Intel --> AMD - How Much Performance Increase & Case questions

Hardware Build a PC
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Hi,

Current OEM PC:

  • Intel i5-2320
  • Nvidia GT-545
  • WD Green 1TB
  • HP 1920 x 1080 60Hz 21.5" widescreen monitor
  • 6GB DDR3 RAM
  • Unknown motherboard/PSU.

I’m going to build the following PC:

  • AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
  • Deepcool Castle 240mm EX AIO cooler
  • Thermaltake 3-pack Riing Plus 14 fans, 140mm.
  • G.Skill 32GB 3200Mhz CL14
  • Sapphire Nitro+ Special Edition 5700 XT
  • Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra
  • 2 x 1TB ADATA M.2 NVME (One SX 8200 Pro, one Spectrix. One for each OS)
  • 1 x Samsung 840 2TB SATA SSD.
  • 1 x Thermaltake toughpower 750W.
  • Thermaltake H200 TG
  • AOC CQ32G1: 2K, 144Hz, Freesync, VA, 32"
  • OS: Manjaro / Win 10 Pro dualboot probably.

I just wanted to know how much of a performance increase and longevity I can expect from the above build. I sort of wanted to wait until next year with the new Ryzens, but then I might never get started, you know? I have never had AMD hardware before and it’s my first self-built PC, meant for gaming, browsing and maybe a little dabbling into various image or video editing software. General purpose. I don’t want to upgrade for quite a while. In that regard, I sort of regret not getting the 3900X, but maybe it’s unnecessary and gives me an upgrade path to look forward to. What can I expect from this build? I want to avoid the sluggishness, freezes and general discontent of my current OEM PC. Therefore it’s easy to think that while Ryzen should be good, it’s “only 4 more cores” over my i5. So how much can I realistically expect this to be a great upgrade?

I’m also a little concerned with the cooling. The case I picked only has some small grills on the front. So am I correct in assuming that I should probably put the three 140mm fans top and back as exhaust, with the 240mm radiator then in front, with the fans as intake? That will bring heat into the case, but then it will also get exhausted. Alternatively, I could put two of the fans in front and one in back. The two in front will act as intakes, while the back one and the AIO at the top will be exhaust - I just don’t know how much cool air that will bring in. What’s likely best?

I feel like I’ve been taken hostage by a slow PC. So this is me buying my way out, so to speak!

Thanks in advance.

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I have questions…
For a starter why two different NVMe drives?
Second are you sure you want curved monitor? Especially when you want image editing and stuff…
In general the machine will be 173 and a half times faster.

You may not even be able to. AFAIK that’s kinda the end of life of AM4… It’s expected AM5 soon with DDR5 so now is kinda great time. Even if there are new CPUs on AM4 they should fit just fine on the current gen platform just fine.
The case is not great. 3700 is not that hot anyways, so that shouldn’t be much of an issue to be fair, but it will not overheat in any situation.

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Hi, thank you for the reply.

Two different drives because:

  1. I don’t have firsthand experience, so I might as well try some different ones.

  2. I’m a sucker for RGB, which the spectrix has and I thought that would be hilarious to try.

  3. Maybe slightly practical concerns of not wanting to confuse the drives with each other, when and if I take them out for instance. Good to know which one has the Linux install and which one has the malware Windows 10 install.

I had my doubts about a curved monitor too. But at this point, I’ve already been through hell, so a curved monitor sounds fun by comparison and I’m feeling adventurous. Also, it’s an 1800R curve and that doesn’t seem so big actually. Although I did underestimate the size of 32"… It’s hilariously big.

Thank you - I did count on AM4 being viable for a while still. I mean I don’t mind getting a new chipset either. As long as it’s not tomorrow :slight_smile:

Indeed, the case is a challenge. But again, I’m a sucker for RGB and it had the best RGB strip on the front I’ve ever seen. Not to mention I just wanted something small and straightforward. Which the case fulfills, due to its lack of too many features.

