Question 7600x or save my money and buy the 7600 (for as long as possible) ?

[Phil_33]

Hi, so I'm looking to upgrade my system in the near future. I'm 1 of those people, who tend to upgrade only once every 8-10 years. This upgrade will cost me much and I do have troubles and am living as always on a budget like many.
With this build, amd is a good way to go because I can then buy an AM5 motherboard to then survive up untill the 9000 series or so.
Now I was aiming for an R5 7600 but imagine this cpu for the next 8 years. Can it hold? Or would it be better to get the 7600x instead?

I could also buy an R5 7600 and buy a 9600(x) later if needed. If I can safe every penny, I would like to do so, but I would also like to survive for as long as possible. I don't like to overclock unless I have to. I do know the 7600 has PBO, I could turn it on if time asks for this but is it safe? I have an arctice freezer 34 cpu cooler and a fractal design case. I don't think neither the power (PSU: corsair 750w gold) or the airflow is gonna be a problem but I don't like to pay extra every month on my electrical bill either...
This is purely for gaming.

My system now is:
Specs
i7 6700 non k (2015)
Z170 gaming a msi (2015)
16gb ram ddr4 2100 speed (2015)
Arctic cooler 34r
1tb, ssd (for games) (2022), spare 1,5tb hdd (2012 but not in use anymore), 240gb ssd (for windows) (2015)
XFX rx590 8gb VRAM (downvolted) (2018)
Corsair rmx 750w 2021 (2022)
Fractal design meshify 2 (2022)
Display: LG 24GM79G 24inch 1080p 144hz (2019)
Games
Currently: Horizon Zero Dawn, Forza Horizon 5, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Warframe, Destiny 2,...
Future (looking to play this in max settings at 70-144fps/hz): aaa games like Starfield, Horizon Forbidden West, GTA 6,...

 

[Lutfij]

If I was in charge of your wallet, and I knew that the money spent would be recouped over time, then yes that's the way I'd go, i.e, the 7600x. If you gave us context to how much you have at your disposal then perhaps stick with spending less on your ram at this moment of time...but spend well on the board and CPU?

This is purely for gaming.
7600x.

 

[Phil_33]

If I was in charge of your wallet, and I knew that the money spent would be recouped over time, then yes that's the way I'd go, i.e, the 7600x. If you gave us context to how much you have at your disposal then perhaps stick with spending less on your ram at this moment of time...but spend well on the board and CPU?

This is purely for gaming.
7600x.

But it isn't as power efficient as the 7600 I heard it somewhere. I'm not going to PBO right away. This PBO might happen after 5 years or something...
"but I don't like to pay extra every month on my electrical bill either..."
Also the 7600 runs cooler then the x version.
The 7600x is only interesting to have a look at because of the "out of the box" frequenties.
Therefor I thought maybe that the 7600x could survive longer then the 7600 non x.

 

[MrstimX]

get the 7600, then aim to get a used x3d part in 2 years

 

[CountMike]

I always get the X versions because they are just higher binned although with some luck and skill most non-X could be coaxed to same or close performance.

 

[ilukey77]

personally i would go the 7600 or a 7700 and spend the rest on a x670e board so you get the better chipset for further upgrades down the track..
I had the 7600x and ive used the 7700 and the 7600x is far harder to cool than even the 7700 ..

for reference my 7600x with a 420mm arctic would hit 75c allcore r23 on the flip side the 7700 non x with a 280mm arctic would hit 58c allcore r23 ..

id go a 7700 with a decent x670e board !!

 

[Phil_33]

personally i would go the 7600 or a 7700 and spend the rest on a x670e board so you get the better chipset for further upgrades down the track..
I had the 7600x and ive used the 7700 and the 7600x is far harder to cool than even the 7700 ..

for reference my 7600x with a 420mm arctic would hit 75c allcore r23 on the flip side the 7700 non x with a 280mm arctic would hit 58c allcore r23 ..

id go a 7700 with a decent x670e board !!

Sorry for the late answer but 7700 costs too much just like that x670 board. I have an arctic r34 cooler. Pretty standard cooler. But if the x's are going to high in temps, maybe I should stick with the non x?
R5 7600 on a Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite. How is that?

 

[CountMike]

Sorry for the late answer but 7700 costs too much just like that x670 board. I have an arctic r34 cooler. Pretty standard cooler. But if the x's are going to high in temps, maybe I should stick with the non x?
R5 7600 on a Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite. How is that?

