Choosing APU/CPU

[testcy]

If I want to build a PC with new components that will last hopefully for the next 5 or more years and not buy used and I am not interested in gaming (meaning that an iGPU could be sufficient), which APU/CPU should I choose? I suspect AM5 will have longer support than 1700 and I see no reason (besides maybe the lower cost of DDR4 compared DDR5) to choose AM4. Would the new 8000 series be a better choice than 7000 series and which exactly? Should I consider 1700 too? Any suggestions?

[Electronics Wizardy]

What do you plan on doing with the system if your not gaming?

 

If its basic tasks like web browsing, email, basically any CPU will work fine. I manage many systems with these workloads and 5+ year old i3s are working fine with no performance issues. I don't see a reason to worry about platform support if the CPU is unlikely to be upgraded in 5 years.

[RONOTHAN##]

17 minutes ago, testcy said:

Would the new 8000 series be a better choice than 7000 series and which exactly?

If you're not gaming on the iGPU, then no. The only real advantage of the 8000G series of APUs over Ryzen 7000 is the massive iGPU that allows for games to actually run (sometimes cost as well, but barely), while also being quite down on cache and PCIe lanes. A 7600 would make much more sense than a 8500G or 8600G. 

 

19 minutes ago, testcy said:

Should I consider 1700 too?

This might be worthwhile depending on what you're doing, a 12400 would be a pretty good chip that you can get for very cheap. 

[testcy]

25 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What do you plan on doing with the system if your not gaming?

 

If its basic tasks like web browsing, email, basically any CPU will work fine. I manage many systems with these workloads and 5+ year old i3s are working fine with no performance issues. I don't see a reason to worry about platform support if the CPU is unlikely to be upgraded in 5 years.

Some manufacturers stop supporting a motherboard that they no longer make which usually happens if a new socket is released and this will most likely happen with Intel first.

16 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

If you're not gaming on the iGPU, then no. The only real advantage of the 8000G series of APUs over Ryzen 7000 is the massive iGPU that allows for games to actually run (sometimes cost as well, but barely), while also being quite down on cache and PCIe lanes. A 7600 would make much more sense than a 8500G or 8600G. 

 

This might be worthwhile depending on what you're doing, a 12400 would be a pretty good chip that you can get for very cheap. 

So two choices are Ryzen 7600 and i5-12400 both using the iGPU. I prefer to have PCIe4 support which means there is no iGPU for AM4, unless I am missing something?

[RONOTHAN##]

2 minutes ago, testcy said:

Some manufacturers stop supporting a motherboard that they no longer make which usually happens if a new socket is released and this will most likely happen with Intel first.

To be fair, it's not like that really matters in most cases. The only downside to that is that security fixes for BIOS level threats like Spectre and Meltdown take a little bit more time to come out, but they still come out eventually. Motherboard drivers rarely need updates/maintenance so no real downsides there, security fixes will still be released, and realistically as long as your current config works, it's not like there's much reason to upgrade the BIOS anyway. 

 

6 minutes ago, testcy said:

So two choices are Ryzen 7600 and i5-12400 with iGPU. I prefer to have PCIe4 support which means no iGPU for AM4, but is there something I am missing?

If you're dead set on PCIe Gen 4, then yeah, those are your two main options. A R5 5600 and a cheap GPU would also work and might still be cheaper overall than the 7600 setup, though I'd still probably rather the 7600 setup. 

[testcy]

48 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

To be fair, it's not like that really matters in most cases. The only downside to that is that security fixes for BIOS level threats like Spectre and Meltdown take a little bit more time to come out, but they still come out eventually. Motherboard drivers rarely need updates/maintenance so no real downsides there, security fixes will still be released, and realistically as long as your current config works, it's not like there's much reason to upgrade the BIOS anyway. 

 

If you're dead set on PCIe Gen 4, then yeah, those are your two main options. A R5 5600 and a cheap GPU would also work and might still be cheaper overall than the 7600 setup, though I'd still probably rather the 7600 setup. 

Which cheap new GPU do you have in mind that together with 5600 and DDR4 will cost less than 7600 and DDR5?

[RONOTHAN##]

2 hours ago, testcy said:

Which cheap new GPU do you have in mind that together with 5600 and DDR4 will cost less than 7600 and DDR5?

Whatever you can find cheap, probably like a GT 1030 or similar. 

[podkall]

3 hours ago, testcy said:

I am not interested in gaming (meaning that an iGPU could be sufficient)

so just basic browsing, maybe light office work max?

[testcy]

29 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Whatever you can find cheap, probably like a GT 1030 or similar. 

Is GT 1030 much better than either iGPU?

25 minutes ago, podkall said:

so just basic browsing, maybe light office work max?

Also watching movies and streaming video (up to 4K).

[podkall]

13 minutes ago, testcy said:

Is GT 1030 much better than either iGPU?

5600 doesn't have iGPU,

 

it's a good choice,

 

14 minutes ago, testcy said:

Also watching movies and streaming video (up to 4K).

some iGPUs can do that, ultimately you could pop a cheap card in the PC if the iGPU was ever lacking

 

depends what's cheaper for you

[testcy]

16 minutes ago, podkall said:

5600 doesn't have iGPU,

 

it's a good choice,

 

some iGPUs can do that, ultimately you could pop a cheap card in the PC if the iGPU was ever lacking

 

depends what's cheaper for you

What I wanted to ask was if this is better that the iGPU on 7600? GT 1030 is more than 5 years old now, surely there must be something newer for not a lot more money?

[GOTSpectrum]

12 minutes ago, testcy said:

What I wanted to ask was if this is better that the iGPU on 7600? GT 1030 is more than 5 years old now, surely there must be something newer for not a lot more money?

If you can find one at a good price buying a used P4000 would get you a power efficient card that is more than powerful enough 

[testcy]

25 minutes ago, GOTSpectrum said:

If you can find one at a good price buying a used P4000 would get you a power efficient card that is more than powerful enough 

I can't find one and only reason to buy GPU is to do the above tasks iGPU is unable to do so. Otherwise what is the reason?

[GOTSpectrum]

Just now, testcy said:

I can't find one and only reason to buy GPU is to do the above tasks iGPU is unable to do so.

Honestly... 

 

If I were building a system today, for office and multimedia I'd just grab a 5600G

 

The difference between PCIe4 and 3 at this performance level is imperceivable 

[podkall]

23 minutes ago, testcy said:

I can't find one and only reason to buy GPU is to do the above tasks iGPU is unable to do so. Otherwise what is the reason?

what tasks above iGPU?

[testcy]

7 minutes ago, podkall said:

what tasks above iGPU?

1 hour ago, testcy said:

Also watching movies and streaming video (up to 4K).

[podkall]

36 minutes ago, testcy said:

and streaming video (up to 4K).

you mean like watching 4K Netflix? I think iGPU can handle that

[testcy]

10 minutes ago, podkall said:

you mean like watching 4K Netflix? I think iGPU can handle that

Also x264/x265 playback.

[podkall]

13 minutes ago, testcy said:

Also x264/x265 playback.

yes those are standard codecs, one more advanced and recent, the other older and more supported,

 

you mean like video stored on the PC? sure it should handle 4K, if it's not some crappy old CPU,

 

not just CPUs improve, their integrated graphics slowly improve too, pack more features, handle higher demands, etc.

 

these are 5600G and 7600 iGPUs: