New CPU advice

bagelnagel

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 2, 2013
Messages
96
Building a new rig from the one in my sig. That one is just over 4 years old, and I'm thinking it's time for a refresh. Want to move over to Red Team, and I'm looking at the 3xxx-x series. If I'm just playing games, with some VM activity thrown in there for infosec work, would the 3900x be overkill? The 3800x looks pretty good at a few hundred dollars less. Do you think the 3900x will drop considerably when the 3950x comes out?

Also, any recommendations on motherboards for these series of CPU's? I miss the [H] reviews (pours one out), so I'm bereft of knowledge. ATX form factor, going to be using a Caselabs Bullet BH7 I purchased from this forum.

Many, many thanks in advance.
 
3600 would be ideal for gaming.

A real forensic box would be running ecc ram and dedicated drive for vms.
Id expect 3 drives minimum. 1 for windows + gaming, then 1 for Kali, 1 for vms.

Core contention isn't a problem unless you think you are going to hard lock cores and ram to your testing.....in which case mitigating a common resource eating ddos isn't a matter of scale but process.
 
i just got a ryzen 7 3700X
i will begin installing it all tonight
 
The 3900x is already as low as it's going to go; it's only competition is the 3950x, and that's launching at a comfortable $750.

The 3800X is indistinguishable form the 3700X. Just see this review:

https://www.techspot.com/review/1899-ryzen-3800x-vs-3700x-difference/

Intel isn't even trying to compete, selling 10 cores on Cascade Lake-X at the exact same price.

Just get the 3700X. It's the same processor going into the new generation of consoles (to be released in 2020, and expected to be used for another 7 years), only clocked faster, so it will be more than enough to get you through another 4 years of solid gaming.

There's a limited amount of consumer applications that scale well to 12 cores or more, and this is expected to stay for awhile. So unless you are the multitasking Poster Boy that encode video plus VMs while you game, you'll be just fine with 8 cores.
 
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The 3900x is already as low as it's going to go; it's only competition is the 3950x, and that's launching at a comfortable $750.

The 3800X is indistinguishable form the 3700X. Just see this review:

https://www.techspot.com/review/1899-ryzen-3800x-vs-3700x-difference/

Intel isn't even trying to compete, selling 10 cores on Cascade Lake-X at the exact same price.

Just get the 3700X. It's the same processor going into the new generation of consoles (to be released in 2020, and expected to be used for another 7 years), only clocked faster, so it will be more than enough to get you through another 4 years of solid gaming.

There's a limited amount of consumer applications that scale well to 12 cores or more, and this is expected to stay for awhile. So unless you are the multitasking Poster Boy that encode video plus VMs while you game, you'll be just fine with 8 cores.

I appreciate the feedback! Do you have any suggestions for a MB? I could not care less about RGB or wifi. I'll post in the MB section just to cover more bases. Again, thanks.
 
I appreciate the feedback! Do you have any suggestions for a MB? I could not care less about RGB or wifi. I'll post in the MB section just to cover more bases. Again, thanks.


Do you care about PCIe 4.0? If so, x570 is your only option.
 
Do you care about PCIe 4.0? If so, x570 is your only option.
I heard rumblings of B550, but I guess then you have to play the waiting game and roll the dice they will actually give you PCIE 4.0 to the x16 slot and at least one M.2 slot.

I'm in that boat right now, since there's no appealing matx options for x570.
 
I heard rumblings of B550, but I guess then you have to play the waiting game and roll the dice they will actually give you PCIE 4.0 to the x16 slot and at least one M.2 slot.

I'm in that boat right now, since there's no appealing matx options for x570.


Well, if you don't tend to use your computer for 10 years, you're unlikely to run into the limits of PCIe 3.0 16x slot.
 
3600 with basic 1080 @60hz here. 1060 GB to back it up. No complaints.
 
I heard rumblings of B550, but I guess then you have to play the waiting game and roll the dice they will actually give you PCIE 4.0 to the x16 slot and at least one M.2 slot.

I'm in that boat right now, since there's no appealing matx options for x570.
You can go with an X470, just be careful to pick an option that will do offline BIOS updates, otherwise you will have to buy a processor or have AMD send you a temporary one you will have to return. There are many options in the X470 flavor of boards that will not break the bank and offer a wide range of excellent options. Just a thought. That is what I ended up doing for my 3600. I went the Gigabyte Aorus route and paid about 120 bucks for a solid board. If you can live without PCIE 4.0 (which does nothing at all unless you are planning to utilize a PCIE 4.0 storage solution) then the X470 is your best bet. However, there are more than a few good B450 boards out there as well.
 
