cpu Upgrading from 6600k, any suggestions?

[Kd4lif3]

I’ve had my 6600k for a few years now and it’s starting to show it’s age when playing a few different games. Namely Escape from Tarkov is having a hard time pushing 75fps, sometimes even 60 on a few maps. This is kind of a problem in a game which is based on tactics awareness. Even Kerbal space program has trouble in busy scenes where there is a lot of parts and physics (any space station larger than a few segments). Sometimes FPS drops below 30 in these situations. I get a fairly large pay check soon which should cover a comfortable upgrade. I’m looking for anything which will preform well enough to justify the upgrade to it. I’m looking at something which is no more than 250, preferably lower as I need a new mobo and storage as well. Some of the last gen AMD chips look compelling but would it be worth the extra 100 for the 3000 series 7’s over the 2000 series? For reference I have a strix 1070 which slightly out preforms my cpu in most circumstances and 2x8 ram kit which can hit 3200 but I have at 2333 because of instability at higher speeds. Thanks. 

[LogicWeasel]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($185.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($114.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $300.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-01 18:17 EST-0500


Yes it would be cheaper for R5 2600 but the 3600 is the clear winner in gaming and it would be worth pairing since your GPU is not a mid-range, it's more upper-range in performance.  This would be a very worthwhile upgrade in games like Tarkov and Kerbal, and leave you potentially open to even larger down-the-road updates as the motherboard VRM and support for newer AMD chips is tops.

[Kd4lif3]

1 hour ago, LogicWeasel said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($185.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($114.99 @ B&H) 
Total: $300.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-01 18:17 EST-0500


Yes it would be cheaper for R5 2600 but the 3600 is the clear winner in gaming and it would be worth pairing since your GPU is not a mid-range, it's more upper-range in performance.  This would be a very worthwhile upgrade in games like Tarkov and Kerbal, and leave you potentially open to even larger down-the-road updates as the motherboard VRM and support for newer AMD chips is tops.

Ok that’s an idea. What about the r7 2700x vs the r5 3600x?

[LogicWeasel]

3 minutes ago, Kd4lif3 said:

Ok that’s an idea. What about the r7 2700x vs the r5 3600x?

2700x better for some parallel non-gaming stuff but you mentioned games.  3600x not worth the extra cost, you can just lightly-OC the 3600 and it's the same thing.

[Kd4lif3]

4 minutes ago, LogicWeasel said:

2700x better for some parallel non-gaming stuff but you mentioned games.  3600x not worth the extra cost, you can just lightly-OC the 3600 and it's the same thing.

Ok sounds great, thanks. What about chipsets. I’m not looking for anything super fancy but oc would be nice 

[LogicWeasel]

5 minutes ago, Kd4lif3 said:

Ok sounds great, thanks. What about chipsets. I’m not looking for anything super fancy but oc would be nice 

The B450 I linked allows OC and as stated has excellent VRM.  Unless you feel you need PCIe 4.0 for something, than X570 doesn't really offer much since you said you're on a tight budget.

[Kd4lif3]

21 hours ago, LogicWeasel said:

The B450 I linked allows OC and as stated has excellent VRM.  Unless you feel you need PCIe 4.0 for something, than X570 doesn't really offer much since you said you're on a tight budget.

I know I marked this solved but while looking for mobo’s I remembered that the b450 needs a bios update to be compatible with the 3000 series. Is this something I should be concerned with?

[LogicWeasel]

6 hours ago, Kd4lif3 said:

I know I marked this solved but while looking for mobo’s I remembered that the b450 needs a bios update to be compatible with the 3000 series. Is this something I should be concerned with?

I linked the MAX revision of the board. That's already taken care of.  It's the exception to the rule as MSI updated them just for 3rd Gen Ryzen.

[Vejnemojnen]

Boardsboards

MSI B450 Gaming Plus MAX

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/BHBhP6/msi-b450-gaming-plus-max-atx-am4-motherboard-b450-gaming-plus-max

 

MSI B450 A-Pro MAX
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/XJbCmG/msi-b450-a-pro-max-atx-am4-motherboard-b450-a-pro-max

both are excellent, cheap. 99USD. Roughly the same quality VRM heatsink as with the tomahawk, more than enough for 6-8 cores.

[LogicWeasel]

18 hours ago, Vejnemojnen said:

both are excellent, cheap.

For cheap boards? they're not bad for users that are not planning to change the CPU above a stock 8-core.  But I'm not so sure this user is trying hard to pinch $15 when they want a platform that'll last a long time.  It's not like that $15 means getting a faster CPU.

18 hours ago, Vejnemojnen said:

Roughly the same quality VRM heatsink as with the tomahawk

This reads as misleading.  You and I both know the Tomahawk is a tier higher in the Motherboard quality tier list on this forum.  The Tomahawk is the best VRM you can get on B450, while the other two are an actual, real step down in VRM performance.

 

I would make the argument that the motherboard is not worth cheaping out on to the tune of $15 when that money is getting you more future-CPU headroom in case you change your mind and want to heavily overclock an 8-Core, or get a new 4th Gen Ryzen CPU and feel confident in upgrading and keeping the same motherboard.  Just seems logical to pad out your options for much less than the cost of a new motherboard, rather than stunt the otherwise stellar upgrade path of the AM4 platform.