Opinions Time - Ryzen Upgrade

AngryGoldfish

AngryGoldfish

Old N Gold
With Ryzen R5 1600 out and performing on par with a R7 1700 for €230 in gaming, I'm tempted to upgrade. But I thought I'd ask the forum's opinions. I have a few options:

  1. Keep my Z97 motherboard and 4670K until Zen 2/Coffee Lake

    Pros:
    Cheaper
    Solid performance
    Free of issues

    Cons:
    Boring - I've got the upgrade itch
    Performance is mediocre
    I won't be able to buy an NVME m.2 SSD

  2. Upgrade to high-end X370 motherboard and R5 1600 and then upgrade the CPU again to Zen 2 in 18 months time

    Pros:
    Future proof
    Fun
    Supports AMD
    Huge CPU performance increase in everything but gaming
    NVME devices supported

    Cons:
    Upgrading is expensive
    Gaming performance will be a side-grade for the most part
    The 7700K is better value for money for strictly gaming
    Currently buggy
    Only one NVME device supported

  3. Upgrade to the 7700K and a nice Z270 motherboard and be happy for the next couple of years with higher FPS until four cores become obsolete

    Pros:
    I aim for 90 FPS at 1440p and a 7700K will be better suited for that
    Huge range of Z270 motherboards including mATX
    Wider compatability with RAM, SSD's, etc.
    Fewer bugs
    Two NVME devices supported

    Cons:
    Upgrading would be even more expensive
    The 7700K is overpriced
    The 7700K is also a boring upgrade
    Not future proof at all
    Coffee Lake will demolish the 7700K
    Don't want to support Intel particularly
 
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If you gaming, I'd say the Ryzen system. No not because I am biased. Because for the difference in money you will pay for a 7700k system, you could put that money to a GPU like going from a 1070 to a 1080. You'll get better gaming performance from that upgrade over the i7.
Or save up for Vega if you want to stay all AMD

Btw, they are boards with 2 NVMe slots on X370:)
 
Other things to consider:

1) the 7700K is on sale in Canada right now, and they've cut the price by $90CDN, making it a much better deal. YMMV on the emerald isle.

2) depending on the game, you'll be using most of the 7700K CPU, so you have very little headroom left. Some games pin the CPU at 100% even at 1080p.

3) NBD is right about the dual NVME's, but only one of those runs at the full PCIE 3 x 4 if I remember correctly. Not sure how that works on Z270 though, it might be the same since the 7700K only has 28 PCIE lanes.

I have the itch too! And I just scratched it a few hours ago and ordered a Ryzen rig. It might be a bit more work to OC and get the memory timings set up right, but I think it's a much more future proof bet. Just choose a motherboard and ram carefully.
 
Bartacus said:
Other things to consider:

1) the 7700K is on sale in Canada right now, and they've cut the price by $90CDN, making it a much better deal. YMMV on the emerald isle.

2) depending on the game, you'll be using most of the 7700K CPU, so you have very little headroom left. Some games pin the CPU at 100% even at 1080p.

3) NBD is right about the dual NVME's, but only one of those runs at the full PCIE 3 x 4 if I remember correctly. Not sure how that works on Z270 though, it might be the same since the 7700K only has 28 PCIE lanes.

I have the itch too! And I just scratched it a few hours ago and ordered a Ryzen rig. It might be a bit more work to OC and get the memory timings set up right, but I think it's a much more future proof bet. Just choose a motherboard and ram carefully.
Click to expand...


One is x4 from the CPU, the other is x4 from the chipset. :)
 
youve answered your own question, you know the i5 is good enough for gaming, but like the majority of us, you want ryzen. save your money, there will hopefully be new gpus for you to drool over.
 
Cheers, lads!

I thought Z270 introduced two m.2 PCI-e x4 slots? Maybe I'm wrong. The ASRock X370 Taichi has two m.2 slots, but only one works on the PCI-e lanes via the chipset. The other one is locked to SATA3.

NBD, I intend on buying Vega 10, depending on pricing. I'm at 1440p/144hz. I forgot to say that. I usually aim for 90 FPS. I often have to turn settings down to hit that even in older games, but I don't mind.

