Hi guys, So considering it might finally be time to do a new build as my old one is starting to creak! I've not kept up with hardware in a big way, so probably need a little advice. My current build: I5 2500k @ 4.0ghz Gigabyte Z77N-Wifi (ITX) Radeon RX 580 4GB GDDR5 Vengeance Pro 16GB (2x8gb) DDR3 (2133MHz) Be Quiet! Shadow Rock TopFlow SR1 Corsair Obsidian 250D (ITX) Corsair TX850 psu Crucial MX300 CT750MX300SSD1 750GB (system/games/apps) Samsung F4 2TB (storage) I've also been left behind by the developments in SSDs. My main drive is an old MX300 (I don't know if SSDs have moved on much), but this little 750GB drive actually fits all of my gaming and system needs (I don't tend to keep many games installed at once). I still use a 2TB Samsung F4 for storage (music, pics, films), although I'd quite like to get rid of this and just go solid state. The motherboard on this setup is terrible, it has no voltage controls and throttles the CPU almost at random, hence only the 4ghz OC. That said I'd like to stay ITX as I like the small footprint. I use the system mostly for day-to-day work, I'm not a big gamer but do enjoy the odd couple of hours of DayZ, Football Manager, NS2, Xcom2, Stellaris, etc. I'd assume from the above that I could quite happily keep the case, psu and gpu? I've done a little reading and it feel like a Ryzen 5 3600 rig offers the best bang for buck right now?
So; you're looking for CPU (& cooler?), mainboard, RAM & primary storage *? How's this sound...? Ryzen 5 3600 ASRock B450 ITX mainboard 16GB 3200Mhz DDR4 Notes: *MX300 may be an older generation, but it's still S-ATA III. If you want to push the RAM to 3600, add ~£7-16** A 2TB SSD will set you back £200** or more, so... **at the time of posting this
By way of comparison: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/NjGQhg Ryzen 5 3600 ASRock B450 ITX mainboard 16GB 3600Mhz DDR4 WD Blue 500GB M.2 SSD WD Blue 2TB 2.5" SSD
Jeff has given you a great choice, although personally I'd go for an Asus board as I just prefer them. But Asus and Asrock are equally great choices! Son't bother with a 2TB drive for bulk storage, unless you want to go M.2 to reduce the cables! Ifd its a 2.5" drive may as well jusst go for spinning rust as it'll make no difference apart from massive cost!
I still use a pair of 500GB Barracuda spinners in my machine; a 7200.12 on document/file detail & a 7200.11 on 'Back-up' detail. That said, my P280 is a mansion, next to any ITX case, so...
One thing I will chime in with here. If you are going Ryzen then DON'T skimp on the board. Well, the power phases on the board. That will be the only thing limiting upgrades. Right now the 3900x and 3950x may seem stupid and out of reach but AMD are known for cutting prices on their "last gen" chips. So you will want a board suitable. If you spend an extra £100 on a board now then at some point you can drop in a 12 or 16 core chip (or beyond really) if you buy wisely. https://www.amazon.co.uk/X570-AORUS...r_1_2?keywords=x570+itx&qid=1585408047&sr=8-2 I believe that is the current board of choice for ITX and sense, but do your research. I know the extra £100 seems like a lot now, but in 2-3 years you'll have to buy a new board CPU and RAM. If you spend the extra £100 or so now you can drop in whatever will fit.
Thanks for the advice all. I'm not too worried about future proofing, pods are I won't upgrade again in the next few years. As I don't game much it really isn't necessary. Seema like sound advice on the storage front, I'll stick to what I've got there for now. Only real question is am I missing out on any serious value or of potential by sticking rigidly to itx? There don't seem to be too many options for boards. I'll admit I don't know about different chipset options for am4 board either...are there types of boards to look for or avoid?
There are quite a few to avoid, especially ITX. You need to make sure the phases have decent cooling. Many of the first run were terrible. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aorus-B450...r_1_1?keywords=b450+itx&qid=1585509878&sr=8-1 Is decent, but may not support a 3600 out of the box. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-ROG-S...r_1_3?keywords=b450+itx&qid=1585509918&sr=8-3 Middle ground. You don't have a ton of choice on cheaper boards.
Yeah the VRM does get a bit warm under heavy load though. However, if you stick with the 3600 you should be fine. It was only on 8 core models it got a little warm. Also, do check the board deffo supports it first. Also I recommend spending a while reading the manual for the board you want to make sure it does what you expect first. Just avoid any and all B350 ITX. They were all tragic. I think they just underestimated the VRM and cooling for said VRM on pretty much all of them.
Great, so final question I think. Is there much tangible difference between DDR4 3600mhz and 3200mhz, worth the price difference?
Apparently yes. Mine is currently at 3200, so I will compare the benchmarks when I clock it up but apparently that is the optimum for Ryzen. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/patr...dual-channel-kit-pvs416g360c7k-my-104-pa.html Isn't too expensive.
Differences between the two - money-wise - are at best about a tenner; probably not worth it for me to swap out my 3200's for 3600's, but from scratch you may as well 'go big'; 3200 would be the minimum that many sources will tell you to look at.
I got my ram to 3600 last night. It made absolutely no difference in cb15. I didn't have time to run other benchmarks, but will later tonight.
Not to throw too big a spanner in the works but it appears neither of those boards support 3600Mhz RAM and *possibly* do not support Ryzen 5 3600's without a BIOS update - however the X570 chipset equivalents are up to £100 more expensive. **EDIT: The Asus ROG appears to but the Gigabye Aorus and Asrock and MSI do not. And to finish, I'm also not clued up on new gen.