Gaming about anything works with the best gpu you can afford.

If I was worried about Iommu and KVM performance X570 wouldn't be my first choice.
 
I just upgrade my MSI Tomohawk B450 to the X570 Gamin Plus for my 3900X i bought to upgrade my 2600. So far the board has been great. I really did not need it but figured what the heck since I grabbed new RAM and a PSU after I got the 3900X. Pretty much just need a case and vid card for a second system. Lol.
 
There are several 2700 or 2700x in the FS/FT forum lately... you can save a ton buy buying "last" gen. Just a thought. I mean $150 vs $300 for 5-10% increase and only in super heavy thread workloads (2700x vs 3700x/3800x). B450 boards are cheap. You'll need new ram but DDR4 is fairly cheap right now (16gb 3000 $70 or less). Keep the SSDs, case, PS.

You could keep the 980ti or sell it for $150 and buy one of the many 1080ti's or 2070's that are also in FS. But if you're still a 1080p/1440p gamer, the 980ti is fine.

This could all be done fairly affordably if you don't mind some recycling and buy/sell used parts.

I miss the [H] reviews (pours one out), so I'm bereft of knowledge.

If you haven't already, check out FPS Review. It's all the guys that used to work here for Kyle. They have been putting up some decent reviews.

https://www.thefpsreview.com/
 
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My sig rig turned 7 earlier this year, so... :)


And am I right that you're nowhere near the bandwidth limits of your PCIe 2.0? If you actually upgraded to a modern video card, you would be CPU-limited before you hit bandwidth limits.

Same goes for Ryzen 2. AS long as you're not addicted to SLI/CFX,, or winning at pointless benchmarks, your PCIE system will be fine.
 
I'd get either the 3600 or 3700X depending on your budget. The cooler the 3600 comes with is absolute garbage lol, I just built a system for a friend with the 3600 and was like yeah that needs to go lol.
 
And am I right that you're nowhere near the bandwidth limits of your PCIe 2.0? If you actually upgraded to a modern video card, you would be CPU-limited before you hit bandwidth limits.

Same goes for Ryzen 2. AS long as you're not addicted to SLI/CFX,, or winning at pointless benchmarks, your PCIE system will be fine.
Yeah. I wouldn't bother trying to upgrade piecemeal at this point for that reason.

Future proofing is a fallacy in PC hardware anyway. But it's tough to resist the urge to not buy the bleeding edge when you've been out of the game for several years.

I think if there was actually stock on the B450M Mortar MAX in Canada my problem would be solved. But since I'm not really in any hurry I'll see what shakes out before I pull the trigger.
 
Don't forget the 3900 (non X) is coming out soon too... 12/24, slightly lower clocks than x, 65w part!
 
Don't forget the 3900 (non X) is coming out soon too... 12/24, slightly lower clocks than x, 65w part!


I'm not even sure that will be retail. Even with the $20 price drop om the 3800x, there's not enough room to make an $$60-80 gap in prices with the $500 3900x.

You would have to discontinue the 3800x to make room, or make the two so confusingly close in price as t gum-up the market.

I think this will be aimed at OEMs. A slower-clocked 65w 3900 has no real reason to exist in retail, bit is perfect for SFF prebuilt.
 
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I have an AMD 3600 and MSI Carbon Pro AC B450 and it works great (after the whole BIOS debacle). Highly recommend!
 
Not sure how new KSM (server quality) Kingston ECC unbuffered DDR4 2400 (Crucial chips) is supported on older motherboards (naming Asus B350M Prime A). The RAM is not mentioned but previous RAM was working and not mentioned. Needed for A 64GB upgrade (4x16GB double sided)
 
The R5 3600 is $186 through Newegg ebay right now, and there is also a code that you may be able to use for 5% off that.