Bartacus, the 7700K is €350 from Germany (cheaper than buying from the UK) while the R5 1600 is €250.

For motherboards, the Z270 range is more compelling. For example the Asus ROG Strix Z270F Gaming is €190 while the ASRock X370 Taichi is €260. If I were to choose motherboards from either socket type I'd pick one of those. The C6H is the same price at the moment as the ASRock, though usually it's slightly more expensive. The MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon is a lot better value at €185. I like the Gigabyte GA-AX370 Gaming 5 as well, but the layout might not fit the cooler I have in mind.
 
If I went to Ryzen it would be the 1700. Having seen the latest reviews it's clear that none of them are really going to break 4ghz.

Personally I would go Ryzen 7 1700 and a B350 board. You're not doing SLi or anything silly are you?

From what I have seen the B350 boards (the bigger ones) all seem capable of pushing the 1700 to 4ghz.
 
I've been trying to find where I saw someone struggling to hit higher than 3.7Ghz on their Ryzen CPU with a B350 motherboard. It was today or yesterday so I think it was a R5 review. I can't seem to find it.

The X370 boards look better to me. I don't need all their features, but I want something that fits my design idea. Building this new system is a fun project as much as it is a necessary upgrade or natural evolution.

The 1700 is awesome, but it's quite a bit more expensive for performance I won't use. I always planned on getting the six core model as I just have no use for that amount of cores or threads. It would be a waste.
 
OK humor me for a minute. So you buy a lower core/thread Ryzen. What will you end up doing if these new higher threaded CPUs get support in the future? you will upgrade to a 1700 or better, right?

Even if Intel dig their heels in and slow the progress of higher threads cores like they have for about six years they won't stop it in the end. Sooner or later they are going to have to offer more for less.

I would strongly imagine it was not the 350 board holding back the CPU unless of course it had poor VRM cooling etc. The voltage needed is around 1.4v which is a lot easier than the 1.5+ I used to have to give my 8320.

I've had several high end boards now and I won't be doing it again. I end up with loads of features I just never end up using in day to day life.

I highly recommend having a think. Don't rush into anything.. The 350 Tomahawk is the board I have decided on, not sure when it will happen though. Could be months, could be a year.

Put it like this. You can never buy more performance you won't use. Think about that for a minute. This is technology and it never stops for any one.

That's like some one saying "But I don't need to buy a 2500k because nothing uses more than two cores". And at the time they were right, nothing really did. This was back in the days of games like Fallout 3, where using four cores actually crashed the game and you had to hack the INI file to run it on 2. Look now, how many people have you seen still using a Sandybridge I3? or a locked Sandy I5? that would be none.

How many people do you see on 2500ks still deciding if it's time to upgrade? because TBH most of the people I see upgrading to Ryzen are coming from the 2500k and although the k was more expensive at the time just look at how much longer it has lasted. It's still a good option even now for a gaming PC.
 
The MSI top tier lineup has 2 NVMe slots as well.
X370 Pro carbon and Titanium. Both of these run in x4 I am 99% sure, though like I said it the M.2 2nd slot, runs off the chipset, and when it does is disables one of the PCI slots(one of the x4 2.0 slots)
 
Option No.4

If your old motherboard will accept it, get a second hand 4770k CPU and get a nice boost in performance for less outlay than the other options.
 
Alien - Thanks for that. Good food for thought. If I were to get a cheap six core now it would be a nice stepping stone before Zen 2. I want to be one of the early adopters, but it's also likely Zen 2 will correct many of the current issues. If I buy a 1700 now I won't be able to justify an upgrade next year. Obviously the 1700 will still be competitive, but in the same way the 6-core 1600 might fall behind the 8-core 1700 in 1-2 years time so will the 1700 fall behind Zen 2 with its higher clocks and per core performance. However if I buy a 1600 I'm still getting a huge improvement over my 4670K in everything but gaming and I have the option of buying an 8-core in the future without changing anything. Once I have that CPU I should be good for many years.

That's another reason why I want a higher-end motherboard. I want a high-end board more than I need a high-end board. I can't see the additional features of X370 being essential either now or in the future, but I'm planning a high-end build and I'd like my motherboard to be the best I can afford. I may not be able to justify the €260 boards, but €185 is not that far off from a good B350 board. The price difference would be worth it to me even if just for aesthetics. I'm planning custom cables and they'll be an even more expensive and useless addition. Sleeved cables only add aesthetic value. At least X370 motherboards offer additional features and headroom.

