What are the major uses/applications for your current workstation PC?
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Linux workstation. Coding, running docker, and testing OS’s, with KVM. Was also trying to build something that will last. My 2700x for my needs has aged really well and I just want some power for when I do game every once in awhile.
I recently went 2700x to 5900x and the jump is pretty huge.
I repurposed my old cpu board and ram to replace my ancient nas, as I didn’t want to deal with UEFI upgrading the x470 board and breaking old cpu compatibility on it (and the nas was old gen hardware when I bought it in 2012 
).
I went x570 (also have a b550 system) on this board for more complete cpu support if I want to swap different gen ryzen into it in future (I have 4 ryzen CPUs of different gen here).
Yeah, I plan to shift my 2700x to my unRAID box that is currently using a 1700x.
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2700x to 5900x is almost a 2x leap in heavy multi core stuff.
Better IPC, clocks much better and 1.5x the cores.
In my opinion much better value than the 5950. And depending on workload very close performance wise. Try find out what your workload runs like on 5900 vs 5950 I’d suggest because there’s a big cost jump and not always a big performance gap.
Edit: If you want a lot of storage I’d suggest x570 over b550 also. More high speed m.2 and normally more sata ports. Pcie 4 on all slots. May be a consideration for dev workload. Trade off is generally b550 boards seem to have better memory topology and clock ram better.
B550 better/cheaper for gaming and x570 for general purpose and more workstation slant.
But the r9 chips have huge cache anyway so it’s worth the worse memory clocks for more storage in my opinion.
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Seems like your upgrade is more a “want” than “need”. If I were you, I would postpone for three months. By then you’ll get cheaper prices for your original plan, or you might change your mind and decide to move to AM5.
If cost difference is not very essential, I would wait for the right time to move to AM5 since you’re replacing almost all essential parts. DDR5 would fit really well for a busy system running multiple VMs, not to mention the excellent performance uplift in Zen4. Also, AM5’s PCIe lanes and bandwidth are a substantial upgrade from the previous gen. Make sure you pick a nicely designed motherboard.
Here is my ideal AM5’s PCIe lane layout that you might want to look for. Though I’m not sure if vendors will produce such a board since it’ll cost them a bit more, and cannibalise sales of much pricier boards.
the only thing i would upgrade is the motherboard bios and the cpu.
then if i needed to the ram, jumping to 3600.
as for the gpu. amd is supposedly launching new cards, that will finally compete with nvidia.
if true then i would consider waiting a month or 2 (but no more) to see what they drop.
but in reality nvidia at the moment have the best offerings.
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Since this system is mainly a workstation, i would probably only upgrade the cpu to a 5900X.
The Asus X470 Crosshair VII Hero board is totally fine it only needs a bios update.
I personally don´t really see that many reasons to upgrade the motherboard to x570.
Unless you really would like to utilize more m.2 storage.
However there are also pci-e add in cards to solve that problem.
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This is true in theory; but given the lane setup on the X470 Crosshair VII Hero, in practice a few problems arise. Here is the schematic for the PCIe lanes for the X470 and a Zen 3 CPU:
[ v3.0 ]--x4-----------[ v3.0 ]
[ CPU ] [ X470 ]
[ v3.0 ]--x4-----+ [ v2.0 ]
| | | | |
x8 x8 m.2_1 x2 x4
| | | |
=PCIe_1=+===+=== | |
| | |
PCIe_4 | =+---------x1---+ |
| | |
=PCIe_2=====+=== | |
| |
PCIe_5 =+---------x1---+ |
|
=PCIe_3=========+------m.2_2--------+
As you can see, at best you can add two more PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives, and one 2.0 NVMe. That is if you agree to the x8 3.0 lane tradeoff on the GPU. Meanwhile the Aorus B550 allows for three m.2 version 3.0 out of the gate, but with similar tradeoffs if you want MOAR.
I would only every use two M.2’s in my system.
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If you’re already ok with getting a new motherboard, I’d just wait for ryzen 7000 series or intel 13th gen. Same goes for the gpu, lovelace and rdna 3 are just a few months around the corner. AM4 is a dead platform at this point.
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Came here to say this… Its a great time to get older used 5xxx series AM4 if OP is trying to buy a budget monster.
BUT if they intend to spend the next 5 years on this platform then I would say go Ryzen 7000 and wait for RDNA3.
One other note, the 6800xt’s are next to impossible to find and the 6900xt is a crazy deal atm I would get it if your buying today and not waiting until RDNA3 hits soon.
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In my opinion a 5800X would be a good upgrade. Larger capacity drives is always a plus. You never really know where your software adventures will take you. Another option is 3600mhz dimms since the price is low.
The problem with AsRock in general is that they do not allow any negative reviews of their products. I would go with Gigabyte or MSI.
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If you go that route, save yourself a few bucks and get the 5700X instead. Newegg had them for $200 a couple weeks ago, but they went pretty fast at that price.
There is no 5700X. Do you mean 5600X?
You might want to check again. I’m running a 5700X. It’s essentially a 5800, but at 65W.
Oh you meant an APU yes the 5700G is a thing. I am looking @ my local Micro Center and just seen they have a 3950X in the Open Box section for $335.
No, I didn’t mean an APU; the 5700X and 5700G are two different processors. The 5700X is essentially a 5800X with lower out-of-the-box PBO limits and slightly lower clocks. It came out a few months ago and it’s typically $15–30 cheaper than the 5800X.
OK I finally found it. I never knew the thing existed. Then yes you would be correct if you can find one. If the builder lives near a Micro Center or doesn’t mind a day trip, I think they could easily find a better processor on the cheap.