Need advice regarding Ryzen CPUs

[Geronemo3]

Hi,

My current PC is:
Dell XPS 8900
Core i7-6700 processor
16GB RAM
Vega 64 GPU
2x SSD= 1x 750GB (OS and programs), 1x 2TB (games and storage of stuff I am editing).
Seasonic 750W Gold PSU
Acer XR382CQK monitor

Now I am looking into Ryzen CPUs. From what I see they offer more a lot cores compared to intel for a much lower price.

I use my PC for multi-tasking a lot, also casual weekend gaming like FIFA, Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider and am getting into more video encoding with Sony Vegas Pro and HitFilms in the future. Videos are around 5-10 min. 1080p and 4k.


Now for gaming my current setup is ok, in regards to video editing, rendering etc does the Ryzen more cores/threads help??
Will I see real world difference specially when when I am editing videos and have multiple tracks open at the same time??

Or should I just stick to my current PC?
The thing that worries is me spending all this money/time building a new PC, selling Dell XPS and not seeing a big difference.

Thanks

 

[gigaxtreme1]

Make your decision after the release of the 2000 series Ryzen next month. Reviews are currently under NDA if anyone has any silicon.

 

[Mega6]

So Ryzen 1K now or wait for Ryzen 2K. Either way.

 

[bobzdar]

Is your current pc inadequate? In gaming it'll be around the same, for video encoding it will depend on the software - check benchmarks for your particular software. I think it would make sense if you plan to stream/record your gameplay, but given the games and length of videos I don't think you'll see much worthwhile improvement unless there's a specific multi-threaded activity your computer struggles at.

 

[Mega6]

Your encoding/decoding software is thread dependent (and most are), double the threads will help a lot. Games should stay about the same.

 

[Formula.350]

I +1 what gigaxtreme1 says, as we're about 24 days away from the Ryzen+ (2000-series, but NOT the currently available APU models, which end with a letter, like 2200g or 2500u), as it'll benefit you two fold: 1) You'll now have access to even faster chips, with better efficiency and higher clock potential, at not too much more expense to buy than current models 2) They'll drive the price down on the current Ryzen models even further, at least on the models that are replaced by the 2000 line.

However, a key element that I feel you've left out, is indicating which Ryzen chip you were looking to get?
Also, I know you said you would be getting rid of the Dell, but frankly I'm not sure if you'd make enough to properly offset what you would save by re-using the bulk of it (ie, upgrading it)... For example, your PSU is a very nice part, no need to replace it. Graphics is and would cost you a ton to replace with the same thing, or would still cost you some if you were to just buy a low power one to replace it when seling.
What is your current cooler, if you plan to reuse it (something like the CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 would work well on a Ryzen)? Also your skill level with something like overclocking, because that'll help in suggesting which Ryzen you should get. For example, if you have dabbled in it before, you could easily get away with the non-X model of Ryzen to save mone and manually overclock it to a sufficient level, as the X models really don't offer any headroom in that regard. Conversely, if you aren't wanting to bother with overclocking, then the X variant would be ideal since they run at a higher clockrate by default (example: 1800X is 3.6Ghz vs 1700's 3.2GHz, but both can be overclocked to 3.9 to 4GHz easily).

Something else that might be important to consider, if you do decide to upgrade the XPS, is the RAM... You didn't list what you currently have, and while what you DO have might be sufficient to use in your Ryzen build, you may need (or want) to consider getting a new kit. I'm not sure how well the 1000-series are doing now in terms of compatibility with the various chip makers (Samsung, Hynix, Micron) thanks to matured BIOSes, but early on the Samsung equipped RAM modules were thee ones to get. Not just for the best performance, but for the best compatibility to operate at higher speeds... which on Ryzen the memory speed is important in regards to your performance, not just in memory intensive situations since the higher memory speed means that a certain portion of Ryzen's internals run at a higher speed as well, aiding in over-all performance.

That may all seem daunting, and like a lot of factors to consider, but you'll have folk like us who are happy to help you figure out what to get or what to look for to make sure you get what you need!

 

[Neapolitan6th]

However, if you can snag a 1700 for $200 as opposed to the $299 msrp of the 2700, that may be a big enough difference to be worth it. Do wait to see what reviews say about the 2000 series though.

 

[Pieter3dnow]

You should be able to get a nice upgrade from buying Ryzen you could wait for the release of the 2700X supposedly replaces the 1800X
Whatever you decide on the most important is to make sure the memory you buy works on the motherboard you choose, this does not always work well (not at rated speed or even with decent timings) and with QVL ram it should not be a problem (3200 is okay)

 

[pendragon1]

^ yes, stick to the QVL!

 

[Hakaba]

Only found 1 benchmark for Vegas Pro (http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/intel_core_i7_8700k_processor_review,14.html) and nothing on Hitfilms besides people saying buy intel for the high clocks.

Even on Vegas Pro link above the 1800x is faster than the 8700k (weird no 1700x was tested).

Also they I would agree with everyone else and say wait. Launch is less than a month out and you can buy the upgraded 2x or a discounted 1x.

Don’t know how well the software supports GPU rendering, might want to look at that angle.

 

[Neapolitan6th]

Yeah the answer I believe is a question of its use of cores and threads vs clock speed. Every program varies in this regard.

