Hi again! So…based on my previous post, it’d seem that it’s going to be quite some headache to get an old intel 6700 CPU with a PCIe 3.0 to work decently with more up to date GPUs (that is, to see a decent improvement in performance at all). I’d like to do a cross-jump to AMD CPUs this time, to be paired with a 6800XT or a 7800XT. I intend to game on Linux, although there will be a Win10 partition for the troublesome games, and also for the Vive Wireless, which is unsupported on Linux. But I’ve been out of the AMD loop for a while. What’s cooking? What would be a good second-to-last generation CPU recommendation or so? Am I missing any important tech if I don’t choose the latest and the greatest? Is ReBAR a thing yet? (Not sure if this is the answer to PS5’s direct asset streaming from the SSD straight to the GPU). At this point, I’d like to know what CPUs are adviseable, in order to get some idea for a PC build, so I can go get quotes…and see if that’s something I’d be able to afford :)
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I’ll second what has been said. Depending on what kinds of games you play will guide your CPU purchase. If you play CPU heavy games (simulators, grand strategy, Escape from Tarkov, etc.) the X3D variants would be a good choice. For previous gen that would be the 5800X3D. My brother has this one so I can tell you firsthand that it is a beast of a processor. However, this would lock you into DDR4 ram which means your next upgrade is guaranteed to need a new mobo, processor, and ram. The upside is that it’s fairly inexpensive compared to current products, so it’s good if you’re on a budget. If you don’t play those game the normal 5800X should be good.
If you’re looking for more current DDR5 build that you might be able to reuse parts for on your next upgrade, the 7800 and 7800X3D are what you want to be looking at (the 7800X gives you marginal improvement for way more power usage if I recall correctly, so not worth imo). I upgraded from an i7 7700k to a 7800X3D earlier this year and noticed fairly sizable improvements in performance for the games I play.
Either way, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these options.
The first generation of AM5 socket CPUs (7000 series) came out this year. AM5 boards are also the first generation DDR5 boards as well. If you’re looking to build something you can upgrade with some drop in replacement CPUs in another 2 or 3 years, then go with an AM5 motherboard. Otherwise go AM4 and put in a 5800x3d.
I think the sensible long term decision right now is to go with AM5 if you’re doing a new build. If it’s primarily a gaming machine, you’ll want an x3d variant processor as those have triple the L3 cache which games tend to do much better with.
Thanks for the reminder! Gotta watch the sales this year for a 5800x3D.
So, regardless the mobo is AM4 or AM5, the CPU you’d advise would be the same? Are they compatible? Or what would be an advisable CPU on AM5? Thanks!
Nope. AM4 sockets are AMD Ryzen 1000 series through 5000 series. Starting at Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, AMD switched to the AM5 socket and DDR5 RAM
(In case you’re wondering where Ryzen 6000 went, it’s mobile/laptop only)
Edit: for specific processor, that comes down to your needs in your build. If you’re primarily gaming and want to do a 7800xt GPU, you probably want a 7600 (possibly the 7600x of you want to pverclock). If you have deep pockets you can go for a 7800x3d or even a 7900x3d or 7950x3d. I personally don’t think those are necessary if you’re pairing it with a 7800xt though. A 7600 CPU should be more than capable to power that. And if you’re planning on upgrading in a year or two, the 7600 will save you money now which you can throw into a beefier CPU later on.
AM4 vs AM5 is really a budgetary question at this point. I had an AM4 build in 2020. A few months ago I upgraded it to a 5800X3D cpu and 6700XT gpu and it’s been great. I considered a full rebuild with AM5, but couldn’t justify the extra expense. My build was able to play elden ring at 1440p with max settings smoothly.
The latest and greatest generally isn’t worth it. Those groundbreaking new features won’t be consistently implemented in games for years to come. If money is no object, go for AM5. Otherwise AM4 should serve you well for quite a while.
Going with AM4 kills the upgrade path though. The only way to upgrade the CPU in the future is to get a new motherboard and RAM at the same time.
Right, but if the AM4 setup is half the price, you can avoid paying the early adopter prices for AM5.
Stupid question…maybe: Is there ANY benefits to the case choice? They go from 50 bucks all the way to 500. I honestly couldn’t care less for design, LED lighting, open casing…If anything, I’d prefer it to be kinda quiet, and that’s about it.
Airflow (mesh) > Glass
Easy cable management > LightsThere are some excellent, inexpensive cases out there.