X models boost a bit higher but you can always turn boost off to lower temps. That brings it down to only price to determine decision.

 

[Kona45primo]

It's a $30 difference. I would suggest going 7600 & then after AM6 launches look into buying a final gen mid range amd cpu for AM5. Assuming that the performance uplift is enough to justify.

 

[Phil_33]

X models boost a bit higher but you can always turn boost off to lower temps. That brings it down to only price to determine decision.

Right, ok thanks! Even without the boost, I think the X version has higher clocks then the none x.
My cooler can handle this I think.

 

[CountMike]

Right, ok thanks! Even without the boost, I think the X version has higher clocks then the none x.
My cooler can handle this I think.

If by without boost you mean Base clock CPU frequency that's not important. Unless you manually limit it, both, even non-X will still boost over it just not as much. All together there's some 200 MHz difference but only at full boost on on one core at a time because that's what those max boost numbers mean, on single core.

 

[ilukey77]

If by without boost you mean Base clock CPU frequency that's not important. Unless you manually limit it, both, even non-X will still boost over it just not as much. All together there's some 200 MHz difference but only at full boost on on one core at a time because that's what those max boost numbers mean, on single core.

100% agree but personally i set and forget .. so i have no interest in playing around with changing boost clocks etc etc ..
hence why i like the 7800x3d yes there is small tweaks you can do but i slap it in and aslong as it does the job and works im happy !!

For a put in and forget type thing i think the non x is better .. besides i see little gain in any way buying a x series maybe slightly higher clocks and slightly better performance but your going to lose that bonus with any thing 1440p and above hotter and resale value is moot to i lost about $160 aud on my 7600x payed $460aud sold for around $300 non x is not going to be any different in the 2nd hand market ..

Now im not saying the x versions are bad but in a cost vs performance with easier cooling if your sticking to a budget non x are better options ..
better to go up the non x stack with more cores than spend on the x series with less !!

 

[ilukey77]

Sorry for the late answer but 7700 costs too much just like that x670 board. I have an arctic r34 cooler. Pretty standard cooler. But if the x's are going to high in temps, maybe I should stick with the non x?
R5 7600 on a Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite. How is that?

sorry ive been away ..
my argument on the x670e is its got the better chipset so upgrading to 8000 9000 series will offer better VRM's etc ..

Also ive noticed some of the B650 boards are still running gen 4 x16 pcie which most GPU's are going to gen 5 next gen ..
( now is that a big deal breaker or going to make alot of difference then i dont know )

The build i did for a friend recently using a 7700 non x and a 6800xt i used a Rog strix B650e -i gaming wifi itx mobo not apart from the itx being more expensive i bought that board for 2 reasons
1. the case ( jonsbo d31 lcd ) only fits M-atx or itx
2. that specific board has the gen 5 x16 pcie slot so better equipping it for later GPU upgrades !!

but it wasnt a cheap B650 board my rog crosshair x670e gene was $969aud and is quite a top tier board and the b650e was $540aud so with in itself quite expensive ..

 

[pete_101]

100% agree but personally i set and forget .. so i have no interest in playing around with changing boost clocks etc etc ..
hence why i like the 7800x3d yes there is small tweaks you can do but i slap it in and aslong as it does the job and works im happy !!

For a put in and forget type thing i think the non x is better .. besides i see little gain in any way buying a x series maybe slightly higher clocks and slightly better performance but your going to lose that bonus with any thing 1440p and above hotter and resale value is moot to i lost about $160 aud on my 7600x payed $460aud sold for around $300 non x is not going to be any different in the 2nd hand market ..

Now im not saying the x versions are bad but in a cost vs performance with easier cooling if your sticking to a budget non x are better options ..
better to go up the non x stack with more cores than spend on the x series with less !!

If you overpay for the 7600x, then you will lose money, I paid just under NZ$400 for a 7600x.

The secret to keeping it cool is undervolting, or even better, curve optimizing. I simply used "Ryzen master" to find the best curve optimization which was -30 all cores and I also clicked the "Auto OC". It now runs around 5,400MHz all core, just over 5,500 single and doesn't go over 70w total package and the temps stay below 70.

 

[Phil_33]

sorry ive been away ..
my argument on the x670e is its got the better chipset so upgrading to 8000 9000 series will offer better VRM's etc ..