Not sure on that program, but I will say some single threaded and multithreaded test runs on cinebench will you a better idea of where your current system stands. A locked intel cpu like yours has a better chance of being matched or exeeded by a current ryzen part if overclcoked. So you may see similar single threaded performance with definite multithreaded benefits.

Though for instance, the Adobe Suite relies heavily on single threaded performance if I'm not mistaken so be careful.

Here's an idea, if you have a way of disabling hyperhtreading in your bios you may be able to see if there is a performamce benefit of extra threads in that program. If you can't do that, you can also set windows core affinities in the task manager to not allow that program to use hyperthreading through software.

Also, the new 2000 series is on sale April 19th so says the credible news outlet Gamers Nexus.

 

[Geronemo3]

I +1 what gigaxtreme1 says, as we're about 24 days away from the Ryzen+ (2000-series, but NOT the currently available APU models, which end with a letter, like 2200g or 2500u), as it'll benefit you two fold: 1) You'll now have access to even faster chips, with better efficiency and higher clock potential, at not too much more expense to buy than current models 2) They'll drive the price down on the current Ryzen models even further, at least on the models that are replaced by the 2000 line.

However, a key element that I feel you've left out, is indicating which Ryzen chip you were looking to get?
Also, I know you said you would be getting rid of the Dell, but frankly I'm not sure if you'd make enough to properly offset what you would save by re-using the bulk of it (ie, upgrading it)... For example, your PSU is a very nice part, no need to replace it. Graphics is and would cost you a ton to replace with the same thing, or would still cost you some if you were to just buy a low power one to replace it when seling.
What is your current cooler, if you plan to reuse it (something like the CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 would work well on a Ryzen)? Also your skill level with something like overclocking, because that'll help in suggesting which Ryzen you should get. For example, if you have dabbled in it before, you could easily get away with the non-X model of Ryzen to save mone and manually overclock it to a sufficient level, as the X models really don't offer any headroom in that regard. Conversely, if you aren't wanting to bother with overclocking, then the X variant would be ideal since they run at a higher clockrate by default (example: 1800X is 3.6Ghz vs 1700's 3.2GHz, but both can be overclocked to 3.9 to 4GHz easily).

Something else that might be important to consider, if you do decide to upgrade the XPS, is the RAM... You didn't list what you currently have, and while what you DO have might be sufficient to use in your Ryzen build, you may need (or want) to consider getting a new kit. I'm not sure how well the 1000-series are doing now in terms of compatibility with the various chip makers (Samsung, Hynix, Micron) thanks to matured BIOSes, but early on the Samsung equipped RAM modules were thee ones to get. Not just for the best performance, but for the best compatibility to operate at higher speeds... which on Ryzen the memory speed is important in regards to your performance, not just in memory intensive situations since the higher memory speed means that a certain portion of Ryzen's internals run at a higher speed as well, aiding in over-all performance.

I still have the GTX 745, 1TB WD green lying around from when I purchased the Dell and a EVGA GS 550 Gold lying around that I was thinking of putting in the Dell PC before selling it.

No way I will sell that Vega 64, and SSDs with Dell .
Realistically i might get a few 100s for it. With core i7 6700, 16GB RAM, genuine windows and G2 550W Gold, 1TB Was green, GTX 745.

I will need new MB, RAM, Processor, casing.
I already have Power Supply, GPU, SSDs.

These days pricess of 1800x are very cheap $279 microcenter plus $30 off if I get MB from them. That's like $250 for ryzen 7 1800x.


Also I am not really an overclocker that's why was thinking of 1800x. 1700 is $230 so that's not much difference in price.

The new series top of the line ryzen 7 2800x ( if it's called that) might be $499 at launch.
Plus remember at ryzen launch last yr they had a lot issues with RAM not working with MBs. This won't be an issue with 1800x I believe.

 

[Geronemo3]

Yeah the answer I believe is a question of its use of cores and threads vs clock speed. Every program varies in this regard.

Not sure on that program, but I will say some single threaded and multithreaded test runs on cinebench will you a better idea of where your current system stands. A locked intel cpu like yours has a better chance of being matched or exeeded by a current ryzen part if overclcoked. So you may see similar single threaded performance with definite multithreaded benefits.

Though for instance, the Adobe Suite relies heavily on single threaded performance if I'm not mistaken so be careful.

Here's an idea, if you have a way of disabling hyperhtreading in your bios you may be able to see if there is a performamce benefit of extra threads in that program. If you can't do that, you can also set windows core affinities in the task manager to not allow that program to use hyperthreading through software.

Also, the new 2000 series is on sale April 19th so says the credible news outlet Gamers Nexus.

Very good point. Will try disabling cores in BIOS. Another thing I will need is 32GB RAM coz rendering and previewing videos while editing eat up a lot of RAM. 16GB feel like 4GB when I previewing stuff.

 

[Geronemo3]

Only found 1 benchmark for Vegas Pro (http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/intel_core_i7_8700k_processor_review,14.html) and nothing on Hitfilms besides people saying buy intel for the high clocks.

Even on Vegas Pro link above the 1800x is faster than the 8700k (weird no 1700x was tested).

Also they I would agree with everyone else and say wait. Launch is less than a month out and you can buy the upgraded 2x or a discounted 1x.

Don’t know how well the software supports GPU rendering, might want to look at that angle.

Thank u so much for the link.