Upgrade avice?

[Cheechong]

Budget (including currency): 

Country: Germany

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Warzone, Cyberpunk, EU4, Battlefield

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
GPU: rx 5700xt
RAM: 16 gb DDR4
Motherboard: Msi B450 a-pro max

 

Hi guys,

want to upgrade my pc and was thinking about buying a new cpu...

what do u guys think is a good upgrade that will still be viable in a few years?

Should i buy a new Motherboard to ensure that my system will be good in a few years?

 

 

Thanks

[jaslion]

You forget to write something

[mariushm]

The motherboard needs to be changed before you go for a cpu upgrade.

The current board has no heatsinks on the VRM (the dc-dc converter circuit which powers the processor) so it's not recommended to use more than a 8 core ryzen cpu with it, and even then it may throttle due to overheating. 

 

edit. the mATX version has no heatsinks , B450M-A pro max, the atx version b450-a pro max has some basic heatsinks.

 

[SorryBella]

8 minutes ago, Cheechong said:

what do u guys think is a good upgrade that will still be viable in a few years?

Im gonna play the Devil's Advocate and say you should not upgrade the 3600 right now. While yes, the 5600x is on the logical leap point, it is not exactly a magic bullet of massive performance bump, especially considering all of your games being very GPU intensive rather than CPU. I honestly would advise you to wait until we got clear release window for Ryzen 6000 and Intel 12th generation CPU. Theyll come with the usual IPC bump (and finally process shrink for Intel too), but theyll also come with new platform, DDR5, and maybe even new PSU standard if Intel decides to go 100% full asshole and mandates ATX12VO. So with waiting, you can pretty much knock 2 (or 3) birds with 1 stone.

[Ydfhlx]

Just now, mariushm said:

The motherboard needs to be changed before you go for a cpu upgrade.

 

No, that is not true. It is compatible with Zen 3 CPUs. It should handle 5600X/5800X just fine, they are quite efficient.

[mariushm]

2 minutes ago, Ydfhlx said:

No, that is not true. It is compatible with Zen 3 CPUs. It should handle 5600X/5800X just fine, they are quite efficient.

I edited the post to say the mATX version of the motherboard has no heatsinks, the ATX version of the board has heatsinks.

 

I wouldn't upgrade from a 3600 to a 5600x, it's too little of an upgrade. Yeah, if he has the ATX version with heatsinks, it can handle 8 core processors ok.  I had the picture of the matx version without any heatsinks, when I made the previous comment. 

 

I didn't say it's not compatible, but it's one thing to be compatible and another to actually be able to use at 100% of its abilities. If you had the matx version, it would work but it would be unadvisable to have > 8 core cpu because the vrm may be hot enough to throttle the cpu (prevent it from boosting or staying at peak frequencies)

 

[Ydfhlx]

9 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

Im gonna play the Devil's Advocate and say you should not upgrade the 3600 right now. While yes, the 5600x is on the logical leap point, it is not exactly a magic bullet of massive performance bump, especially considering all of your games being very GPU intensive rather than CPU. I honestly would advise you to wait until we got clear release window for Ryzen 6000 and Intel 12th generation CPU. Theyll come with the usual IPC bump (and finally process shrink for Intel too), but theyll also come with new platform, DDR5, and maybe even new PSU standard if Intel decides to go 100% full asshole and mandates ATX12VO. So with waiting, you can pretty much knock 2 (or 3) birds with 1 stone.

New RAM that will be much more expensive and not that much faster, new motherboard, new PSU (that doesn't give more FPS anyways). No point in waiting to pay much more.

 

What you should do IMO is sell the 5700XT on ebay or sth and get RDNA2 card for it (like 6700XT). They 5000 series cards are great for mining, while 6000 are quite bad, so you could actually just upgrade for free, depending on market situation in Germany (it worked like this in the US).

 

Then, your budget could go to 5600X CPU upgrade (E: worth only if you play at 1080p). Your motherboard is compatible with it, so it can stay. RAM - if you have at least 3200 MHz then too.

[Ydfhlx]

6 minutes ago, mariushm said:

I wouldn't upgrade from a 3600 to a 5600x, it's too little of an upgrade. Yeah, if he has the ATX version with heatsinks, it can handle 8 core processors ok

5600X is a 6-core processor? And it's 12% faster at 1080p, IMO enough for an upgrade if you can get a basically better GPU for free thanks to mining performance difference. If op is playing at 1440p, then I agree tho.

[Hairless Monkey]

The 3600 is a pretty capable CPU, so you'll get the most benefit right now from a GPU upgrade. So basically this:

18 minutes ago, Ydfhlx said:

What you should do IMO is sell the 5700XT on ebay or sth and get RDNA2 card for it (like 6700XT). They 5000 series cards are great for mining, while 6000 are quite bad, so you could actually just upgrade for free, depending on market situation in Germany (it worked like this in the US).

 

Then you can wait to upgrade your platform until the next gen stuff comes out from Intel and AMD, so basically this:

25 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

I honestly would advise you to wait until we got clear release window for Ryzen 6000 and Intel 12th generation CPU. Theyll come with the usual IPC bump (and finally process shrink for Intel too), but theyll also come with new platform, DDR5, and maybe even new PSU standard

That's what I'd do.

[SorryBella]

18 minutes ago, Ydfhlx said:

And it's 12% faster at 1080p

12 percent is not massive, we dont have PC framerate racing here, where every percent gain matters.

[Jonathan Lee]

I would be incline to not change anything.

 

Upgrading from 3600 -> 5600X is nice, but I really don't think you would notice much of a difference. If you really want to upgrade, go up to a 5800X at least so you have +2 cores, +4 threads, higher IPC, higher boost clocks, and single CCX. At least with this upgrade, you significantly increase your multitasking ability and have better frame timing and pacing (smoother experience, not higher frame rates). Even with that, you wouldn't see that much improvement over what you have. 

 

I really wouldn't recommend "baby" upgrades; it's just extra spending. I would wait for Intel's new stuff before looking into upgrading unless a game your playing is really struggling.

 

5 hours ago, Cheechong said:

what do u guys think is a good upgrade that will still be viable in a few years?

Honestly depends what games your playing. If you're looking into playing future AAA games, probably 5900x is your best bet. Esports, your current rig will run them fine.