Don’t buy the cheapest, but don’t buy the most expensive, look for a case that’s the right size, and easy to open, has a few fans, not too many but not too few. Cheaper cases have really thin metal that bends and cuts you.
Front panel matters, how the drives mount matters (less so now that we’re all m.2), honestly spend $70 on a decent but small case, you’ll be fine.
Won’t a small case make airflows/fitting more complicated? And pricing… I was considering to stick to full ATX size, as that’s already what I have. But then again, I’m not sure what to pay attention to.
It can complicate things, but there are small cases out there with larger/more powerful components in mind. There are good designs and bad, same with any size, just have to keep your component choices in mind. I’m a big fan of ITX builds with high end hardware. At some point it becomes sort of a puzzle, balancing your components for size, heat output, and air movement. Not worth the hassle for some but I find it fun.
If you’re fine with atx go atx, smaller is harder for airflow, but not always if we’ll designed.
Size matters less nowadays again with m.2, the old optical and hard drives really made most of the constraints, now it’s all about your gpu and then your cpu cooling.
I have the Fractal Design Define (https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/) and it has been great. I got it with the solid side panel instead of glass. It’s also very quiet. I had the full size, but switched to the compact version so I could use an under desk mount.
I got the cheapest case and cheapest motherboard twice when building a PC. Never had any issues.
As others have said, AM5 will give you DDR5 and PCIe 5 options for some future proofing, but the 5800X3D is still an excellent CPU and would save you some money in the short run. If you go AM4 I wouldn’t bother with anything but the 5800X3D unless you’re on a really tight budget, which doesn’t seem to be the case.
And yes, rebar is a thing now. Improvements vary but it’s there and works.
Ok…So I think I’m mostly thinking of an AM5 board with an 7600 CPU and possibly a 7800XT GPU, 2x16GB DDR5…What should I look for on an AM5 board if it was to last? I mean, I’ve been using a Gigabyte Z170K3 for nearly 7 years, and so far I never had an issue with it. Then again I never had to mess with it either, other than swapping SSDs and HDDs. Also, what kinda power will I need to hold all this together? Up until now a 750W PSU did the job just fine, but not sure with this config what would be advisable. I’m also concerned as due to the home crappy layout, a lot of stuff goes to the same damn fuse (a NAS, a microPC that acts as self-hosted server stack, a TV and a PS4), so sometimes the fuse gets triggered and shuts everything down. Not great for the PC, but definitely not good for the NAS. This is not all that frequent, maybe once every 6 months…but I don’t want to increase it if possible.
The power requirements of AM5 are a lot higher than AM4 but thats usually just a problem on the higher end chips. And compared to Intel’s high end they look downright eco-friendly. 5800xt is a beast but looking down the road AM5 is the way to go. The 7600x is a solid CPU and if you get a decent motherboard then you will at the very least get the next generation AMD CPU upgrade path and hopefully the one after that too.
Main thing to look for in a motherboard I think is features, pcie layout, and then vrm quality.
On my current motherboard I was having issues with sata drives not being detected and thought I may have fried something but it turned out that some of the SATA ports were disabled if you used both M.2 slots. I also have to fiddle with the bios to get Linux to boot rather than Windows (I dual boot on separate drives). By default it always boots to Windows after a hard reset.
Last year i built my third gaming rig and have always been using full AMD setups. This time i have gone with a 5800X CPU and a RX 6700XT GPU. I’m also running full time linux (fedora) and i can’t remember the last time i booted windows. Have played about 10-20 games in the last year, from indie to triple A, 90% of the time were buttery smooth experiences.
But back to your question. The 5800X serves me well, you could also consider the 3D variant. But then again, consider if you really want to invest in an “old” platform by now. You won’t get PCIe 5 and DDR5.
Wow…Just saw the tomshardware reviews for Alan Wake 2. A 7800XT basically struggles to keep at 1080p 30FPS when full RT is enabled.
I went balls deep with an ASUS x670 gene board so bought an 7950x3d. Havent received it so not sure what to expect.
In my logic the most important part is essentially whether you are getting a good enough AM5 motherboard and enough RAM to not have to swap them. Having power for a possibly larger power consumption next gen CPU and PCIe 5 x16+M.2 are important for longevity.
Once you are at am5 EOL, the TOTL might be a 32 core CPU. If you have all the newest gen PCIe, your setup might live a loong life even into newer generations. Otherwise you might be unsatisfied and make a new build sooner than later.