Either way I won't be rushing into anything. I may even wait until Vega before buying my components. The case I want isn't in stock anywhere right now and we're still seeing memory updates being introduced that help tremendously. At the very least it'll be a month before I start buying anything. Maybe ASUS will announce a ROG Strix version that'll bridge the gap between the Prime and the Crosshair. I feel they are missing out on a rather large market there and it's not like ASUS to do that. Maybe we'll see a nice €190 board from them that I'll pick up.

Avet - You're right. There really isn't much in it at 1440p.

NBD - The X370 Pro Carbon could be the one I end up going for. I'm somewhat going off the Taichi due to the price and BIOS. Apparently whenever you change the BCLK even just from 100 to 101 it changes all your other settings like RAM timings. An overclocker posted a video this morning about it. He spent 20 minutes raging on about it. I've never liked ASRock's BIOS' either, but their boards always have the features and layout I like at the right price. If the Pro Carbon can run two m.2 slots at x4 speed then that's great. I want to be able to add a second NVME drive a few years down the line.

Kaap - I considered that option a couple of years ago when my Z87 stopped working unexpectedly. I had initially intended on upgrading my Z87/4670K to Skylake when it was released, but after my board broke and I had to fork out another €180 for another board I decided it wouldn't be a sensible thing to do. Also, Skylake wasn't the huge revolution I thought it was going to be. Anyway, I considered installing a 4790K and being happy with that, but it never amounted to anything. I wouldn't have been able to run an NVME drive without affecting my GPU PCI-e lanes and I was really keen on building a new system. It's been almost 3.5 years now since I built my current system and I'm keen to try something new. However, if I choose not to upgrade I will keep my eye out for a cheap 4790K that clocks well and put that in until Coffee Lake and Zen 2.
 
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I am i a similar situation :)
I have just upgraded from 4670k to 4790k, and my 1080ti step-up has just gone through :) I thought about going 1600, but i'm disappointed about the gaming performance, so instead i'm going to go custom watercooling. Well just because something new has to happen. And going 7700 or 1600/1700 for a few FPS is a bit stupid.
I'm waiting for ZEN2 or Intels move.

And NVME isn't worth it in my mind.
But that's just my 2 cents :)
 
Put some cream on that itch, stick with Z97 and grab a 4770k or 4790k and it should serve you well for a good few years yet.
 
Kaapstad said:
Some games prefer an i7 and a 4770k or 4790k would bring a nice increase in CPU number crunching.
Click to expand...

So would a Ryzen cpu. Thats the thing we are talking about here:p
I mean from what I have seen on the forums, he really enjoys Ryzen. He has the bug atm, and seems to know it has its issues as a new platform. I would upgrade if I was him, for different reasons, but I would do it if I had the money to spare.
I mean we've told him all his options and really the only pretty poor choice he can do is go to a 7700k setup. That is just way to much money for no where near the gain he would end up with for the money. In addition with Ryzen he also has an upgrade path, so if Zen2 ends up being a much better OC'er, he can just sell Ryzen and get the new chip and get even more performance, probably match a 7700k(just guessing here) and end up still saving money vs going 7700k.
All up to him now really:)
(he still has the smart option of waiting, but the bug is strong with this one:p)
 
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If you go with Ryzen update go with R5 1600. R7 1700 doesn't justify the price for what you will be using it. But if you get another itch with Zen2 you will sell 1600 easier, and have a better reason to upgrade. ;)
 
NeverBackDown said:
So would a Ryzen cpu. Thats the thing we are talking about here:p
I mean from what I have seen on the forums, he really enjoys Ryzen. He has the bug atm, and seems to know it has its issues as a new platform. I would upgrade if I was him, for different reasons, but I would do it if I had the money to spare.
Click to expand...
Aye I can see where you're coming from but given the options it's the most sensible at the moment, he only needs an i7 if he stays with Z97.. alternatively if he goes Zen it's the whole package (CPU, Mobo & RAM).
 
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