Now if you have the cash, the 3900x is the real deal and can be had pretty easy at MSRP just by watching for it ( $499 at Amazon all yesterday ), or a little over MSRP pretty much all the time. The 3700x while good, is too expensive over the 3600 to justify the 5-15% gain depending on use. the 3600 is just so cheap for what it is.. The jump from 3700x to MSRP 3900x is only $170 hence why the 3900x is in such demand, and 3700x does not have a very high market share.. 3800x not even worth mentioning.

But dollar for dollar, the 3600 is the chip to have, with better cooling. I think the Spire from a 2600x/ 2700 would make a good stock cooler pairing. 3600x spire is cheaper/ different ( no vapor chamber )
 
I have tried a 3600 with a stock 1600 cooler and it's does 4.2Ghz all cores with SMT enabled @ 1.352v using Gaming Boost on MSI 470x Gaming Plus board and it's like having 12 cores boosted all the time ..

Now i have pulled it for 3700x and i like the cooler which is pair of it's asking price and does a great job around the cpu socket for all the power phase that has no active cooling .. so we are really paying about $280 for the chip if it's the only way to get it .
 
Prism is decent, but it mounts wayyy to tight. spring screw mounting is superior in every way to the AM clip mounting. The Prism is a modified Wraith Max which actually dates back to the FX days as the Max was a modified Wraith and all 3 are compatible with FX processors

I bought a NIB Prism for $50, and I'm using a 2600x Wraith spire instead. I had some DOA hardware that I was unable to pinpoint and start over, and the Prism was left out due to a possible broken socket from mounting pressure.
 
There are several 2700 or 2700x in the FS/FT forum lately... you can save a ton buy buying "last" gen. Just a thought. I mean $150 vs $300 for 5-10% increase and only in super heavy thread workloads (2700x vs 3700x/3800x). B450 boards are cheap. You'll need new ram but DDR4 is fairly cheap right now (16gb 3000 $70 or less). Keep the SSDs, case, PS.

You could keep the 980ti or sell it for $150 and buy one of the many 1080ti's or 2070's that are also in FS. But if you're still a 1080p/1440p gamer, the 980ti is fine.

This could all be done fairly affordably if you don't mind some recycling and buy/sell used parts.



If you haven't already, check out FPS Review. It's all the guys that used to work here for Kyle. They have been putting up some decent reviews.

https://www.thefpsreview.com/

I have a 32" HP Omen monitor, which is Freesync, so the upgrade to the RX 5700 XT makes sense for me - if I had a G-Sync monitor I'd upgrade to a 1080ti, no doubt. And I would have to work on getting my post count up high enough to be able to post in the FS/FT forum, ha! With that new information in hand, would that change your recommendations?
 
I have a 32" HP Omen monitor, which is Freesync, so the upgrade to the RX 5700 XT makes sense for me - if I had a G-Sync monitor I'd upgrade to a 1080ti, no doubt. And I would have to work on getting my post count up high enough to be able to post in the FS/FT forum, ha! With that new information in hand, would that change your recommendations?

Hmmm. 5700xt new vs 1080ti used. Hmmm. About same price, $435 (1080ti's go for $400-450 used depending on model). The 5700xt gets you 3 free games in the current AMD promo, so that's not nothing. Especially if you want Borderlands 3 or one of the others. So that could be $50-100 of value in games, if you want them.
https://www.microcenter.com/product...ocked-triple-fan-8gb-gddr6-pcie-40-video-card

I'll let someone else chime in if the 5700xt beats the 1080ti or not. Already having a freesync monitor does tend to lean that direction. Is the monitor a 4k, 1440p, 1600p, or what?
 
Hmmm. 5700xt new vs 1080ti used. Hmmm. About same price, $435 (1080ti's go for $400-450 used depending on model). The 5700xt gets you 3 free games in the current AMD promo, so that's not nothing. Especially if you want Borderlands 3 or one of the others. So that could be $50-100 of value in games, if you want them.
https://www.microcenter.com/product...ocked-triple-fan-8gb-gddr6-pcie-40-video-card

I'll let someone else chime in if the 5700xt beats the 1080ti or not. Already having a freesync monitor does tend to lean that direction. Is the monitor a 4k, 1440p, 1600p, or what?

2560 x 1440
 
You just might be better off getting an x470 chipset mobo .. pcie 4.0 isn't going to net you any real performance unless your are running nvme in raid or something of the sort

..and a shameless plug ... all (or most) of the review guys that were doing articles here started their own site

https://www.thefpsreview.com/
 
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