Future-proof Mobo + CPU Questions

[chillz]

I'm looking to build a new rig that will last a while. And before anyone says there's no such thing as "future-proof" I've been using my current PC for almost 10 years now, running an A8 APU on an Asus F1A75-V Evo. The only reason why I need to build a new rig is because I finally hit the APU's wall and can't play the latest Division 2 DLC. I don't think any of us can survive this self-isolation situation without our games.

Anyhow, I've done my fair bit of research and I've narrowed it down to a handful of SKUs:

CPU - Ryzen 5 3600X or Ryzen 7 3700X
Mobo - Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming or Asus Prime X570-Pro or Asus TUF X570-Plus Gaming

I was initially leaning towards the 3600X + ROG B450 combo as it's the most cost-effective pairing - around $400 CDN in savings. However, I was apprehensive with it's longevity potential - scalability, tech support, and BIOS upgrades are the main points of concern (not necessarily in that order). I've also read that gen3 Ryzen CPUs may be hindered in B450 or even X470 motherboard.

The 3700X was my first choice really, but it's the $150 CDN premium that's really making me hesitant. And I think it would be wasteful to put such a CPU in anything but an X570 board. So I did my comparisons and settled on the Prime Pro and the TUF Plus.

The Prime Pro has almost everything I need and want (including PCIE 4.0), and esthetically it looks great. The TUF Plus is pretty much the same and is (supposedly) more robust, not to mention almost $100 CDN less than the Prime Pro. But I'm not a big fan of the presentation.

Anyhow, esthetics aside, here are my questions:

1) Will my original 3600X + B450 pairing be good enough to last 5-6 years, or should I spend the extra cash on a later model mobo? And..
2) Will it be prudent and more beneficial to get the 3700X considering it's market share alone will warrant AMD's continued support?

I'd appreciate any feedback and suggestions anyone can give me. Since I don't overclock anymore I stopped logging on here years ago. But I forgot what a great resource this place can be. Thanks in advance!

 

[Zerileous]

I wouldn't want to be constrained to 6c/12t personally, as newer games are utilizing multiple cores. But it is hard to say if 6c/12t will really be exceed in 5-10 years.

 

[EarthDog]

If I was the OP with his goals, I wouldn't start off today with 6c/12t either. Somehow though, this dude kept an APU and games on it for 10 years, wow.

That aside, I'd go no less than a 8c/16t cpu. For real. With consoles coming out by EOY using 8c/16t(?) already and you planning on keeping this for a decade, I'd go no less. I'd also get an x570 based board so you have pcie 4.0 and all the latest and greatest has to offer... upgradeability, etc.

You mention gaming... what gpu do you have? You arent using the apu for video, are you? The 4850's still? GPU is quite important for gaming. What res are you gaming at?

 

[chillz]

I wouldn't want to be constrained to 6c/12t personally, as newer games are utilizing multiple cores. But it is hard to say if 6c/12t will really be exceed in 5-10 years.

I have the same sentiment. And I neglected to consider power consumption - the 3600X actually draws more power compared to the 3700X. The 3600 non-X is much better on power. Strangely enough, the 3600 non-X has a bigger market share than the 3600X and 3700X. As well, conversely, all the X570 boards draw a ton more power compared to the older boards.

 

[EarthDog]

If I was you, I would take the time to look at a few benchmarks that cover CPU cores/threads. Again consoles will be here in several months... both packing 8c (8c/16t?) CPUs. There are already titles out today that benefit from 6c/12t. While RT is important, so will be utilizing more cores and threads as time goes on.

You mention MS Office, which, your APU can still run, but the first post says games. You should plan on building against the higher spec requirement, gaming. Again I ask, what GPU?

I also wouldn't worry about X570 using "a ton" more power. We have different ideas of a ton, that I can say... but that isn't a worry. the PCH went from like 4W to 15W, which is a lot, but a bigger picture tells us that is nothing in overall power use.

 

[chillz]

If I was the OP with his goals, I wouldn't start off today with 6c/12t either. Somehow though, this dude kept an APU and games on it for 10 years, wow.

That aside, I'd go no less than a 8c/16t cpu. For real. With consoles coming out by EOY using 8c/16t(?) already and you planning on keeping this for a decade, I'd go no less. I'd also get an x570 based board so you have pcie 4.0 and all the latest and greatest has to offer... upgradeability, etc.

You mention gaming... what gpu do you have? You arent using the apu for video, are you? The 4850's still? GPU is quite important for gaming. What res are you gaming at?

