CPU upgrades for ASUS X-470F

[SteveKaboom]

I am looking to upgrade my current Ryzen 2700X CPU and am wondering if anyone has any advice or knows if I will run into any problems. Right now, I have an ASUS X-470F motherboard with BIOS version 5809 (needed for zen 3 CPU's). I would like to switch to either a 5800X3D or a 5900X, but can't tell if I may run into any problems doing so. My first concern is whether or not my boards VRM can handle the upgrade. Honestly, I don't even know how to tell if they are compatible or not. And on top of that, I read a comment or two on Reddit that said they had a similar setup, and their systems became unstable after making this same upgrade. Has anyone made the same or similar upgrade and if so, how did it go?

 

Thanks in advance.

[RONOTHAN##]

21 minutes ago, SteveKaboom said:

My first concern is whether or not my boards VRM can handle the upgrade.

The 5800X3D draws significantly less power than the 2700X, so that chip would easily be fine on that VRM. The 5900X is a bit more debatable, that does draw more current than your current 2700X, but it's not all that much more and the VRM on that board should still be OK, especially if there's any airflow over that heat sink. I wouldn't be concerned either way. 

 

25 minutes ago, SteveKaboom said:

Honestly, I don't even know how to tell if they are compatible or not

Look on the motherboard's compatible CPU list, the 5800X3D and 5900X should both be on there as long as the BIOS revision is new enough. 

 

27 minutes ago, SteveKaboom said:

nd on top of that, I read a comment or two on Reddit that said they had a similar setup, and their systems became unstable after making this same upgrade.

When did you find those posts? Early BIOS revisions that added support for Ryzen 5000 on B450/X470 were pretty mediocre and were possible to cause stability issues like that. As far as I know, those have been ironed out at this point, and there's plenty of people running similar setups with no issues reported. Admittedly I haven't seen anyone with that same board report issues or not, but I've seen other ASUS boards be fine so that board should be fine as well. 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

5800x3d for gaming (can oc to 4.7-4.8ghz with 104-106bclk assuming 45.5 multi)

 

5900x if youve got anything thatll use the 4 extra cores

 

Both will be huge upgrades over a 2700x, heck even a 5600 would be a huge upgrade in both single and multithread performance

[SteveKaboom]

7 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

When did you find those posts? Early BIOS revisions that added support for Ryzen 5000 on B450/X470 were pretty mediocre and were possible to cause stability issues like that. As far as I know, those have been ironed out at this point, and there's plenty of people running similar setups with no issues reported. Admittedly I haven't seen anyone with that same board report issues or not, but I've seen other ASUS boards be fine so that board should be fine as well. 

They were posts I came across on reddit while trying to figure out which CPU's I could upgrade to. I believe they were posted about 2 years ago if I remember correctly. But I also read a lot more from people making the same or similar upgrades who reported no problems. So maybe it was just a bug in the bios update. Everything I've found so far says my bios should be at 5809, which I just so happen to be at already. Sounds like I should be good between the vrm and bios.

 

7 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Look on the motherboard's compatible CPU list, the 5800X3D and 5900X should both be on there as long as the BIOS revision is new enough. 

I was actually referring to the vrm specifically. What would I need to look at in the future to make sure my vrm is compatible when deciding on an upgrade? Still though, I'm glad you made this suggestion because it does list all the Ryzen 5 CPU's as being compatible. I looked at the tech specs previously and it only lists Ryzen 2 and 3, which is why I was confused. I guess Asus forgot to update that page.

[SteveKaboom]

6 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

5800x3d for gaming (can oc to 4.7-4.8ghz with 104-106bclk assuming 45.5 multi)

 

5900x if youve got anything thatll use the 4 extra cores

 

Both will be huge upgrades over a 2700x, heck even a 5600 would be a huge upgrade in both single and multithread performance

What would use the extra cores? I mostly use my pc for gaming but also had CAD software and will occasionally work in solidworks. Would I still not need the extra cores when working on CAD files? Honestly, I'm leaning towards the 5800x3d anyway but curious to hear your thoughts.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

11 minutes ago, SteveKaboom said:

What would use the extra cores? I mostly use my pc for gaming but also had CAD software and will occasionally work in solidworks. Would I still not need the extra cores when working on CAD files? Honestly, I'm leaning towards the 5800x3d anyway but curious to hear your thoughts.

