TheWitt

Budget (including currency): Money to spend. USD Country: USA Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Upcoming Starfield, Valorant, Diablo IV...I basically buy and play most mainstream games. Other details: Motherboard: "MPG X570 GAMING PLUS" with latest BIOS installed CPU: Ryzen 5 3600 w/stock cooler (Thermals have been healthy even under load, but this is my bottleneck) GPU: EVGA FTW3 ULTRA GAMING GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB Video Card PSU: Corsair RM750x 750W 80+ RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB (2x16GB) DDR4 3600 Storage: Crucial MX500 500GB, WD Black SN850X 1TB, Samsung 980 Pro 2TB Case: NZXT H710 ATX Mid Tower Case Cooling: Stock fans + (3) Noctua NF-S12B REDUX-1200 PWM fans Peripherals: G Pro Mouse, Ducky One2 Mini Keyboard, WH-1000XM4 headphones, Shure MV7 XLR microphone, EVO 4 preamp, Elgato Streamdeck + I tried to upgrade my PC about 1 1/2 years ago during covid and had the budget to better everything but the CPU. I am now running into MAJOR issues with my CPU just not handling my workload. Should I upgrade to the Ryzen 5950x and stay AM4 OR should I upgrade to current gen AM5 and have the ability to stay up-to-date with products. The benefit of the former is that I only need to buy another CPU + cooler, since anything higher than my 3600 would need aftermarket cooling. However, I would HAVE to upgrade Motherboard, RAM, and CPU next time I want to upgrade. The benefit of the latter is that I become up-to-speed NOW and can upgrade easily later IF I desire. Does the Ryzen 5950x still hold up well enough to justify spending that money now, or should I just try to sell and rebuild everything up with current gen AMD parts?

I am currently working with a decent 240Hz TN panel for my more competitive games. However, the colors are extremely flat and underwealming. I am looking for a second monitor in general, but I would like to have the option to use the second monitor for less competitive scenarios than CS:GO/Valorant games. Stuff more like Horizon Zero Dawn and No Man's Sky where something like the ASUS ProArt line (https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-PA278QV-DisplayPort-Anti-Glare-Adjustable/dp/B09HDFLGKZ?th=1) would show off the stunning vistas and stronger blacks. My question is if there are any known issues with ProArt line for casual gameplay and media consumption, or if there are other options that would be worthy of a look? Thanks!

Allow me to preface this post with my current build. CPU (Ryzen 5 3600) CPU Fan (Stock) Motherboard (MSI Performance Gaming Micro-ATX Motherboard (B450M Gaming Plus) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F7WQDZJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 RAM ((2x16) Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3600MHz C18) Storage ((2x500Gb) Samsung SATA III 860 Pro) GPU (Nvidia GTX1060 6Gb) Case (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PDDMN6S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)) Monitor Acer XF250Q (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G3GRFSZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) I am looking at upgrading my motherboard from this B450M to a one with more bells and wistles. Specifics of what I am looking for is one with preferably Wifi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 and greater. I have a VR headset that desperately needs a bluetooth connection for my Sony XM4's to take the cordless VR experience up to the max. My build, as you can see, is going on three years old. Likewise, it wasn't anything crazy...rather middle of the pack actually. I have been out of the tech news stream for a bit now, so I am looking for motherboard recommendations. I don't want to simply search google for "bluetooth 5.2 and Wifi 6 AMD motherboards" and buy the first one that meets the criteria not knowing if it's actually terrible or great. I would prefer I be led to the slaughter by you, the more tech savy person.

