AMD FX vs RYZEN

ryleighlawrence71

Commendable
Feb 5, 2018
13
0
1,510
I am building my first PC and I am on a tight budget of $550. I was wondering if I should go with the AMD FX as it is cheaper but not upgradeable. Or the Ryzen 3 2200G as it is also cheap but upgradeable to a Ryzen 5 or 7.
 
Solution
Do not spend a dime on a FX build.
FX is a dead end and is slow if your use is for gaming.

Ryzen is better, but I would be hesitant to invest in a APU build if you ever wanted to upgrade.
The integrated graphics is good, for what it is, but if you want a stronger discrete graphics card in the future, you will have thrown away the APU benefit.

Here is my stock advice on a budget build.

------------------------------ budget build ---------------------------
For a budget gaming build, I like to recommend that one builds for future expandability.
That means paying a bit more up front for some parts that allow for an easier future upgrade.
A good rule of thumb is to budget twice as much for the graphics card than for the cpu.

Let me...
In almost all instances. An any AMD Ryzen is superior to any AMD FX. Only in a few heavily multi-threaded programs will a high end AMD FX beat a low end AMD Ryzen.

What are your uses?

Is this a complete new build?

Does the budget need to include Windows?

At your budget. I would get the Ryzen 5 2400G with a B350 chipset motherboard (Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3). Decent built in graphics speed, overclocking support (B350 chipset) and the Ryzen 5 2400G is equal in CPU speed to a Ryzen 5 1500x.

Just note with either of the latest Ryzen. You will likely have to get a free Boot Kit from AMD to update the BIOS on the motherboard.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-raven-ridge-boot-kit,36552.html
 
Do not spend a dime on a FX build.
FX is a dead end and is slow if your use is for gaming.

Ryzen is better, but I would be hesitant to invest in a APU build if you ever wanted to upgrade.
The integrated graphics is good, for what it is, but if you want a stronger discrete graphics card in the future, you will have thrown away the APU benefit.

Here is my stock advice on a budget build.

------------------------------ budget build ---------------------------
For a budget gaming build, I like to recommend that one builds for future expandability.
That means paying a bit more up front for some parts that allow for an easier future upgrade.
A good rule of thumb is to budget twice as much for the graphics card than for the cpu.

Let me start where you might not expect:

1. Buy a good 450-550w psu or better. A quality 450w will run a card as good as a GTX1060 or possibly a GTX1070
Future graphics cards will be built on smaller 14nm so they should not need more power than today.
Look for a tier 1 or 2 quality unit on a list such as this:
https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/
Seasonic is always good I particularly like the seasonic focus line:
This 550w unit is on sale for $55 after rebate:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817151203


2. Buy a lga1151 Z370 based motherboard. About $100.
Do not begrudge paying a bit more now forZ370 which enables the upgrade to much stronger K suffix processors.

3. I suggest a I3-8100 About $120.
In time, you can upgrade to any 8th gen I3/I5/I7 cpu that you want and market the original processor.

4. The intel stock cooler will do the job.

5. For ram, speed is not important. Buy a 8gb kit of 2 x 4gb DDR4
About $90. If you ever want 16gb, buy it up front in one kit; adding more ram is never guaranteed to work.
Heat spreaders are marketing and generally useless.


6. Cases are a personal thing. Buy one you love. Most will do the job for <$50.
Here is a silverstone PS08 for $50; It fits a smallar M-ATX motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163223

7. The graphics card is the most important component for gaming.
I think a GTX1050 or GTX1050ti would be appropriate, plan on $120-$150.
You could go stronger in the video card if your budget permits and your games need it.
On the other hand, you could build using the integrated 630 graphics which is quite good and see how you do.
By deferring on the graphics card, you will get a better idea of what you really need.
Integrated is fine for sims, but not fast action games.

8. Lastly, I will never build again without a SSD for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do so much quicker.
Buy a samsung evo of 240gb or better; about $90.

I think this totals about $600.
-------------good luck------------





 
Solution

Shumok

Honorable
Aug 19, 2013
47
3
10,545


I think the Ryzen 2200G is a great choice. I would take it over an FX or over an i3-8100 as one person suggested. It's much faster than an i3-8100 with the integrated graphics. You can still get a discrete graphics card with the 2200G later, and the i3-8100 will be faster only when you get something more powerful than a GTX1060, but you can overclock the 2200G and get very close. The future of the AM4 platform also looks much brighter than the current Intel platform for upgrades....you might be able to pop in a Zen 2 in 2019.

I play plenty of games on an R7 240....and they run smooth. I'd bet that 9/10 games on steam will run well with that at 1080p and lower resolutions. If you don't have to play the latest shooty shooter games that they show in reviews, and are happy playing a variety of different games..the 2200G is awesome.

If you do get the 2200G, definitely get a dual ram kit. Also...what the one guy said...make sure the motherboard bios is updated to handle a 2200G. Might want to make sure it's done before you get it.


 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
FX cpus have an IPC (speed it shoves data through) of @66% of a 3rd generation (Ivy-Bridge) cpu. Ryzen cpus have an IPC equitable to 4/5th generation Haswell cpus. From that standpoint, Ryzen are about 40% stronger and faster per clock. So a Ryzen cpu at 3.4GHz would be roughly the same as an FX at 4.8GHz, but that's not adding the extras such as instructions, faster ddr4, improved motherboard technology, faster sata/usb/pcie etc.

You asked the choice, I'll ask your choice. Bicycle or motorcycle. Both will get you to work, which is better.