Question About Ryzen

jidenshaotoko · July 27, 2021

So I'm starting to get ready to upgrade my CPU. I've been using Intel for years and I have no issues with it, so my desire to switch over to Ryzen doesn't come from me being unhappy with my i7 8700K. This is more out of curiosity than anything else.

But I have a couple of concerns I hope you guys could help me with. I'm planning to get either a Ryzen 5800X or a 10900K. I don't care for overclocking and benchmarks. Real use scenario is what's more important to me. I use my PC to work on Photoshop about 80% of the time and the remaining 20% is gaming; mostly racing games.

So my questions are:

- Has AMD managed to iron out some of the issues people were having with the 1st CPUs like random USB disconnects and weird issues with the BIOS?

- How's Ryzen 5800X for 60fps gaming? Is it as solid as the Intel counterpart?

- The big one: memory. I was hoping to use my 32GB 2400Mhz kit from my current PC but I know people say Ryzen works best with faster memory. I'm not concerned with having the most balls to the wall performance in that sense, but I'm concerned whether or not my 2400Mhz will cause any issues either in the short or long term?

Chris Pratt · July 27, 2021

22 minutes ago, jidenshaotoko said:

Has AMD managed to iron out some of the issues people were having with the 1st CPUs like random USB disconnects and weird issues with the BIOS?

Yes. It's very solid now. There's always potential issues with any platform. Intel is by no means without its own problems occasionally, and AMD is no worse or better necessarily in that respect.

25 minutes ago, jidenshaotoko said:

How's Ryzen 5800X for 60fps gaming? Is it as solid as the Intel counterpart?

This is a little difficult to answer, because it's not really related. You can theoretically achieve 60fps gaming on an Athlon or something, so yeah? What is important is that the 5800X is fine CPU that will easily go toe to toe with anything Intel has to offer of the 8c/16t variety, so you'll have no issues, you wouldn't otherwise have in general with any CPU of that caliber.

29 minutes ago, jidenshaotoko said:

The big one: memory. I was hoping to use my 32GB 2400Mhz kit from my current PC but I know people say Ryzen works best with faster memory. I'm not concerned with having the most balls to the wall performance in that sense, but I'm concerned whether or not my 2400Mhz will cause any issues either in the short or long term?

The big issue with RAM clockspeed and Ryzen is that it's tied to the infinity fabric, the communication layer between the CCDs. However, since each CCD on Zen 3 is an 8 core complex now, the 5800X only uses a single CCD. That means it's not nearly as sensitive to slow RAM as something like a 5900X would be. You're still better off with faster RAM, though. You'll be fine to use what you've got, but you should look to upgrade sooner rather than later.

jidenshaotoko · July 28, 2021

4 hours ago, Chris Pratt said:

Yes. It's very solid now. There's always potential issues with any platform. Intel is by no means without its own problems occasionally, and AMD is no worse or better necessarily in that respect.

This is a little difficult to answer, because it's not really related. You can theoretically achieve 60fps gaming on an Athlon or something, so yeah? What is important is that the 5800X is fine CPU that will easily go toe to toe with anything Intel has to offer of the 8c/16t variety, so you'll have no issues, you wouldn't otherwise have in general with any CPU of that caliber.

The big issue with RAM clockspeed and Ryzen is that it's tied to the infinity fabric, the communication layer between the CCDs. However, since each CCD on Zen 3 is an 8 core complex now, the 5800X only uses a single CCD. That means it's not nearly as sensitive to slow RAM as something like a 5900X would be. You're still better off with faster RAM, though. You'll be fine to use what you've got, but you should look to upgrade sooner rather than later.

Thanks for your help Chris!

If you don't mind me asking one last thing: what does this thing you explained about CCDs translate to in a real scenario? Random slow downs, things taking longer to process or something else?