AMD Upgrade - just some info

[ZesPak]

Hi, quick message here but I've been using a 2019 build as my daily computer. Used it to play the occasional game but now the heaviest it gets is some basic 1080p video editing (mainly training vids for work).

The specs on it were:
AMD VEGA Ryzen 5 2600
MSI GeForce RTX 2070 ARMOR 8G
Samsung 970 EVO PLUS NVMe M2 500GB
Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO B450
Corsair DDR4 3200MHz 2x8GB

I saw that the AM4 socket had ended and actually after 5 years of professional use I thought I'd upgrade, but I had no real plan for this perfectly working machine, so I did an in-socket upgrade.
Looking at bang for buck I shortlisted the 5800X, 5700X and 5700X3D.
The 5800X shows its age against the other two, it was also the same price as the 5700X, the X3D is the better cpu for gaming but actually slower on the clock than the 5700X and relatively a lot more expensive, so I went for the 5700X.
I also picked up some left over sku of 2x8GB ram at 30 EUR, same spec as the one already in the machine.

The biggest struggle was to get the BIOS going. Needed several intermediary steps. I was on version 1 (that came with the board), the newest was version 66.

I ran a simple geekbench before and after and the difference was staggering. I was expecting a 50% uptick, but it was almost 100%, which I thought to be impressive. The computer feels a bit snappier (might just be placebo effect, it never felt sluggish), but exports from video files have sped up quite a lot.

Anyway, just wanted to share this for anyone running the ubiquitous 1600/2600/... AM4 socket cpu's and have a MB that supports the 5th gen stuff. I think the prices are about as low as they are going to get and it's well worth it to give the machine another couple of years of relevance.


Note: it is a 5700X, not a regular 5700.

[mmm-five]

The 5700X3D only makes sense if gaming is a priority, as it's about 20% faster at 1080p than the non-3D versions. But as you've already said, in non-gaming scenarios a non-X3D version is better, maybe even a 5950X if you've got a heavy multi-core workload.

This is another reason to recommend the AM5 platform for new builds, as they're only just on their second generation CPU and as they've fixed the 'hot' X3D issue by moving the cache it means the latest X3D CPUs are as fast as their non-X3D counterparts in non-gaming scenarios. So the only reasons you'd not buy a 9000 series X3D CPU would be either that you never need the cache for gaming, and the extra price makes it too expensive.

Edited by mmm-five on Monday 25th November 09:47

[ZesPak]

Maybe convenient to add the prices of the CPU's I was comparing, including the 5950X you mentioned, all excluding tax and just the CPU (had a cooler already):

CPU	Price (EUR)
5700X	123
5800X	130
5700X3D	180
5950X	260

[mmm-five]

ZesPak said:

Maybe convenient to add the prices of the CPU's I was comparing, including the 5950X you mentioned, all excluding tax and just the CPU (had a cooler already):

CPU	Price (EUR)
5700X	123
5800X	130
5700X3D	180
5950X	260

Yes, but MOAAARRRRR is better, and time is money

But I also agree, otherwise I'd have a pre-order in for a 9950X3D (probably over £700)

...and it means you've got room for a further CPU-only upgrade if/when you need it!

Edited by mmm-five on Monday 25th November 10:01

[ZesPak]

Haha I realize I'm more stingy than I should be, but most of my workload is single core anyway, just thought it was a good time as I know this stuff might even go up in price as inventory starts to run low. I spent 160 EUR to basically double the performance of my machine, I'm a sucker for a good deal

[Lucas Ayde]

ZesPak said:

Haha I realize I'm more stingy than I should be, but most of my workload is single core anyway, just thought it was a good time as I know this stuff might even go up in price as inventory starts to run low. I spent 160 EUR to basically double the performance of my machine, I'm a sucker for a good deal

It's a testament to AMDs long running support for the AM4 socket. You could even have dropped in a 5950X if you'd wanted and got 16 cores/32 threads. I think they're still actually releasing various lower spec CPUs for AM4.

Intel on the other hand typically make you upgrade motherboard and RAM every second generational leap. I got burned with Intel when I upgraded an ancient machine to a full i7-6700 with new mobo, ram, SSD etc and then found had I almost nowhere to go when the time came to upgrade the CPU a couple of years later.

It's why I'd only really consider going AMD for my next upgrade. Currently on a 5900X which I've been very happy with for a few years now and probably will wait another year before sting to whatever the most suitable Zen on AM5 is, then.