Hahaha! I didn't even see my signature! That was my old rig back in 2008/9 lol! That was actually my last Intel-based rig, which I sold less than a year after I built it. I've built a handful of rigs after that, but my current daily driver I built in 2011 - an A8 APU on an Asus F1A75-V Evo. These were great components and only needed minor tweaking really. I did swap out my GPUs a couple of times - I originally had a pair of Radeon 6670s, then R9 270s, and lastly my RX 590.

As for gaming, I don't compete anymore but I got used to playing at lower res for better fps because of it - textures, lighting, shadows.. none of that was a consideration. And most of the games I played weren't GPU-heavy at all, like all the Blizzard games or Counter-Strike. It was only in the last couple of years that Blizzard upgraded their rendering and modeling engines, and nowadays everyone wants to play at hi res with greater fps. My RX 590 is more than adequate to play my current games library, but my APU can't keep up anymore, no matter how much I overclock and tweak it.

 

[chillz]

Thanks EarthDog. You've made my decision that much easier. My biggest hang-up was justifying the cost of building a 3700X rig. Again, this is going to be my daily driver, meaning mainly just work stuff, streaming, and maybe some light gaming for a couple of hours once or twice a week. WoW, Division 2, and Far Cry 5 are my current diversions.

Now would you recommend I go get a high-end enthusiast board like an Aorus or ROG, or would either of my earlier choices be adequate? I've also seen some builders use 3700X and even 3800X in a B450 board. Would that be a viable option?

 

[EarthDog]

B450 doesnt have pcie 4.0.. for as long as you will use this, go x570. You arent overclocking so any will do. Just make sure it has the features you need and want. Be sure there is usb 3.1 gen2 ports (type-a and type-c)...enough m.2 slots (2+), and SATA ports.

 

[chillz]

I went with the 3700X paired with the Asus ROG Strix X570-E.. thought I might as well go for an enthusiast-level board. Plus it has BIOS Flashback and Clear CMOS which are not available on the lower-end boards. I also caught it on sale on Newegg for less than the F edition so bonus!

Thanks again for all the help! I'll post again when I put this thing together.

 

[chillz]

I posted this on the General Hardware thread, but I thought I'd toss it on here as well.

I finally got all the parts for my new rig and it starts up just fine, but I can't get into the BIOS because my motherboard isn't detecting/recognizing my keyboards. Whenever I came across this issue on previous builds I'd just plug in my old PS2 keyboard, but my new mobo doesn't have a PS2 connector - just USBs. I've tried multiple USB wired and wireless keyboards, and I tried them on all USB ports, restarting before each port. No luck.

It goes through post and hangs at boot. Can't boot without designating boot drive, and I can only do that in BIOS. I know I just need to install drivers, or better yet install win10, but I can't install anything without getting into the BIOS; and I can't get into the BIOS without a keyboard. It's just a vicious cycle!

Is there a workaround or something? I'd hate to have to buy something from the Device QVL just so it'll recognize a keyboard. Any help on this would be very much appreciated.

CPU - AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Cooler - Deepcool Castle 360 V2
Mobo - Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming
RAM - G.Skill Trident Z 3200 CL16 4x8GB
GPU - Sapphire RX590 Nitro+ SE
Storage - Western Digital Blue SN550 NVMe 1TB
PSU - Corsair RM850x
Chassis - Phanteks Eclipse P400A - Mesh Front

 

[EarthDog]

This thread is about choosing the parts to your build, the other for troubleshooting.

That said, edit above and add a link to the other thread so users can easily find it.

 

[trents]

Are you sure you are using the right hot key to enter bios? Different board manufacturers use different hotkeys. Some use Delete, Some use Delete or F2. Some use Esc. Some use F1 in my experience. And some require you to hold down the Fn key while pressing the hot key. If the keyboard has an LED watch for it to blink during postup, indicating it is being initialized. If nothing else, you could temporarily disconnect all drives but the system drive such that the system has no other choice but to boot from that drive. Even for that to work, however, the system drive has to be initialed. Are you sure is has been? Most come that way from the factory but if the drive has been wiped it would lose that.

 

[Railgun]

And before anyone says there's no such thing as "future-proof" I've been using my current PC for almost 10 years now ... I finally hit the APU's wall and can't play the latest Division 2 DLC.

No one had to...you did it yourself.

There is no such thing. With technology, there is flatly no such thing. At some point it becomes obsolete. If you have an original KitchenAid from 1937, that is probably a good example of a future proof device. I’ve only upgraded my GPU from 2x Titan Keplers to a 2080ti. I’m on a 5 gen old CPU, which is starting to show its age. I don’t expect to run HW forever like this.

I now always opt for the most performant base setup possible. I can spend fewer dollars more frequently or more less frequently. It may be a wash over time, but the goal is to not need to do major shifts.

I would suggest get as best a system you can for the intended purposes.