CPU is a Bottleneck, Looking for Replacement

[Juggernaut448]

I rebuilt my computer a year ago, running a GTX 970 and I'm realizing that my AMD A10-6800K APU is a bottleneck. I want to invest in streaming more often, recently read about the Ryzen 1600x and that it's great for streaming. I also work with Maya and do animation so I need something versatile, a happy medium between gaming and being a work CPU. I'm trying to budget, I understand getting a Ryzen 1600x is 230 bucks and then a decent motherboard would put it up to 350+ total. I'd like to stick around 300 or close to.

I'm not set on the Ryzen, I assume there are other, less pricey options for a gaming/workstation PC. I welcome any suggestions. Thanks for reading.

 

[WINTERLORD]

personaly i started with a core i3 to later get an i5 7600 and still wanted more although not neccisary. ryzen is wonderful from what i hear competing with intel quite well. if it aint out now it soon will be they have a ryzen 1500x

 

[Juggernaut448]

personaly i started with a core i3 to later get an i5 7600 and still wanted more. ryzen is wonderful from what i hear competing with intel quite well. if it aint out now it soon will be they have a ryzen 1500x

I read about the 1500x as well, but I'm wondering if having 6 cores instead of four would increase my rendering speed for animation and such, as well as video rendering too. I imagine not many games use six cores, let alone four.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

You are on the right track. I would go with AMD if you want a system that does more than gaming. But, if your on a budget, I would not get the 1600x. It's additional cost do not outweigh the benefits as the 1600x does not come with a CPU cooler. I would go for the 1600 and use the included "wraith spire" cooler. The bad news is you will also need new RAM. So that will hurt your budget some. But this combination would last you for a long time.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Yzvdcc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Yzvdcc/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($77.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($126.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $404.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-19 15:18 EDT-0400

 

[WildCard999]

I would save up a bit more and get something like this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($199.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $362.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-19 15:20 EDT-0400

I would think the editing/rendering software would benefit from the extra cores/threads.

 

[Juggernaut448]

Would I need new ram if I have G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600? Is DDR4 3200 style ram a necessity?

 

[WildCard999]

Would I need new ram if I have G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600? Is DDR4 3200 style ram a necessity?

Yes, the build/motherboard only accepts DDR4 and also AMD Ryzen 5 performs better with faster memory.

 

[Juggernaut448]

Would I need new ram if I have G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600? Is DDR4 3200 style ram a necessity?

Yes, the build/motherboard only accepts DDR4 and also AMD Ryzen 5 performs better with faster memory.

Gotcha. I guess this is going to be a more thorough upgrade that I imagined.

 

[WildCard999]

The faster rendering and more FPS while gaming should be worth it.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

It is a big upgrade, but your A10-6800k is pretty long in the tooth. You are going to see a significant improvement in your system's performance

If you decide to go the Ryzen route, get RAM from a big brand vendor (crucial, corsair, Gskill) and definitely get RAM that is over 3000mhz in speed. Ryzen has some compatibility problems with RAM. It is not a knock against Ryzen, it is just a new architecture and takes some time to get every RAM provider to be "plug and play". So the larger memory providers will have better support by AMD in the short term. And RAM speed really matters with Ryzen chips because of the infinity fabric. There are significant improvements from Ryzen when you change from 2666mhz to 3200mhz.

 

[theonerm2]

It is a big upgrade, but your A10-6800k is pretty long in the tooth. You are going to see a significant improvement in your system's performance

If you decide to go the Ryzen route, get RAM from a big brand vendor (crucial, corsair, Gskill) and definitely get RAM that is over 3000mhz in speed. Ryzen has some compatibility problems with RAM. It is not a knock against Ryzen, it is just a new architecture and takes some time to get every RAM provider to be "plug and play". So the larger memory providers will have better support by AMD in the short term. And RAM speed really matters with Ryzen chips because of the infinity fabric. There are significant improvements from Ryzen when you change from 2666mhz to 3200mhz.

It's not just that it's long in the tooth. It's that it was relatively low end when it released and time hasn't done it any favors either. My CPU the Core i7 4770K was in the high mid range category when it released and it's still a good CPU today despite it also being released in 2013. If you buy a good cpu it'll be a good cpu for years whereas a low-end cpu will always be low-end and it will only be useful for a short time. So basically what I'm trying to say is that spending a little extra for the good CPU is totally worth it. Buy a Ryzen 5 1600 or really a Ryzen 7 1700 would be great for you. It really is worth spending the extra $100 to $200 for a better cpu because it will last you much longer.

