I'm getting a Ryzen 9 3950x and I'm wondering if my MSI X570-A Pro Motherboard can handle it completely?

[MP Edits]

I'm sort of an amateur PC builder so forgive me lol... I really wanted a beefy CPU to help me with my editing (After Effects) so before buying I did some quick research and found that this MSI X-570 Pro was compatible with the chip. The board may fit the chip but are there any concerns I should think about like the board bottle-necking the CPU or anything like that? Temps? Again I'm not very versed in the world of PC building so enlighten me! Should I buy a new board or am I good to go? 

[Eigenvektor]

Take a look at the motherboard tier list. The MSI X570-A Pro is listed as Tier D, meaning it could maybe be a little too weak in its power delivery, depending on whether you want to overclock the CPU.

[ColeIsDaBest]

This board is a good match, the 3950X + MSI X-570Pro seems to be a common pair from what I found online. The VRM heatsinks appear to be sufficient. What will ultimately determine your CPU temperature is how good of a cooler you have and how restrictive your cases airflow is.

[MP Edits]

11 minutes ago, Cole, the beast said:

This board is a good match, the 3950X + MSI X-570Pro seems to be a common pair from what I found online. The VRM heatsinks appear to be sufficient. What will ultimately determine your CPU temperature is how good of a cooler you have and how restrictive your cases airflow is.

The case is really roomy. I'm going to be using a CORSAIR iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT, 240mm Radiator, Dual 120mm PWM Fans, Software Control, Liquid CPU Cooler

[ColeIsDaBest]

1 minute ago, MP Edits said:

The case is really roomy. I'm going to be using a CORSAIR iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT, 240mm Radiator, Dual 120mm PWM Fans, Software Control, Liquid CPU Cooler

As the other person mentioned, as long as you do not plan to overclock you should be fine. This cooler should be able to keep up.

[SenKa]

it will *not* safely work. My 3900x can EASILY pull over the 100A "breaking point" the board seems to have been rated, the 3950x is a more current hungry chip.

 

 

[MP Edits]

1 minute ago, Cole, the beast said:

As the other person mentioned, as long as you do not plan to overclock you should be fine. This cooler should be able to keep up.

Is overclocking something I do manually or is it something the chip does automatically? I know that overclocking is running your CPU at a higher lock-rate, which generates more heat, but how often would I be using something like that?

[ColeIsDaBest]

1 minute ago, MP Edits said:

Is overclocking something I do manually or is it something the chip does automatically? I know that overclocking is running your CPU at a higher lock-rate, which generates more heat, but how often would I be using something like that?

The chip can overclock itself if it sees it has thermal, voltage and power headroom, but what we generally mean when we talk about overclocking is the manual settings. If you do not enter the ryzen master software or the motherboard bios and adjust frequency multipliers or voltages you will be fine. You probably could do that and get away with it, but since the board is cheaper it may not be a good idea to do that long term.

[MP Edits]

5 minutes ago, SenKa said:

it will *not* safely work. My 3900x can EASILY pull over the 100A "breaking point" the board seems to have been rated, the 3950x is a more current hungry chip.

 

 

Oh damn, are you sure? This is pretty important I don't want my build to fail on me so soon after assembly. Do you think I should get something better?

[SenKa]

6 minutes ago, MP Edits said:

Oh damn, are you sure? This is pretty important I don't want my build to fail on me so soon after assembly. Do you think I should get something better?

I cant speak to the accuracy of the motherboard tier list exactly, but i trust it. I've also had enough experience with my 3900x to tell you that a 100A safe-cap wont be enough for a 3950x. You'll have VRM thermal issues and/or current delivery issues. Both could/likely would lead to system instability. I personally wouldn't buy a board lower than B tier, and for such a nice chip I'd recommend an A or higher tier board per the linked above tier list. I'd hope if you are spending for a 3950x you have the money to spend on a good board.

 

Personal recommendation goes to the Asus range of Tier A (or higher) X570 boards as I have had *very* good luck with them as a company and like their BIOS and software. The Tier A boards in question are as follows-  X570-F, TUF Plus, Prime Pro, Crosshair VIII Impact, X570-I, X570-P.