Also ive noticed some of the B650 boards are still running gen 4 x16 pcie which most GPU's are going to gen 5 next gen ..
( now is that a big deal breaker or going to make alot of difference then i dont know )

The build i did for a friend recently using a 7700 non x and a 6800xt i used a Rog strix B650e -i gaming wifi itx mobo not apart from the itx being more expensive i bought that board for 2 reasons
1. the case ( jonsbo d31 lcd ) only fits M-atx or itx
2. that specific board has the gen 5 x16 pcie slot so better equipping it for later GPU upgrades !!

but it wasnt a cheap B650 board my rog crosshair x670e gene was $969aud and is quite a top tier board and the b650e was $540aud so with in itself quite expensive ..

100% agree but personally i set and forget .. so i have no interest in playing around with changing boost clocks etc etc ..
hence why i like the 7800x3d yes there is small tweaks you can do but i slap it in and aslong as it does the job and works im happy !!

For a put in and forget type thing i think the non x is better .. besides i see little gain in any way buying a x series maybe slightly higher clocks and slightly better performance but your going to lose that bonus with any thing 1440p and above hotter and resale value is moot to i lost about $160 aud on my 7600x payed $460aud sold for around $300 non x is not going to be any different in the 2nd hand market ..

Now im not saying the x versions are bad but in a cost vs performance with easier cooling if your sticking to a budget non x are better options ..
better to go up the non x stack with more cores than spend on the x series with less !!

I see. So basically what you guys mean is that "out of the box" performance of the x doesn't matter compared to the non x?
Well you got that right, I'm not into oc'ing anyway. Never oc'ed in my life. So thats just put it in and let it do its job.
For that reference you're saying that the 7600 non x is better value for me then the x version right?
And lastly you're saying that the x670 would be better for the future then the b650? I was aiming for the b650 aorus elite from gigabyte and that board has strong vrms and strong cooling but as you say no gen 5. Not that its needed though. I think I'll be fine with gen 4...
I'll see what I can do.
The difference in price between 7600 and 7600x is only 10 dollars or something. But if I don't gain anything by it then its useless to buy the x version.
Its already a hard pill to swallow with about 1000 dollars (1100 euro's) I need to pay. Gonna keep an eye out for black friday though...

 

[pete_101]

I see. So basically what you guys mean is that "out of the box" performance of the x doesn't matter compared to the non x?
Well you got that right, I'm not into oc'ing anyway. Never oc'ed in my life. So thats just put it in and let it do its job.
For that reference you're saying that the 7600 non x is better value for me then the x version right?
And lastly you're saying that the x670 would be better for the future then the b650? I was aiming for the b650 aorus elite from gigabyte and that board has strong vrms and strong cooling but as you say no gen 5. Not that its needed though. I think I'll be fine with gen 4...
I'll see what I can do.
The difference in price between 7600 and 7600x is only 10 dollars or something. But if I don't gain anything by it then its useless to buy the x version.
Its already a hard pill to swallow with about 1000 dollars (1100 euro's) I need to pay. Gonna keep an eye out for black friday though...

The 7600x will give you better performance as it's "binned" as the better chip...which also means it can run just as lower wattage as the non x while still giving better performance, it's worth the extra $10.

As for the better chipset, at this stage the B650 is all you really need, maybe in the future that will change, but I'm sure the future CPUs will still work just fine if you can live without PCIe gen 5.

 

[Phil_33]

The 7600x will give you better performance as it's "binned" as the better chip...which also means it can run just as lower wattage as the non x while still giving better performance, it's worth the extra $10.

As for the better chipset, at this stage the B650 is all you really need, maybe in the future that will change, but I'm sure the future CPUs will still work just fine if you can live without PCIe gen 5.

Funny how you all are saying opposite things😂😅 I'll just see what happens. If 7600 is on sale with black friday I might buy that one. If not then I'll buy the x one.
What is for sure is that the x670 (supportive of gen 5) is 28 euro's more then the b650. Not only that but the gigabyte b650 aorus elite has better vrm then the gigabyte x670 gaming x ax.

PBO enabled exceeds the 7600x overall.
However... I don't tend to enable pbo. I tend to just plug in and play...
What I wanna know is what the temps of the 7600 non x and the 7600x will be, untouched? And if my aftermarket Arctic r34 can handle it?

 

[pete_101]

Funny how you all are saying opposite things😂😅 I'll just see what happens. If 7600 is on sale with black friday I might buy that one. If not then I'll buy the x one.
What is for sure is that the x670 (supportive of gen 5) is 28 euro's more then the b650. Not only that but the gigabyte b650 aorus elite has better vrm then the gigabyte x670 gaming x ax.