 

[mdd1963]

a 1600/1600X sounds great, but then, 1700's are coming down in price....

 

[WINTERLORD]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-1500x-cpu,5025.html


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-1600x-cpu-review,5014.html



these should help you decide. also to as drivers and such improve might slightly change the end results. if it where me id definatly want a x1600 or higher

 

[feelinfroggy777]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-1500x-cpu,5025.html


http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-5-1600x-cpu-review,5014.html



these should help you decide. also to as drivers and such improve might slightly change the end results. if it where me id definatly want a x1600 or higher

The only advantage the 1600x has over the 1600 is that is has xfr which only accounts for a 100mhz clockspeed increase when conditions are right. Additionally, the 1600 comes with a wraith cooler (which is a very good stock cooler) and the 1600x does not come with a cooler. While the 1600x is clocked higher than the 1600, both are unlocked and will hit similar clockspeeds when overclocked.

So virtually, you will pay at lease $50 more for a 1600x when you factor the additional cost of the CPU and the cost of a CPU cooler than you would over the 1600. The only real benefit is 100mhz xfr boost that you wont get all of the time. Here is a good article comparing the 1600 vs the 1600x.

https://www.techspot.com/article/1381-ryzen-1600x-vs-1600/

Considering you can get the R7 1700 for $270 with a cooler or a R5 1600x without a cooler for $230, I don't know why anyone would buy a 1600x.

 

[Juggernaut448]

The 1600 looks like the optimal choice. I've been reading about some mobos not working well with DDR4 RAM or they need their BIOS flashed and I'm looking for one that works and has no issue with RAM speeds out of the box. I guess now I'm basically looking for a super compatible mobo for the 1600.

 

[Karadjgne]

You'll be needing to wait a while then. Just about everything from any manufacturer will be going through bios updates already, unfortunately they will not be recalling or taking back any stock shipped prior to the update date. Which means almost everything on the shelves right now will be slightly older stock (by a few months or so) and still have the older bios revision. You'd need to wait for enough stock to sell so that new stock (with bios updated) is on the shelves instead. At which point any of the mobo's that strike your fancy will be updated, so looking for 1 in particular will be moot.

Better to just find the mobo you want, then update the bios directly from the manufacturer, guaranteed latest possible revision. Since AM4 is a brand new socket, there'll probably be bios revisions for a while, most of which will be nothing more than greater ram compatability listings etc.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

The 1600 looks like the optimal choice. I've been reading about some mobos not working well with DDR4 RAM or they need their BIOS flashed and I'm looking for one that works and has no issue with RAM speeds out of the box. I guess now I'm basically looking for a super compatible mobo for the 1600.

If you want something that is "plug and play", then you should go with Intel. But AMD has released several driver updates to the motherboard and RAM compatibility and speed is a focus point for AMD. I would suggest getting a big name brand board such as MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte, etc. and getting a big name brand of RAM such as Corsair, Gskill, or Crucial. The larger brands are the priority for AMD because it will reach are larger group of consumers.

With all that being said, AMD has been quick to address a lot of the issues, so there is a good chance that you will just need to flash your bios and you will be good to go.

 

[WINTERLORD]

some motherboards on intel will support ddr3 memory, 6600 or 7600k are good choices however when picking a motherboard you have to make sure the MB can use ddr3 cause not all mb's can but thopse chips arew compatable. personaly though i sold my old memory on ebay and just upgraded to ddr4

 

[Karadjgne]

Yes, there are a few (expensive by comparison) lga1151 DDR3 mobo's, but since the lga1151 cpus really don't like the higher voltage 1.35v DDR3L ram that must be used, it's kinda a moot point. Most users of DDR3 run standard 1.5v which isn't compatible, so you'd need to purchase 1.35v anyways, meaning you just wasted money on a ddr3 mobo and ram, when chances are you could have gotten a ddr4 mobo and ram at a cheaper price, and far greater variety.

 

[mdd1963]

there are 'value' B350 mainboards for Ryzen as well..... The Asus B350 Prime is $89....