first of all, hello all! my first post here
and likely to be a somewhat long one. if you want the TL;DR, just read the bolded out text
Current PC Setup
so let’s start with my current PC setup. built it myself, so i do have quite a bit of knowledge already. but i’m just constantly on the look out for more knowledge. anyway.
AMD A8-7650k @4.1Ghz
1x8GB DDR3 RAM
don’t quite remember the mobo, but it’s a cheap asrock A68 of some sort
Sapphire RX560 2GB
Super Flower 550W. forgot the exact model but it’s an 80+ Bronze unit that’s been really solid.
i know the parts are a clusterfuck. but there was a story that caused it. also part of the reason i want to upgrade
What i want to upgrade
now, to what i want to upgrade… simple. CPU. as… it can barely able to drive 2 monitors… (it lags when i open youtube on the 2nd monitors, and do anything that remotely loads the cpu. like, right now, typing this and having a video on)
but ofc… FM2+ socket is dead. soooo it ends up CPU+Motherboard and ofc also DDR4 because new gen cpus.
What i'm currently planning
so i’m looking at (even more of a clusterfuck of components)
Ryzen 3 1200 *
now for the motherboard. i don’t know what i want just yet. but what i want is a ‘decent’ B450 motherboard that can support an overclocked 6C/12T without an issue.**
.* and ** originally i was waiting for zen 2 to come out. but it ended up being too far away and i just had enough with this PC. it doesn’t do what i want it to do, or if it does, just barely, and not satisfactory. so my plan is to grab a cheap ryzen 3 now and grab a ryzen 5 when the 3000 comes out (which i’m anticipating to be a 6c as the rumour says). because even this R3 1200 is about 50% ish faster from my current cpu, from what have read
.*** pc part picker does list the 1st gen one, and toms also has the benchmark about the 1st gen one. but the one i list is the CRAS II, which is i think the non-RGB 2nd gen. basically retains the same clock speed, but the timing is improved quite a bit. and it’s quite a bit cheaper than other, better known brands
now, what i want advice about.
Motherboard options. although, watching buildzoid’s video made me think that MSI would be the safe option. but which model? i’m open to options tho.
other general advice really.
last part:
where do i live? Indonesia. shipping is hard
budget? this is tricky. let’s just say about roughtly USD$350 total, but based on local part pricing. stuff can be the exact same in cost, vastly more expensive, or i just don’t have the access to.
what do i want to use it for? Gaming. although i kinda want to try streaming… which i can’t do currently, as fps tanks so bad when i tried to do that
fps target? honestly stable 30fps at medium-high 1080p and i’d be ecstatic. i came from a poor family and just got into the working age, being able to buy such pc myself is already awesome.
Typical Games? Simulation games. KSP, Beam.NG, and some Sim-Racing (hopefully one day i can afford a wheel too)
Peripherals? don’t really care just yet. am on an $10 logitech keyboard, and it’s fine for me.
With Ryzen you’re still not guaranteed to get the advertised speeds of the RAM.
If it’s not stable with the XMP profile you can always type in the timings manually and see if that solves it. OR just don’t bother and put it at DR4-2933 (which is as of right now the highest officially supported speed for Ryzen through the AGESA updates that are implemented in the UEFI/BIOS).
The general advice for buying RAM is: stick to your chosen motherboard’s QVL (Qualified Vendor List) which can be downloaded from the motherboard manufacturer’s website.
Flare X and Trident Z kits are a commonly featured on those lists, but they’re usually also a bit more expensive. They use Samsung B-die chips that are more stable with Ryzen than other chips (Hynix, Micron), which doesn’t mean though that those other ones won’t work fine - YMMV.
I’m not sure if the motherboard is of good quality, bit this should fits your budget WITHOUT shipping:
i’d like to stick on that QVL. but often times, they are typically much more expensive than my budget would allow. i’ll see it when i get some (corrected, my bad) motherboard recommendation
and also. okay i need more info on what actually ‘B-die’ is? who makes it? why is it better?
That gives you a more choices.
But why the lowest Ryzen 3 CPU?
Especially with this:
but what i want is a ‘decent’ B450 motherboard that can support an overclocked 6C/12T without an issue
Buy the performance you want/need now and don’t upgrade shortly after. It’s more expensive that way if you can’t sell the old hardware.
Samsung B-Die is made by Samsung. They also have others but B-Die is said to be the most stable with Ryzen. Again, which doesn’t mean others won’t work.