PBO enabled exceeds the 7600x overall.
However... I don't tend to enable pbo. I tend to just plug in and play...
What I wanna know is what the temps of the 7600 non x and the 7600x will be, untouched? And if my aftermarket Arctic r34 can handle it?

I know you want to just plug and play, but I would highly recommend setting curve optimizer for any Ryzen CPU. With Gigabyte motherboards, "Ryzen Master" is part of their support software, all you need do is run the optimizer (takes about 30 minutes) to find the value for each core and then apply. This saves the settings to the BIOS so that you never need to run the program again, unless you update the BIOS, in which case you simply run the program and click apply as it remembers the settings. This reduces power usage and temperature without affecting performance....actually it usually increases performance as you don't hit any thermal limits.

As for your cooler, it's fine for either CPU. However, the CPU will spike in temperature very quickly as the heat simply can't get out to the cooler fast enough, AMD says not to worry about this as it can run at 95C all day long without any harm. This is where curve optimizing reduces these temperature spikes. I have a water cooled 7600x, before optimizing it would spike to over 90C in less than a second and stay there (this is on an all core benchmark test like Cinebench), once the test finished it would instantly drop down to about 50C. Once optimized, it now only spikes up to 70C in the same test.

 

[ilukey77]

I see. So basically what you guys mean is that "out of the box" performance of the x doesn't matter compared to the non x?
Well you got that right, I'm not into oc'ing anyway. Never oc'ed in my life. So thats just put it in and let it do its job.
For that reference you're saying that the 7600 non x is better value for me then the x version right?
And lastly you're saying that the x670 would be better for the future then the b650? I was aiming for the b650 aorus elite from gigabyte and that board has strong vrms and strong cooling but as you say no gen 5. Not that its needed though. I think I'll be fine with gen 4...
I'll see what I can do.
The difference in price between 7600 and 7600x is only 10 dollars or something. But if I don't gain anything by it then its useless to buy the x version.
Its already a hard pill to swallow with about 1000 dollars (1100 euro's) I need to pay. Gonna keep an eye out for black friday though...

nothing wrong with a B650 just buy the right one and look at the future ..

my reasoning behind gen 5 pcie x16 is if you plan to stick with it next gen gpu's will use gen 5 ..
dont think its a huge issue either but i always try to give people the options of future i dont buy a board lacking in features to use for 2 minutes because its cheaper

My argument on my $969aud rog crosshair x670e board is i plan to shove the 8000 series x 3d and the 9000x3d cpu's in it i feel there is then no need to upgrade the board mid gen if i decide to go big !!

so for the money spend money saved in a way !!

still think the 7600 or a 7700 non x is the better option over the x versions ..

i would still take the non x 7700 over the 7600x for shear more cores even if its a little more expensive as unless you want to go 7800x3d the 7700 non x will give great gaming performance

 

[Phil_33]

I know you want to just plug and play, but I would highly recommend setting curve optimizer for any Ryzen CPU. With Gigabyte motherboards, "Ryzen Master" is part of their support software, all you need do is run the optimizer (takes about 30 minutes) to find the value for each core and then apply. This saves the settings to the BIOS so that you never need to run the program again, unless you update the BIOS, in which case you simply run the program and click apply as it remembers the settings. This reduces power usage and temperature without affecting performance....actually it usually increases performance as you don't hit any thermal limits.

As for your cooler, it's fine for either CPU. However, the CPU will spike in temperature very quickly as the heat simply can't get out to the cooler fast enough, AMD says not to worry about this as it can run at 95C all day long without any harm. This is where curve optimizing reduces these temperature spikes. I have a water cooled 7600x, before optimizing it would spike to over 90C in less than a second and stay there (this is on an all core benchmark test like Cinebench), once the test finished it would instantly drop down to about 50C. Once optimized, it now only spikes up to 70C in the same test.

And what if I go eco mode with the x version?
Also how do I find the value of each core? I've never done such things before so its all new to me.

nothing wrong with a B650 just buy the right one and look at the future ..

my reasoning behind gen 5 pcie x16 is if you plan to stick with it next gen gpu's will use gen 5 ..
dont think its a huge issue either but i always try to give people the options of future i dont buy a board lacking in features to use for 2 minutes because its cheaper

My argument on my $969aud rog crosshair x670e board is i plan to shove the 8000 series x 3d and the 9000x3d cpu's in it i feel there is then no need to upgrade the board mid gen if i decide to go big !!

so for the money spend money saved in a way !!

still think the 7600 or a 7700 non x is the better option over the x versions ..

i would still take the non x 7700 over the 7600x for shear more cores even if its a little more expensive as unless you want to go 7800x3d the 7700 non x will give great gaming performance

The 7700 costs 100 euro's more. If I had the money, I could give my money out elsewhere. Like the 7800xt. Or the x670 board.
(I go 7700xt because I can then save money.)
So I think I'll stick with the 7600.