 

That recommendation is highly empirical in nature, any will do really.

[MP Edits]

2 minutes ago, SenKa said:

I cant speak to the accuracy of the motherboard tier list exactly, but i trust it. I've also had enough experience with my 3900x to tell you that a 100A safe-cap wont be enough for a 3950x. You'll have VRM thermal issues and/or current delivery issues. Both could/likely would lead to system instability. I personally wouldn't buy a board lower than B tier, and for such a nice chip I'd recommend an A or higher tier board per the linked above tier list. I'd hope if you are spending for a 3950x you have the money to spend on a good board.

 

Personal recommendation goes to the Asus range of Tier A (or higher) X570 boards as I have had *very* good luck with them as a company and like their BIOS and software. The Tier A boards in question are as follows-  X570-F, TUF Plus, Prime Pro, Crosshair VIII Impact, X570-I, X570-P.

 

That recommendation is highly empirical in nature, any will do really.

This PC is going to be handling a lot here. It needs to handle both streaming, high quality gameplay, and generating previews for AE (which I already know can be very taxing on a CPU). All at the same time for some situations. It needs to be a beast, and I was merely budgeting the mobo because I didn't realize how dependent it actually was. I thought the more expensive ones where pricier due to their extra ports and aesthetic. I feel pretty stupid haha. But yea, I'm willing to pay more if it's going to be an issue.

[SenKa]

2 minutes ago, MP Edits said:

This PC is going to be handling a lot here. It needs to handle both streaming, high quality gameplay, and generating previews for AE (which I already know can be very taxing on a CPU). All at the same time for some situations. It needs to be a beast, and I was merely budgeting the mobo because I didn't realize how dependent it actually was. I thought the more expensive ones where pricier due to their extra ports and aesthetic. I feel pretty stupid haha. But yea, I'm willing to pay more if it's going to be an issue.

Nah, power delivery design matters. It varies WILDLY between boards, which is why we have some AMD boards that can hardly power up a 1300x and others that are commonly used for LN2 overclocking with 3950x's.

 

Im not sure if you have any brand loyalty or preference but pick your poison between brands in anything S-, or A tier. S tier (the highest one) is plain overkill. Again, asus gets my vote, but thats up to opinion.

[MP Edits]

Just now, SenKa said:

Nah, power delivery design matters. It varies WILDLY between boards, which is why we have some AMD boards that can hardly power up a 1300x and others that are commonly used for LN2 overclocking with 3950x's.

 

Im not sure if you have any brand loyalty or preference but pick your poison between brands in anything S-, or A tier. S tier (the highest one) is plain overkill. Again, asus gets my vote, but thats up to opinion.

Ok, I'll invest in a better mobo. I've heard good things about ASUS, I'm running one on my old PC right now actually. Should I run the new mobo through PC builder to double check compatibility issues, you think?

[JobinJames]

5 hours ago, MP Edits said:

I'm sort of an amateur PC builder so forgive me lol... I really wanted a beefy CPU to help me with my editing (After Effects) so before buying I did some quick research and found that this MSI X-570 Pro was compatible with the chip. The board may fit the chip but are there any concerns I should think about like the board bottle-necking the CPU or anything like that? Temps? Again I'm not very versed in the world of PC building so enlighten me! Should I buy a new board or am I good to go? 

Have a look at the attachment. It lists almost all motherboards. For a 3950X try to look for one which can handle 150A without major VRM cooling.

AM4 Vcore VRM Ratings v1.4 (2019-11-07).xlsx

[MP Edits]

7 hours ago, JobinJames said:

Have a look at the attachment. It lists almost all motherboards. For a 3950X try to look for one which can handle 150A without major VRM cooling.

AM4 Vcore VRM Ratings v1.4 (2019-11-07).xlsx 47.84 kB · 3 downloads

I ordered a ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming board and I’m returning the MSI board. This should leave me without any concerns for quite a while, plus it looks pretty slick. Thanks everyone for the help!