1600 or 1600x for overclocking?

I have picked out all my parts that I plan to build a new Ryzen 5 system:

msi tomahawk b350 arctic
16GB HyperX Predator RAM HX432C16PB3K2/16
XFX Radeon GTR RX 480 8GB

I want to overclock the processor to gain a little more performance. I see the 1600 does pretty well on water with speeds up to 3.9-4.0GHz, but I'd be happy with 3.8GHz overclock with better temps as I will be trying to use the stock cooler, or aftermarket air cooler if possible.

I read somewhere the 1600x doesn't come with a cooler? if it does, does it come with the same cooler as the 1600?

This guy overclocked his 1600 on the stock cooler and got pretty good results.


Anyway, I'm not sure if I should get the 1600 and overclock with stock cooler, or get the 1600x for $30 and have more of a guaranteed higher clock speed out of the box. There also may be a chance it overclocks a little better and doesn't get as hot? I haven't decided which processor and what cooler I should go with.

Any insight?

Thanks

P.S. where is this chip at I've been waiting for it to pop up on newegg so I can order everything lol

They are all in stock right now at Newegg. Personally, I'd go 1600 and OC it...just as I went 1700 instead of with an X. Anyone looking for the 1400, Frys has it on sale for $149 instead of $169.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...5&cm_re=amd_ryzen_1600-_-19-113-435-_-Product

1600x - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...&cm_re=amd_ryzen_1600x-_-19-113-434-_-Product

i'm contemplating the exact same thing. Overclocking the 1600 will bring performance close to the 1600x and it came with the Wraith Spire cooler in the box. If I buy the 1600x, I also have to purchase a cooler and at that point, depending on the cooler, I'm getting close to the 1700 w. Wraith Spire LED cooler.

Ryzen 1600 w. Wraith Spire - $220
Ryzen 1600x w. aftermarket cooler - $285 (+65)
Ryzen 1700 w. Wraith Spire LED - $320 (+35)

Seems like 1600 is the sweet spot.

If overclocking, the bundled cooler will be limited. So, a 1600 will probably need an aftermarket cooler as well.

mdaniel said:

If overclocking, the bundled cooler will be limited. So, a 1600 will probably need an aftermarket cooler as well.

Click to expand...

You might be surprised. I did watch this video from start to finish and the gist is that the spire can overclock on the 1700 to 3.9Ghz and stay around high 50's to low 60s with the appropriate settings.

I'd expect the 1600 with 6 cores to be just fine overclocking to 3.8/3.9 on the spire.

mdaniel said:

If overclocking, the bundled cooler will be limited. So, a 1600 will probably need an aftermarket cooler as well.

Click to expand...

One thing I noticed with overclocking on my 1700X... 3.85 GHz was easy. I could run *stock* vcore settings and get that. 3.9 required a little boost. 3.95 required a significant boost. 4.0 required a HUGE boost, and 4.1 was completely outside what my Noctua U12S could keep cool for long.

Point being, the last 100-200 MHz of a Ryzen overclock is extremely expensive. But you can generally get to 3.8-3.9 on pretty low vcore, so even a middling stock cooler like the spire will probably get you close to that.