Also about the x670, no worries.
However... Question is, this b650 board, can it take me to am5's last gen cpu's? The aorus elite has great vrm's and loading times as well as great gaming performance.

 

[pete_101]

And what if I go eco mode with the x version?
Also how do I find the value of each core? I've never done such things before so its all new to me.

I already explained that "Ryzen master" will find the values for you, all you need do is click on "start optimizing" and when it's done click apply, it sets the value to the BIOS for you and you never need run it again. Do this regardless of the CPU and it will run cooler and use less power.

The 7700 costs 100 euro's more. If I had the money, I could give my money out elsewhere. Like the 7800xt. Or the x670 board.
(I go 7700xt because I can then save money.)
So I think I'll stick with the 7600.

Also about the x670, no worries.
However... Question is, this b650 board, can it take me to am5's last gen cpu's? The aorus elite has great vrm's and loading times as well as great gaming performance.

AM5 only came out with the 7000 CPUs, so it's still on the 1st generation. AMD said they will support it until at least 2026...in the future you will need to update the BIOS to run the latest CPUs, but the B650 boards will still be fine.

 

[Phil_33]

I already explained that "Ryzen master" will find the values for you, all you need do is click on "start optimizing" and when it's done click apply, it sets the value to the BIOS for you and you never need run it again. Do this regardless of the CPU and it will run cooler and use less power.

AM5 only came out with the 7000 CPUs, so it's still on the 1st generation. AMD said they will support it until at least 2026...in the future you will need to update the BIOS to run the latest CPUs, but the B650 boards will still be fine.

Sorry, I missunderstood you at 2 parts. I thought you were saying that I'll have to do the value's. So the program does it by itself? Nice! Is this a program integrated into the bios from Gigabyte themselves then? Or do I have to download it first and then go into bios to then activate the optimizer?
The other part was that I thought you meant to run the program only for the X versions.
In that case, I'll make note of this program and try to install and use it.
Cause indeed, not only do I want to just plug in and play (without any overclocking) but I don't want my cpu to exceed above 70 degrees. Actually I want to have it around 65 degrees but this maybe would cost me in performance.
Thanks for the tips!🙏

 

[pete_101]

Sorry, I missunderstood you at 2 parts. I thought you were saying that I'll have to do the value's. So the program does it by itself? Nice! Is this a program integrated into the bios from Gigabyte themselves then? Or do I have to download it first and then go into bios to then activate the optimizer?
The other part was that I thought you meant to run the program only for the X versions.
In that case, I'll make note of this program and try to install and use it.
Cause indeed, not only do I want to just plug in and play (without any overclocking) but I don't want my cpu to exceed above 70 degrees. Actually I want to have it around 65 degrees but this maybe would cost me in performance.
Thanks for the tips!🙏

As I recall with my Gigabyte board, to make sure all my drivers were installed and up to date I used their support page and downloaded "Gigabyte control center". This checks for the drivers you need as well as allowing you to control things on the motherboard like fans speeds, RGB etc. It was here that it installed Ryzen Master, at first I wasn't interested in it, it was only later I realized what it was capable of at the click of a button.

 

[Phil_33]

As I recall with my Gigabyte board, to make sure all my drivers were installed and up to date I used their support page and downloaded "Gigabyte control center". This checks for the drivers you need as well as allowing you to control things on the motherboard like fans speeds, RGB etc. It was here that it installed Ryzen Master, at first I wasn't interested in it, it was only later I realized what it was capable of at the click of a button.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tZokHHQIOw

Found this video too.
Undervolting seems to be a great way to let your components live longer, have better temps and maintaining great performance.
So thank you very much for this tip and sorry for the missunderstanding.

 

[pete_101]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tZokHHQIOw

Found this video too.
Undervolting seems to be a great way to let your components live longer, have better temps and maintaining great performance.
So thank you very much for this tip and sorry for the missunderstanding.

That's alright, all you wanted was a simple plug and play system and I was telling you to use software you'd never heard of to tune a 7600x to run as cool as a non x. The fact you can tune either CPU to be more energy efficient is the real benefit of it.