From Reddit:
In general (on Ryzen) you can expect up to 3466 MHz (without BCLK-OC) with Samsung B-Die (on AGESA 1.0.0.6+ Bios Versions), up to 2933 MHz (without BCLK-OC) with Samsung D/E/S-Die (AGESA 1.0.0.5+). Hynix A/M-Die are mostly working @ 3200 MHz with AGESA 1.0.0.5+. Do note that Dual Rank RAM is faster than Single Rank. E.g. 2933 MHz Dual Rank is faster than 3200 MHz Single Rank. Single/Dual Rank is not to be confused with Single/Dual Channel (Dual Channel is always better).
gonna get it used… the used market are slow… i have yet to found ANY used 2nd gen ryzen
oh no worries on that. particularly where i live, used markets are strong, a bit too strong. i’ve bought a new cpu before, just to test something i really needed to, and then sell it, and lost like… maybe $10. not a big deal. and add to that i’m gonna buy it used… there’s actually going to be a chance i might break even.
so really, don’t worry about that part. i get this a lot when consulting anything online. but often times, it just doesn’t apply over here.
(i can give you some example if you want)
and i’ll read in on that. thanks
update: okay basically from that list, i got these, a bit subjective too
1 GSkillGSkillGSkillGSkillGSkill. they are good.
2 but those ‘good’ comes at a price…
when the 2800mhz gskill is more expensive than the 3000 i was looking at (which, looking at the number code, seems to be using hynix chips. is it good? i dunno.)
3 okay so while a good 2800 or a good 3000mhz might be worth it… i’m not not sure if i want a better ram or a better board for my budget
Only had X370/X470 myself so far, so I don’t know how good B series AM4 boards are for overclocking and quality-wise.
Wendell tested the MSI B450 Tomahawk, though. So watching that might be a good start to see if it’s missing something that you want.
And Buildzoid’s summary for a variety of X470 and B450 motherboards:
Someone like @MisteryAngel can give you better advice on which VRMs to avoid or rather which boards have “bad” power delivery (which can eliminate the option for overclocking.
i think you missed a bit there. i’m only grabbing an R3 as a placeholder. i’m gonna grab the new ryzen 5 when it launches.
i’m really grabbing it now because, even if it’s an R3, the performance jump is still really significant, and i just cant tolerate it much longer
although, news update, i got a wrench thrown in the mix. my 560 died last night when i was asleep. my room’s A/C unit suddenly leaked, and dripped down quite a bit onto my pc.
at least it’s originally an APU, so i can at the very least revert to the iGPU and use it.
okay so i got 2 different info then. did hear about the VRM getting hot and such. and i forgot which, 1 buildzoid video says it is a problem with 6c (again. hype )
Pick a B350/B450 board from Asrock or Asus and call it a day.
Buildzoid’s videos need to be taken in context - and his context is “Hardcore Overclocking”.
For you, unless you plan cooling the system with liquid nitrogen, things like BIOS and driver support are likely more important than VRM design (especially with an R3 or even an R5).
So i’d suggest a b350/450 ASUS board, as ASUS generally have the best BIOS.
edit:
Again, if buildzoid is complaining about a VRM getting hot, it needs to be taken in context… he’s not running everyday workloads on his systems. He’s running extreme OC with liquid nitrogen and shooting for world records.
But… if you want a board with a strong VRM, personally i have an X470 taichi and am reasonably happy with it. I do wonder if the ASUS crosshair may have been the better option though for better memory timing support in the BIOS.
I dont have any MB’s to recommend. B350 seems to work well. For a low end chip its a non-issue even overclocked. VRM does not even factor into a Ryzen 31200. You will have power to spare on a B350 MB.
AHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i fucking wish. they are as rare as finding an elf irl
i dunno why… but it’s apparently just not a thing over here… discounting old parts
(but i guess in a place where people are still shilling out money for 2nd and 3rd gen core i procs… kinda makes sense? no matter how old, they will sell it eventually anyway)
okay. so i’m not one that really looks on features like this. i just want all the money put onto functional features as much as possible kinda guy.
m.2? as long as there no absolutely compelling reason to upgrade. i’m gonna stick with my sata ssd. and ‘compelling’ as in… my ssd has, or is about to die. so as long as it has 1 slot. i’m good.
and being in this budget, ofc, i’m also not one that will have 4 or more drive in a single tower. at least, i don’t see it in the foreseeable future. so sata connection? have 3? good. i’ll probably use 2 and that’s it. maybe 1 if i eventually do get an m.2 drive.
NIC… i’m in a 3rd world nation. my net speed is only okay. (about 15mbps down/ 1.5 up at home) these such things are of no use to me in my condition.
now BIOS though… how do you guys define a ‘good BIOS’? features? stability? UI? or what? this is something i never paid much attention to before.
i think im getting a 2200G… you know… my gpu died fuck