If you happen to be a heavy multitasker then the extra cores can come in handy, and basically anything else that relies heavily on multithreading and scales above 8 cores so productivity stuff

 

if you feel like you dont need more than 8 cores then 5800x3d it is, very efficient but due to the 3d cache tends to run hot and i dont think theres anything you can do about it, doesnt really matter if you run 90c though for <1.4v vcore anyways. Should be able to do 4.72 with 104 bclk and no need to lower pcie link speed

[SteveKaboom]

35 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

If you happen to be a heavy multitasker then the extra cores can come in handy, and basically anything else that relies heavily on multithreading and scales above 8 cores so productivity stuff

 

if you feel like you dont need more than 8 cores then 5800x3d it is, very efficient but due to the 3d cache tends to run hot and i dont think theres anything you can do about it, doesnt really matter if you run 90c though for <1.4v vcore anyways. Should be able to do 4.72 with 104 bclk and no need to lower pcie link speed

Thanks. Honestly I'm not sure that I need the extra cores but I will look into it a bit more. One main reason why I want an upgrade is because I'm playing Hogwarts Legacy. That game is an absolute resource hog all across my system. I even upgraded my gpu to an RX7900 XT because of it. Its a massive improvement over my Vega 56 but I still have some occasional lagging. However my case is on the smaller side so heat is a concern. My 2700X that use to run at 80-90C with the stock wraith prism and stays at about 60C pretty consistently now that I have it water cooled. I'll look into it more. The 5900X might be a better option just from a temperature stand point.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

52 minutes ago, SteveKaboom said:

Thanks. Honestly I'm not sure that I need the extra cores but I will look into it a bit more. One main reason why I want an upgrade is because I'm playing Hogwarts Legacy. That game is an absolute resource hog all across my system. I even upgraded my gpu to an RX7900 XT because of it. Its a massive improvement over my Vega 56 but I still have some occasional lagging. However my case is on the smaller side so heat is a concern. My 2700X that use to run at 80-90C with the stock wraith prism and stays at about 60C pretty consistently now that I have it water cooled. I'll look into it more. The 5900X might be a better option just from a temperature stand point.

Btw what case?

A case with solid front (total garbage with no airflow) will result in horrible temps 

 

temps you dont need to worry about it till 90c atleast if you are running like <1.4v vcore under load

[SteveKaboom]

29 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

Btw what case?

A case with solid front (total garbage with no airflow) will result in horrible temps 

 

temps you dont need to worry about it till 90c atleast if you are running like <1.4v vcore under load

NZXT H510 Elite case. It does have a solid glass front but also has a nice size vent on the back next to the front fans. I also switched out the original NZXT case fans for darkFlash CS140 fans because I couldn't connect the NZXT ones to Aura Sync. In hindsight, this may not have been the best option because I feel like the airflow from these darkFlash fans is kinda weak. Even when cranked all the way up, I barely feel anything on the opposite side of my aio radiator.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 hours ago, SteveKaboom said:

NZXT H510 Elite case. It does have a solid glass front but also has a nice size vent on the back next to the front fans. I also switched out the original NZXT case fans for darkFlash CS140 fans because I couldn't connect the NZXT ones to Aura Sync. In hindsight, this may not have been the best option because I feel like the airflow from these darkFlash fans is kinda weak. Even when cranked all the way up, I barely feel anything on the opposite side of my aio radiator.

Explains the garbage temps you got with the wraith prism

 

I think you can swap the front panel for a mesh one so buy a mesh panel for it

 

Rgb fans aside from maybe arctic p12/120 tend to be meh performers so thats to be expected, i personally just buy used server fans instead cause cheap (<2$) and the thicker ones tend to be very good at flowing air though youll problably want a buck converter to control speed if your mobo cant do dc control and you problably dont wanna be powering a >1a fan off your mobo header anyways, if you cant tell im the kind of guy that throws looks out the window in search of price/performance

[SteveKaboom]

Thankfully my temps are under control now. CPU stays below 65C with the water cooler (and is SO much quieter), and the new GPU barely ever breaks above 75C. Airflow could definitely be better though which will bring that GPU temp down even more. I may take your advice and see if I can get the mesh front panel from NZXT. Thanks!