Ryzen 7 1700X --> Ryzen 7 3700X: Noticeable upgrade?

TheAlmightyOS · January 25, 2021

Hi all. I am looking to upgrade as my 1700X as it is severely bottle-necking my 2070 Super FTW3.

Before I get into this as it is a bit confusing, I use two systems. The first is my gaming rig. It runs Windows 10 and is the primary focus of this post. My second is my linux desktop rig which I use both for learning and general use. There is also the theoretical 'third' next-gen build. The specs are below.

"Gaming Rig - Current"
ASRock X370 Tachi
AMD Ryzen 1700X
G.SKILL Trident Z RGB 2 x 8 GB DDR4-3200
EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB FTW3 ULTRA+

"Linux Rig - Current"
Asus Sabertooth 990FX

AMD FX-8320

Corsair Vengeance 4 x 4 GB DDR3-1600

Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3 GB WINDFORCE

"Gaming and Streaming - Proposed Next Gen Build"

Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS

AMD Ryzen 5700/5800/5900 (have not decided yet)

Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 4 x 8 DDR4-3600

**GPU from Current Gaming Rig**

The original plan was to get a Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS and a 5700 or 5800 (or even 5900) chip and upgrade my gaming rig to a gaming and streaming rig. My current Gaming rig would then become my Linux Rig. You may notice a flaw already: That mobo does not accept a 5000 series chip out of the box without a bios update, nor will it accept an old 1700x. Even if I got that mobo, I would have to get another chip in order to upgrade the bios. Thus I hatched Plan B. Plan B has two stages. First, I replace my 1700X with a 3000 series chip that is supported by both my current X370 and the proposed X570 motherboard. In the second stage when I get my hands on a 5000 series chip, I would retire my old FX-8320 and the X370/3000 series would take over as my Linux Rig with the X570/5000 series taking its place as my Gaming/Streaming Rig.

Got all that?

Now comes to the bit where I am seeking some guidance.

I got my sights on a 3700X. I have the money for it (~$350 w/tax) and I am ready to pull the trigger... but I am having doubts. This new chip will be my gaming rig for a short while and then it will power my linux desktop possibly for the next decade. Will this be a noticeable upgrade to my 1700X? Or should I hold back and aim higher? Maybe spend the extra $80 bucks for the 3800X or "Go Big or Go Home" with a $180 uptick to a 3900X? Having a beefier CPU in my linux rig WOULD be nice, especially with the multitasking I do (running a SQL server, VM emulation, and coding for example). But would a 3700X do just as well? Would a 3800 or 3900 be overkill? At that point would the GPU (Remember the Linux Rig uses an R9 280X) be the bottleneck in that system? And while I am waiting for a 58/59 to come down in price and become available, would the 3700 give me a noticeable difference in my gaming rig? I am sure I won't be able to stream like I want (will have to wait for the 57/58/59 for that) but will I get a noticeable FPS boost out of my games?

All of this is very first-world-problemy. Do I drop more money now or later is basically what it comes down to. Is the 3700X a good choice? Will I regret this purchase and wish I went with a more robust chip?

Moonzy · January 25, 2021

what kinda games do you play?

resolution and settings?

personally i would either wait for ryzen 5000 or just stick with a 3700x, no point buying both at the "same time" imo

unless your linux rig needs the powah (i doubt, judging from its current config

TheAlmightyOS · January 25, 2021

The goal is to start streaming, which means the current titles. As of late I had been playing AC:Valhalla, CyberPunk 2077, Horizon ZD, The Outer Worlds... all of which I wanted to stream and give commentary on but I just could not. I also have older games like Deux Ex, Fallout 4, Witcher 3 etc that I want to make video documentary style commentary on and I can't get good recordings as the frame rate jumps all over the place whenever I try. Currently I play at 1920x1080 but can barely if ever hit a smooth FPS of 60. Too much for my 1700X to handle. Being that I most likely will want to record at 4k to get a clearer image to work with, a beefier processor is better. I know I will need a GPU upgrade down the line, but that is out of the scope of this current conundrum.

Whatever I decide, I will end up buying two chips as I will need to flash the bios of the new mobo before I use a 5000 series chip in it. (YES I know there are boards out there that can flash without a chip and YES I know there are boards out there that come with bios' that can support 5000 series. I want THIS board). The question is, will a 3700X be a good purchase or should I spend more?