Best Bang for Buck CPU and Motherboard Combo

[BigAlex_]

I literally just need a new CPU and Motherboard. I have a maximum of £300 to spend and trying to find the best deals takes hours and it will be easier to ask you nice people, what should I get (from the UK).

[Phentos]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£178.97 @ Laptops Direct) 
Motherboard: MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£97.97 @ Laptops Direct) 
Total: £276.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-03 22:03 GMT+0000

[Fasauceome]

3 minutes ago, Phentos said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£178.97 @ Laptops Direct) 
Motherboard: MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£97.97 @ Laptops Direct) 
Total: £276.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-03 22:03 GMT+0000

2600 has even more bang for buck than x model because you can OC, and a B350 board even better value as well.

 

Although, this combo does a good job of filling the budget with decent value parts.

[mxk]

Just now, fasauceome said:

2600 has even more bang for buck than x model because you can OC, and a B350 board even better value as well.

 

Although this combo does a good job of filling the budget with decent value parts.

The B350 tomahawk is pretty solid for overclocking and value despite being a B350 board, right? Thats what I've been told.

[Jurrunio]

1 minute ago, mxk. said:

The B350 tomahawk is pretty solid for overclocking and value despite being a B350 board, right? Thats what I've been told.

nah, MSI B350 and X370 boards are crap

[mxk]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

nah, MSI B350 and X370 boards are crap

Good thing I asked!

[LukeSavenije]

19 minutes ago, mxk. said:

The B350 tomahawk is pretty solid for overclocking and value despite being a B350 board, right? Thats what I've been told.

nah... would rather get a b450 pro4 then...

[Phentos]

2 hours ago, fasauceome said:

2600 has even more bang for buck than x model because you can OC, and a B350 board even better value as well.

 

Although, this combo does a good job of filling the budget with decent value parts.

2600X has better performance out of the box, just in case OP doesn't want to OC. Also the Tomahawk B450 has better power delivery. B350 boards might also require a BIOS update, which requires a 1st gen Ryzen or Athlon AM4 CPU to flash, can't do that with the 2600 or 2600X. 

 

OP would get far better value and mileage out of 2600X and B450 Tomahawk.

[Fasauceome]

3 minutes ago, Phentos said:

2600X has better performance out of the box, just in case OP doesn't want to OC. Also the Tomahawk B450 has better power delivery. B350 boards might also require a BIOS update, which requires a 1st gen Ryzen or Athlon AM4 CPU to flash, can't do that with the 2600 or 2600X. 

 

OP would get far better value and mileage out of 2600X and B450 Tomahawk.

Either a B350 has the BIOS updated already due to date of manufacture, or you can just ask for a free boot kit from AMD. Also, wanting to OC isn't really a factor in value because it's always there and if you learn to do it (very simple of course) then you saved some money. 

 

Also, not so sure about a difference in mileage.

[Phentos]

8 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

Either a B350 has the BIOS updated already due to date of manufacture, or you can just ask for a free boot kit from AMD. Also, wanting to OC isn't really a factor in value because it's always there and if you learn to do it (very simple of course) then you saved some money. 

 

Also, not so sure about a difference in mileage.

I mean sure you can request a boot kit from AMD and wait for it to be shipped out to you, or you just... you know... get a B450 board and get it going right away. As for B350 boards having the proper BIOS, that isn't guaranteed. A guildmate of mine in an MMO I play just bought a X370 board a couple weeks ago for his 2700X build and the board shipped with an older BIOS. So he's going to have to go the boot kit route. I advocated for a X470 board but he wanted to save some money. So now he's going to be out for a while as he waits for the boot kit.

 

I like to be efficient with money like anyone else, but when you're giving up some convenience in having a rig ready to go in exchange for pinching some pennies... idk. I guess we have different priorities.

 

Even still my combo fits OP's budget, so...

[NPDPdev]

5 hours ago, Phentos said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£178.97 @ Laptops Direct) 
Motherboard: MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£97.97 @ Laptops Direct) 
Total: £276.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-02-03 22:03 GMT+0000

Although having amazing value, I would suggest a Ryzen 5 2600 non-X.

You could even save money by getting a B350 board, and then requesting a bios update kit from AMD.

 

^(Basically they mail you a trash old CPU only capable of getting you into windows so you can perform a bios update to enable compatibility with Ryzen 2k series chips.)

[Jay Deah]

wow nobody has asked the most relevant question...

 

 

WHAT IS YOUR USE CASE?

 

What are you wanting the PC to do?

 

Gaming, Content Creation, Video Editing, Word Processing etc. etc.

 

What is it about your current setup that is frustrating you and you want to improve?

 

the answer will depend on what your requirements are, without those people are making assumptions which may or may not be wrong.

 

also what other kit do you currently own that youre NOT replacing? this will drive certain other decisions (ie if you're on DDR3 ram we'd need to budget DDR4 ram into the equation)