I, like thousands of other college students, got sent home with the corona pandemic. However, I am going from fiber optic at college to a pathetic 15mbps down and 1.5 up. My sisters stream videos a ton, which honestly wasn't an issue if they turned down their quality. However, Disney Plus has no option to control quality - it uses the highest quality possible, which is stupid considering how data caps in households are a thing still. Anyways, I am going to get a new router that has dynamic QoS, but I'm tentative in jumping on one, because I keep hearing customers saying that the QoS doesn't actually work in certain scenarios. I came across the NightHawk XR500's method of control, which sounds perfect except for the massive price tag. Here is the video for reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzPWRTMgZM0 Do you guys know of a router that would offer the ability to assign priority to my device's data and throttle back other devices bandwidth to combat the data-guzzling application that is Disney Plus? My budget would realistically be upwards of $150, but I could stretch it a bit more if that meant have a much less stressed next 5 months till school starts up again. Thanks,

I have a build that I am simply upgrading from an i3-8100 with one of the super cheap H310M motherboards to an MSI B450M Gaming Plus and a Ryzen 5 3600. I have an EVGA 1060 6GB GPU, 16GB of RAM, an 80+ Bronze 450w PSU, and a typical samsung 850 500GB SSD. Like I said, I am just moving these parts from one motherboard to another and upgrading the CPU. Where I currently stand, the motherboard has been flashed to the latest version of its MS-7B87 BIOS with a newly formatted FAT32 16GB thumb drive with the file being renamed to MSI.ROM as stated in the manual. When I press the power button, the CPU fan, the two case fans, and the GPU fan turns on and stays on - except that the GPU fan turns off and on. The problem is that I cannot get the monitor to receive signal. When I plug in things such as my mouse, they power up. The EZ Debug light begins on the CPU and then quickly turns off before it switches to the VGA for a few moments longer in length. After that, it settles on the BOOT LED and stays on. What recommendations do you have? EDIT: I powered it off and on again and this time the LEDs cycled through the CPU, VGA, BOOT options three or four times before turning off entirely. However, the problem still persists. No signal to my monitor, which I have tested on another machine and have verified that the monitor and its cords are working normally.

Yeah, I am aware that the MAX variant is coming. However, I am competing in a $1500 tournament at the end of August and I cannot wait an unknown amount of time to get a motherboard that simply has a nice looking GUI. Given that you are with many others I've read - being that its only a few that are having Bios flashing issues, I'll go ahead and get the tomahawk then.

Considered...However, I don't quite have that budget. Went and got a Ducky One 2 keyboard.

That's a good point. I forgot that it was an MSI feature to be able to flash the BIOS updates without an older ryzen chip.

I purchased the Ryzen 5 3600 chip to replace my i3-8100, which should be a phenomenal upgrade in performance. However, I have not yet ordered my motherboard. I was looking at the MSI B450's for their price point and the fact that they are supposed to be compatible. However, I am seeing all over the MSI forums that the MSI B450s are having a very difficult time posting. From what I've gathered, the 16mb of storage for the BIOS is not enough for the new Zen 2 BIOS updates AND the GUI so they are stripping that down to make room. My question is whether it is just the MSI motherboards that are the issue or if others such as ASUS are functioning fine. If they are, should I go with them now or stick it out with MSI until they get this issue resolved since MSI seems to have the best B450 MBs on the market. Thanks,

Alright, sounds good. I was just asking about the motherboard i should snag. Thank you!

What would be a good motherboard to pair with that. I don't care for RGB and I don't really have anything that NEEDS stuff like thunderbolt 3 (especially since that is an intel product and won't be in AMD things quite yet).

I would probably sell the friend the motherboard for the same $50. Just save him shipping. At that point I would be willing to pour in a little extra. I could do like $300-330 I'd say. If something is really worth a few more dollars from there I'd consider.

I am also able to sell the motherboard to a friend and upgrade if I so desire. He is building a budget cpu and could use the savings wherever possible. Same guy I am selling the cpu chip to.

I got a dirt cheap one for budget reasons. → https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CMFZ51Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I already have a tower with an i3-8100, 16GB of memory, and 1060 6GB. The GPU is working great. The problem is my CPU cannot keep up with my workload. I am attempting to play games such as Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Fortnite, Halo Reach, BLOPs 4, etc.., stream, and have applications such as spotify and simple word documents up. My old laptop had the 1060 6GB, 16GB RAM, and an i7-6700HQ and that handled my workload well. Is there something comparable or better that I can invest in? I am selling my 8100 for about 80 to a friend, which I think is fair. What is a cpu chip that I should strongly consider. I've got about $250 dollars budgeted for it.