Obligatory "Obsolete" System Upgrade

[Waterboii]

Budget (including currency): ~$1500-2000USD

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Ocassional game streaming of Call of Duty, Apex Legends, etc. Nothing too intensive but its not just a word processor either.

Other details: I currently have a system with a Ryzen 5 2600X and RTX 2060. It doesnt necessarily have "problems" other than its obviously a completely obsolete system at this point and is actually e waste. Obviously this is complete sarcasm.

 

With rumors of RTX 40 series launching in July, I want to build a new system based around one of these new GPUs as well as an Alder Lake cpu. Wanting to build in the Lian Li O11 Air Mini case. I currently have a dual monitor setup, main monitor is 1440p 144hz and the secondary is 1080p 60hz. Ive currently not been able to run full resolution on most games at full frame rates without dropping settings. Please give recommendations for parts, I understand that 40 series pricing is not available, skip the gpu for now as I will most likely end up with a "70" class GPU.

 

[bmx6454]

full list of current specs? depending on the board, you could just drop in a ryzen 5000 chip, and upgrade the gpu when 4000 comes out, save a lot of money vs replacing the whole thing.

[Waterboii]

5 minutes ago, bmx6454 said:

full list of current specs? depending on the board, you could just drop in a ryzen 5000 chip, and upgrade the gpu when 4000 comes out, save a lot of money vs replacing the whole thing.

Here is a pcpartpicker list of my current setup. Was not sure if the X470 supports ryzen 5000 or not. https://pcpartpicker.com/user/vansitan/saved/tmcnHx

[Crunchy Dragon]

8 minutes ago, Waterboii said:

Here is a pcpartpicker list of my current setup. Was not sure if the X470 supports ryzen 5000 or not. https://pcpartpicker.com/user/vansitan/saved/tmcnHx

It will, you just need the most recent BIOS version.

 

So the plan of action would be
1. Download and flash the most recent BIOS(check your motherboard's support site or manual if you're not sure how to).

2. Buy new CPU

3. Install new CPU

4. ???
5. Profit.

[Vishera]

4 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

1. Download and flash the most recent BIOS(check your motherboard's support site or manual if you're not sure how to).

 

Since it's a Gigabyte X470 motherboard BIOS flashing is more complex than it should be.

You may have serious issues if you don't go through the process exactly as detailed in Gigabyte's website.

[Waterboii]

1 minute ago, Vishera said:

Since it's a Gigabyte X470 motherboard BIOS flashing is more complex than it should be.

You may have serious issues if you don't go through the process exactly as detailed in Gigabyte's website.

Admittedly, I'm not much of an all knowing techie when it comes to software. In the event that the BIOS is not updated properly, the motherboard is essentially bricked, correct?

 

Another possibility was that my fiancee would be getting my current system as her first desktop pc (its probably overkill for anything she would do). In that situation, are there recommendations for an entirely new build? How does Intel Alder Lake compare to Ryzen for multi-threaded workloads at this point (i.e, game streaming)?

[Waterboii]

Just now, Waterboii said:

 How does Intel Alder Lake compare to Ryzen for multi-threaded workloads at this point (i.e, game streaming)?

When I had first bought the components for my current system it seemed the consensus was that Ryzen was a far better value for that use case and performed much better at each price point (while suffering in single core performance slightly). From what I see, pricing doesnt seem to be particularly in one manufacturers favor over the other, and therefore Id much rather just go with the better performing unit out of the gate.

[Queen Chrysalis]

59 minutes ago, Waterboii said:

Budget (including currency): ~$1500-2000USD

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Ocassional game streaming of Call of Duty, Apex Legends, etc. Nothing too intensive but its not just a word processor either.

Other details: I currently have a system with a Ryzen 5 2600X and RTX 2060. It doesnt necessarily have "problems" other than its obviously a completely obsolete system at this point and is actually e waste. Obviously this is complete sarcasm.

 

With rumors of RTX 40 series launching in July, I want to build a new system based around one of these new GPUs as well as an Alder Lake cpu. Wanting to build in the Lian Li O11 Air Mini case. I currently have a dual monitor setup, main monitor is 1440p 144hz and the secondary is 1080p 60hz. Ive currently not been able to run full resolution on most games at full frame rates without dropping settings. Please give recommendations for parts, I understand that 40 series pricing is not available, skip the gpu for now as I will most likely end up with a "70" class GPU.

 

 

So if your gaming diet isn't that intense, why upgrade?  You could just make a parts list, notionally buy it without checking out, and watch a video of someone opening some boxes.

 

24 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Since it's a Gigabyte X470 motherboard BIOS flashing is more complex than it should be.

You may have serious issues if you don't go through the process exactly as detailed in Gigabyte's website.