True, the low TDP of the 3700X is also something that has kept me fairly confident in my choice, since I don’t know how well this case will handle heat. I’m glad it won’t overheat.

I do hope I don’t run out of storage for games though. I wanted to get a 6 or 10TB HDD just to be sure, but apparently they’re all quite noisy? Especially the ones which may be cheaper, such as Toshiba’s X300 lineup.

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It’s not really… I mean it is, but you will get used to it. 32" 1440p is the same pixel density as 24" 1080p. I have 22" 1080 next to a 32" 1440 and it’s super easy to move from one to the other.

Oh you poor sod…

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Looks good overall, a few things:

  • Why an AIO? Planning to go semi-passive?
  • Would get a SeaSonic PSU instead
  • as @psycho_666 said, the case is “meh/10” airflow wise

Maybe take a look at the TT Versa C21
Or a “good base” like the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M and add RGB yourself?

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Honestly I would suggest if he really wants RGB to look at Deepcool Matrexx 70… Full glass everywhere. Semitransparent PSU cover… Buy a few RGB strips and have perfection…

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Thank you for your reply.

I picked an AIO because.

  • As with many other parts, I just wanted to try it and get some experience with it.

  • I think it looks really great. Both the fan and pump design. It’s also customizeable, which helps. While being pretty quiet apparently. Naturally, I did look at the Noctua and other options, but they were just so big and while I’m sure they’re excellent, I wanted a cleaner look through the glass sidepanel :slight_smile:.

  • I have no plans to go semi-passive. Can you recommend it?

As for the PSU, I checked many reviews and I picked this one because:

  • It should have next to no ripple.

  • No problems with high inrush-current (I had originally considered a Fractal Design ion+ because it was so cheap for an 80+ Platinum).

  • Cheap. But still 80+ Gold and has all the security features. Including extras like a quiet fan, until the load exceeds something around 550w or such.

Thank you for the links. I even considered getting an RGB strip, but in between 5v and 12v headers, addressable vs non-addressable and all the RGB on my components, I thought it was too overwhelming to consider anything additional. I’m actually still concerned I won’t have enough headers because as I see it:

  • X570 Ultra should have 2 x addressable RGB and 2 x regular RGB headers.

  • The GPU requires 1 addressable header. The AIO another. Then I don’t know to what extent I’ll be able to control the fans (which luckily come with a fan hub in the box).

I’ll definitely consider the halos for the AIO fans though :slight_smile:

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Thank you for the suggestion.

It does indeed look good. But I would like to note however, that in airflow terms, it seems to be the same as my current one: grills on the front. So if it’s mainly aesthetics, I think I’m content with what I have now. It seems similar in functionality as well.

One thing I like about the H200 TG for example, is that there’s 2 slots for 2.5" SSDs on top of the PSU shroud, which puts them on display in a way that I think might be appealing.

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I went down the same path (intel/nvidia to all AMD) and there will be quirks that you will notice with AMD.
I have a 3700x and had a 5700xt pulse, the CPU temp readings will jump a lot, there’s no steady temperature that it will read since any actions or application opening will spike the temps a bit but that is normal apparently, but for reliability the CPU is really solid and I love it!
Now with the AMD GPU you may have to do a few driver re-installs in case of odd quirks popping up (happened to me). I also noticed the fan curves and overclocks with the Adrenaline software wouldn’t apply and and almost always reset to stock mode, Ive heard people have better luck using Afterburner to apply changes but I haven’t tried since I went with a used 1070 after my 5700xt had some hardware faliure.

The performance vs my old i5 4670 and 970 is definitely worth the upgrade and once you overcome the quirks and features then you will get a great experience in game or in other rendering software. I gauge my PC should last me another 8 years as my old system lasted me 6-7 years. Hope you enjoy the upgrade!

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It’s not an exact match, but I can show you my benches of going from a 4690k to a ryzen 1700 stock, then overclocked, then compared to a 2700x. https://openbenchmarking.org/result/1911224-AS-1904175KD35 and needless to say, it’s a LOT faster, and will last for quite a few years. I know it’s easy to get caught up in always waiting for the new thing, but it’s a massive jump NOW, and there will always be something faster coming.

