First build advice

GreenMadman · August 14, 2019

Hello, I'm planning my first build and I'm looking for some advice.

First off, my use case: I'll mostly use it for gaming, programming and surfing the web, no streaming, video editing or encoding. As such, I'm planning to go with a 6 core 3rd gen Ryzen CPU. On that note, would you recommend I go for a 3600X with it's Wraith Spire cooler, or buy the 3600 and get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black/Arctic Freezer 33 (the combined price is the same)?

First question : A friend whose opinion I trust is trying to convince me to go for the 3700X because of it's 2 extra cores, saying that they will make a difference, especially in a few years. Now while I know that no one can predict the future, I'm just asking for the opinion of those with more knowledge/experience. I'm planning to use the new PC for at least 5 years. In that case, do you think it's better to be on the safe side and pay $100 extra for the 2 cores, or can I go with the 6 core processor without a worry?

Second : I've read quite a few times that the B450 and X470 motherboards were inadequate for the Ryzen 2000 series because of their VRMs. I'm not planning to overclock since I've never done that, but I might give it a try, and I also don't really care too much about the new features of the X570 motherboards. With that in mind, I just wanted to make sure whether a B450 motherboard like the MSI Tomahawk or Gaming Plus would be fine with a 3600X/3700X (I know I'll need to update the BIOS), or if I should go with something like the MSI X570-A PRO (currently the cheapest one available here, costs $100 more)? On a note related to B450, I've read that Ryzen benefits a lot from faster RAM, however I've also read a lot about people being unable to run their RAM at it's specified speed and have a friend with that problem. Knowing that, do you think I'll be fine if I get 3200 MHz Ram with B450, or should I get 3000/2666 MHz RAM which costs about the same but has lower CAS (or just pair 3200 MHz with X570)?

Third : Since MSI announced their MAX boards, and they will inevitably cost more than the base B450 boards, at least where I live, how much extra do you think these boards are worth, $10-15, or not at all? As I understand, the only benefit is the bigger ROM for the BIOS and out of the box Ryzen 3000 compatibility.

Lastly, for the people who have 3rd gen Ryzen, are you satisfied with your purchase, or do you have problems (seen a few people complain about them) and kinda regret not just going with 2nd gen?

Thank you very much to everyone who reads all this, especially to those who also reply, much love to all of you!

spartaman64 · August 14, 2019

i would get either get the 3600 or 3700x i think the 3600 would be enough for your use case for more than 5 years

they are ok as long as you dont get the 12 core cpus even if you overclock. zen 2 doesnt benefit as much from faster ram as past gen zen cpus because the infinity fabric clock is no longer tied to memory clock. if you get like 2666mhz+ you should be fine

Fasauceome · August 14, 2019

23 minutes ago, GreenMadman said:

I've read quite a few times that the B450 and X470 motherboards were inadequate for the Ryzen 2000 series because of their VRMs

I think you misunderstood what you read. There are specific motherboards with bad VRMs, but on the whole, B450 motherboards are still not only relevant for good gaming setups, but are often the best value.

GreenMadman · August 15, 2019

18 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

i would get either get the 3600 or 3700x i think the 3600 would be enough for your use case for more than 5 years

they are ok as long as you dont get the 12 core cpus even if you overclock. zen 2 doesnt benefit as much from faster ram as past gen zen cpus because the infinity fabric clock is no longer tied to memory clock. if you get like 2666mhz+ you should be fine

Cool, the 3600 it is. The 3900x is $650 so I never even considered it, it's just too expensive. Glad to hear about the memory!

18 hours ago, fasauceome said:

I think you misunderstood what you read. There are specific motherboards with bad VRMs, but on the whole, B450 motherboards are still not only relevant for good gaming setups, but are often the best value.

Most recommendation say to go for B450, and the Tomahawk is the most recommended. And yeah, looks like I was wrong. Thanks!

paulmohr · August 15, 2019

For what you are doing I don't see a need for a 3700x. I don't see anything you listed that would really need the extra cores. I don't know much about programming though. Maybe if you were compiling stuff the extra cores might help, but I honestly don't know enough about it to say. Maybe someone that does could tell you.

3600 vs the 3600x I would go for the 3600 and an aftermarket cooler personally. The cooler on the X model isn't that much better than the other. Now if it came with the prism cooler I would consider it, but you have to get the 3700x for that. And if you are not going to mess around with overclocking honestly the stock cooler should work fine if you have good airflow in the case. An after market cooler will drop the temps a bit more though and probably be more quiet.

I have the 3600 on a b450 tomahawk with 3200 mhz memory. It runs just fine. All I had to do was update the bios before installing the cpu and then turn on the xmp profile in the bios for the memory. Just do a little research and ram with the best CAS you think fits in your budget. Do compare prices though, because sometimes you can find 3600 speed ram for not much more than 3200 if there is a good sale. In the end though it probably won't make a big enough difference you will actually notice while using it.

GreenMadman · August 15, 2019

23 minutes ago, paulmohr said:

For what you are doing I don't see a need for a 3700x. I don't see anything you listed that would really need the extra cores. I don't know much about programming though. Maybe if you were compiling stuff the extra cores might help, but I honestly don't know enough about it to say. Maybe someone that does could tell you.

3600 vs the 3600x I would go for the 3600 and an aftermarket cooler personally. The cooler on the X model isn't that much better than the other. Now if it came with the prism cooler I would consider it, but you have to get the 3700x for that. And if you are not going to mess around with overclocking honestly the stock cooler should work fine if you have good airflow in the case. An after market cooler will drop the temps a bit more though and probably be more quiet.

I have the 3600 on a b450 tomahawk with 3200 mhz memory. It runs just fine. All I had to do was update the bios before installing the cpu and then turn on the xmp profile in the bios for the memory. Just do a little research and ram with the best CAS you think fits in your budget. Do compare prices though, because sometimes you can find 3600 speed ram for not much more than 3200 if there is a good sale. In the end though it probably won't make a big enough difference you will actually notice while using it.

Right now I'm pretty sure I don't need the extra cores, and for programming I think that 6 is plenty. Admittedly I don't know much since I'm just starting but I would't expect the 2 extra cores to make too much of a difference. While I don't plan to overclock it, I think the aftermarket cooler will be a big benefit since my current PC has pretty much been a heater for the past 2 years, so a nice quiet and cool PC would be a lovely change. And since I was originally planning to get the x version, getting the cooler won't make a difference in the budget. Stores where I live don't really have sales, or at least not on PC components, but the plus side is that a kit of 2 3200MHz CL16 is rather cheap, $120, which funnily enough is the same price as 2 x 3000MHz CL15 ram. For a kit of 2 3600Mhz ram prices go from $240 so that's not really worth it. Thanks for the advice!