 

Yeah and it's easy as hell.  The UEFI will find the file on your USB drive and do everything for you.  Not much of a process, really.

 

18 minutes ago, Waterboii said:

Admittedly, I'm not much of an all knowing techie when it comes to software. In the event that the BIOS is not updated properly, the motherboard is essentially bricked, correct?

 

Another possibility was that my fiancee would be getting my current system as her first desktop pc (its probably overkill for anything she would do). In that situation, are there recommendations for an entirely new build? How does Intel Alder Lake compare to Ryzen for multi-threaded workloads at this point (i.e, game streaming)?

 

Potentially, but if you just read the instructions (there's like 2 steps) like a normal human it's really easy.  Streaming isn't that bad, a hyperthreaded hexacore from either is gonna get it done.  The differences are splitting hairs, especially if you're not a pro streamer (I cringe when I see people going with i9s or r9s to stream to 3 people once a week).  If anything, buy her a new computer for a romantic gift and just keep using yours, it should still play all your games fine.  

[Nitrouspeed]

There are a few options you could go with when the 40s come out. In my honest opinion, your CPU is getting older but that doesn't mean it's bad. It still has 12 threads which is enough for the CPU side of CoD and Apex. A 4070 will be more than powerful enough to handle everything you do without needing to upgrade your CPU. I would say if you want the system to feel faster, save the money on a CPU and upgrade your SSD from the Crucial to a fresh install of windows on a 980 Pro which by the way you can find for under $100 on offerup.

If you are dead set on upgrading your CPU, then you could go for the 5600X without having to get a new board, all you will need is a 4GB flash drive to flash the new BIOS on it.

The reason why I don't think that upgrading like that is too logical is because in a year you're going to be in the same boat you are in right now.

The more logical way to upgrade your CPU would be to go with a more expensive alder lake chip which will require you to cough up the cash to get a new board to go along with it. You will definitely get many more years of use out of a system like that but that brings a new problem. In 3 or 4 years you might wish you spent even more money getting a DDR5 board so that you could simply upgrade to 17th gen when it comes out without needing another new board.

 

At the end of the day it's your opinion but I say just go with the 4070 and m.2 and if you still think you're lacking performance consider upgrading your CPU to 13th gen at the end of the year.

[Queen Chrysalis]

4 minutes ago, Nitrouspeed said:

There are a few options you could go with when the 40s come out. In my honest opinion, your CPU is getting older but that doesn't mean it's bad. It still has 12 threads which is enough for the CPU side of CoD and Apex. A 4060 will be more than powerful enough to handle everything you do without needing to upgrade your CPU. I would say if you want the system to feel faster, save the money on a CPU and upgrade your SSD from the Crucial to a fresh install of windows on a 980 Pro which by the way you can find for under $100 on offerup.

If you are dead set on upgrading your CPU, then you could go for the 5600X without having to get a new board, all you will need is a 4GB flash drive to flash the new BIOS on it.

The reason why I don't think that upgrading like that is too logical is because in a year you're going to be in the same boat you are in right now.

The more logical way to upgrade your CPU would be to go with a more expensive alder lake chip which will require you to cough up the cash to get a new board to go along with it. You will definitely get many more years of use out of a system like that but that brings a new problem. In 3 or 4 years you might wish you spent even more money getting a DDR5 board so that you could simply upgrade to 17th gen when it comes out without needing another new board.

 

At the end of the day it's your opinion.

Hence why the best time to upgrade is never, ever related to what's available on the market, but the relationship between what you do and what your system is capable of doing.

[Vishera]

10 minutes ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

Potentially, but if you just read the instructions (there's like 2 steps) like a normal human it's really easy.

Do you have to upgrade from F32 to F40 or you can go straight from F32 to the latest non beta version?

 

[Mark Kaine]

so your looking at raptor lake, 4070, DDR5, and some fast SSDs... congrats!

 

1 hour ago, Waterboii said:

~$1500-2000USD

or maybe not lol... but i guess its possible... GPU prices being the big one...

[Queen Chrysalis]

7 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Do you have to upgrade from F32 to F40 or you can go straight from F32 to the latest non beta version?

 

Does f40 list zen+ support?  If so, sure why not.  If not, you may want to go straight to f60.  You could put in a support ticket to get a more precise answer.  The process itself is easy as hell, I was unaware of the gen skipping part, though.  If you went straight to f60 it should work, as users of other forums have noted, but it may be worth an email and a day of waiting for a perfect answer. 

 

But TBH if you're doing  a whole new system alongside this one, keep the R5 2600 with the RTX 2060 and get a new CPU for whatever new GPU you get.

[Vishera]

12 minutes ago, Queen Chrysalis said:

Does f40 list zen+ support?

I looked at the SMU codes and it supports Zen+.