EDIT2: Man I really have to read all posts before replying. I can highly recommend getting a WD Red drive if you need lots of slow storage for videos and the like. They turn off when not in use, and are MUCH quieter than the Toshiba N300’s (though they are also good drives even if very loud). I have recently shucked some external WD drives (Convert external to internal) for ~$180 I have a 10TB drive that’s WD red spec without the spin down. Grabbed a few, put them in a ZFS array, and they are even colder and almost as quiet as my off the shelf WD Red 4TB’s. I only recommend these if you have a backup or parity drives though as you have no warranty, and suggest the normal WD red’s. Sorry for the ramble.

EDIT: As far as cooling, these Ryzen chips (even first gen) run very cool. I have a massive cooler on my CPU just so I can have the 120mm fan on it at minimum and never hear my machine that sits right next to my monitor in a test bench. It’s been much easier to cool, even overclocked than my 4690k was.

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Ryzen 3700x comes with a pretty decent air cooler, isn’t necessary to get an AIO really. Has RGB on it too since you’re a sucker for it :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Would recommend a different case with more airflow, but if you’re set on the aesthetics then it’ll still work

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That’s excellent to hear! I appreciate this sort of information very much. Indeed, I haven’t myself escaped the many outcries of lacking fan curve support and driver problems - especially with the 5700 XT. I also discovered on this forum that some systems won’t POST on Linux with a configuration like mine.

I’ve also heard people have issues as a result of Afterburner, so I suppose it’s really potluck. What went wrong with your 5700 XT? Hardware failures should be rare, but I’ve been collecting links and information so I’m prepared in case my own one goes the way of the dinosaurs.

Fortunately my old system as seen above, is so incredibly measly, that I think I can’t avoid enjoying the upgrade :slight_smile:. So I owe Intel and Nvidia for letting AMD win my heart. It still boggles the mind that I’ve never had AMD hardware. I think this is the start of a long relationship.

Thank you! That’s very encouraging.

Too true. They talk of huge IPC improvements for Ryzen 4th gen, so I should best get started before postphoning more. Otherwise I’ll be building my PC once a cold-fusion reactor fits into the AM42 socket.

Oh I see. Your ramble is appreciated :slight_smile:. I avoided the N300’s because they apparently only come in a maximum of around 3 or 4TB, before the X300 High Performance series starts - together with the increased noise. I’ll keep in mind what you said.

Actually, in terms of noise, I found this really novel noise-cancelling HDD enclosure: https://www.quietpc.com/smartdrive-classic

It should supposedly be fairly good!

I’ve heard this too and it’s what consoles me with the 3700X as opposed to the 3900X. Since my case cooling isn’t going to be ideal, the low TDP of the 3700X should be even better. Like you, I also dream of not hearing my PC - which ideally shouldn’t require either old-age, deafness or both, as with my OEM PC.

Yes, but I’ve heard it still gets a little noisy and perhaps compared to an AIO, it doesn’t keep things as cool. I won’t throw the cooler away though :).

Thank you for all the helpful posts.

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Mine was an interesting issue which I couldn’t confirm if it was the hGPU or other hardware in my case. What I mean is that my build requires a riser cable, I ordered a PCIE Gen 3 cable but I think the Navi card threw a fit when it couldnt send a 4.0 signal to my x570.
I set the mobo to pcie 3 in bios and I was able to boot more reliably, but in desktop or game I would still hear the USB Disconnect sound constantly (about every 2 min if active, on wake up, or after around 5 min if I let it idle). Then the boot problems arose again so I swapped back to my 1070 and the problem went away.

it doesnt put me off amd as I see the problems mainly from AMD pushing the norm and many parts will not be compatible eventually when pushing said norms. maybe if I had a PCIE Gen 4 Riser cable the problems would have gone away… hard to say but I await to see what other improvements they make.

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