Sanity Check: Upgrade & Transition from Intel 6th Gen to AMD

[swatmajor1]

Budget (including currency): $500-$600 AUD

Country: Australia

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: FF14, Hyper-V, General Use

Current Build (Relevant to Plan):

• CPU: Intel 6700
• MoBo: Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 5 Rev 1.0
• RAM: Corsair VENGEANCE® LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15)
• GPU: ASUS Strix-GTX 1080 8GB
• PSU: 1000W+ Gold...can't remember the specifics

Proposed Transition Plan

Core Idea: Get a 3600 for approx $250 AUD + a current gen MoBo to support upgrade path for PCIe4 GPU & Storage, Ryzen 5000 series, etc.

• Secure AMD 3600 CPU + MoBo (Gigabyte X570 Gaming X AM4 ATX)
• Swap CPU & MoBo, using all other components (RAM, GPU, PSU)

My questions with the above are:

• Is the RAM going to be an issue?
  • Research says no, but better to ask the question
• See any issue with the MoBo?
  • Is it a "Good" MoBo for the Approx. $239 AUD sales price?
• See any issues with the plan in general? Plan to execute on purchases this month
• See any "Why bother?" with what I am going from to what I am going to?
  • Is it worth it, or should I just save up for a couple of months and get all new?

Mostly after a sanity check from a group that regularly deals with upgrades and hardware. I run an IT Services Provider, but usually dealing with business devices, and a bit rusty with DIY these days.

 

Thanks!

 

[jaslion]

The x570 board you picked is a meh board and you really do not need a x570 board. A good b550 is plenty.

 

You might want to throw in a cheap but decent cooler (or have a bit of future vision and get one that would also work on your ryzen 5000 planned upgrade).

 

Otherwise it is as simple as swap the board and cpu out, reinstall windows and call it a day. Your ram whilst not the fastest is still totally fine to use.

 

If you need the upgrade now get it now. If not and you can wait get it later.

[CommanderAlex]

Welcome to the forums!!!

11 minutes ago, swatmajor1 said:

Is the RAM going to be an issue?

• Research says no, but better to ask the question

This shouldn't be a problem to start off with. Ryzen does favor high frequency memory so going for 3200 or 3600Mhz RAM will be a better choice. 

 

11 minutes ago, swatmajor1 said:

See any issue with the MoBo?

• Is it a "Good" MoBo for the Approx. $239 AUD sales price?

The motherboard is a decent X570 motherboard for the price (in the US). Although, I'd rather pair it with a Zen 3 processor (Ryzen 5000 series) instead such as the 5600X. 

 

11 minutes ago, swatmajor1 said:

• See any issues with the plan in general? Plan to execute on purchases this month
• See any "Why bother?" with what I am going from to what I am going to?
  • Is it worth it, or should I just save up for a couple of months and get all new?

RAM will be a concern going into future as again, Ryzen favors higher memory frequencies, just make sure you get a low timings kit (for 3600, CL16). I'd personally say save up a little more as hopefully supplies will replenish more and drop the inflated prices from retailers for 5000 series. Also, be sure the CPU cooler is compatible with AM4. 

[swatmajor1]

Thanks for the quick feedback so far.

I probably forgot to mention the plans for the other side of the transition (That will occur in 9-12 months once finances are better):

• CPU: Ryzen 5800X or Above (Depending on AUD pricing, availability, etc.)
• RAM: Upgrade to 4 x 16GB 3600Mhz of appropriate timing
• Cooling: Suitable AIO
• GPU: IDK....see what's available lol
• SSD: Evaluate in November, but aiming for 2 x 1TB PCIe4 M.2
• Estimated AUD Cost (Minimum): $1,500 without GPU, who knows with GPU...

The proposed plan is very much transitional, but the board selected is (I hope) suffice to handle what I envision the system will be in a year's time. Just got to get a boost now due to a few key projects and some general issues with CPU/Core-Count bottlenecks.