will do just fine getting to 75 FPS. Minecraft, heavily modded is mostly Graphics card demanding.

 

[Vishera]

I might be jumping to 1440p at some point, but that's certainly not a guarantee, and I like to multi-task a lot on my computer, which eats up RAM and cores. Having a game, Discord, YouTube/Spotfiy, and maybe a few other browser tabs open maxes out my CPU more than it does my RAM and GPU. I definitely plan to jump to either a 2060 or 1660Ti at some point, but I can only do one at a time. My goal with these upgrades would be to stay above 100FPS at 1080P consistently in Minecraft and the few "modern" titles I play (Witcher 3, Darksiders, GTA, and the FF7 remake) and at some point replace the TV I'm using with a proper second monitor that's around ~120Hz. Right now I get between 75 and 100FPS in Minecraft, and between 45 and 75 in everything else.

 

[wingman99]

1440p is harder to drive the FPS up compared to 1920x1080p. Going from 1920x1080p to 2560x1440p in gaming with the same Graphics card you will lose around 30-50FPS. For best FPS gaming with 2560x1440p 120hz, 144hz then 120FPS, 144FPS a top tear card is needed.

Youtube/spotify browser multitasking is very easy on CPU resorses, the lowest modern powered CPUs, and laptops can handle that with ease.

You need a better CPU from looking at all the games you play. Final Fantasy VII Remake recommended AMD Ryzen R5 1600 and GTX 1070, if you want to get the FPS up arond 75 FPS. With that combination just for refrence 1920x1080p 120Hz with witcher 3 is 83.2 FPS average. So if you want to increase witcher 3 FPS form 45FPS-75FPS to 120-144FPS with 1920-1080p 120hz-144Hz monitor you will need RTX 2080 and AMD RYZEN 5 3600 6-Core. LINK: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/asus-geforce-rtx-2080-ti-matrix/25.html

I use a 1920x1080p 144hz IPS monitor so I don't have to upgrade to a top tear Graphics card every 3 years for new games. That is why I have a RTX 2070, then lower the in game graphic settings to get the 120-144FPS.

Since you can upgrade only one component at a time, I would upgrade the Graphics card to RTX 2070 or RTX 2080 first and enjoy up to your monitor and TV speed at 75Hz for 75FPS modern titles.

 

[UltraTaco]

It's .....

I'm only 1 hour away from the Detroit Microcenter, but I don't have a car. So close, yet so far...

I .....ys.

Vishera: dial-a-UBER. I'm sure there won't be too heavy charge for 1 hour drive.

 

[EarthDog]

Vishera: dial-a-UBER. I'm sure there won't be too heavy charge for 1 hour drive.

have you ever taken one?

It's a $20 ride for me for around a 25 minute trip...one way. Not sure if a $50 uber is worth it.

 

[UltraTaco]

Ogo! I didn't think it was this much premium!