[SOLVED] AMD CPU Questions

[MasterYoda327]

I plan to rebuild or replace my current gaming PC by either the end of this year or early next year. For the PC, I plan to do gaming as my primary activity. A secondary purpose will be doing some basic video editing for aerial video and photo shots from my drone, which is capable of taking video and images at 4K resolution. For the monitor, I plan to get a gaming monitor that is 1440p in resolution with a refresh rate anywhere between 60 and 165 hertz (dependent on price) and is capable of syncing with both Nvidia and Radeon graphics cards. If the price is reasonable, I may consider a 4K gaming monitor. For the graphics card, I am currently considering a variant of the Nvidia RTX 3070 and possibly the 3070 Super/Ti if Nvidia releases it in the coming months. If there is a good deal, I may consider the RTX 3080. I will also look at Radeon's upcoming competitors for the RTX 3070 and possibly the RTX 3080.

Now, as far as I can remember I have always used Intel-based PCs. If I switch to AMD for the CPU, this will be my first time. I am trying to avoid both going overkill and going cheap on the CPU, but I am uncertain which AMD CPU will meet my needs. I am aware that AMD has used the same AM4 socket for the last 3 to 4 years to allow backwards compatibility for their newer CPUs with some older AM4-based motherboards. Since I do not know how long AMD may continue using the AM4 socket, if I choose AMD for my CPU, I would like the CPU to last me 4 years and be capable of handling a newer video card when I upgrade the video card 18 months to 2 years into the future after I complete the build. I currently have no plans to overclock.

My questions are as followed:

1. Is the Ryzen 9 5950X overkill for my needs?
2. Am I better off with the Ryzen 9 5900X or Ryzen 7 5800X?
3. Since I do not plan to overclock, but would like to maximize my chances of backwards compatibility of a future AMD CPU with the motherboard that I purchase, if AMD continues using the AM4 socket, would I be better off with an X570, B550, or other class of AMD AM4-based motherboard?

Thanks

 

[alceryes]

IMHO...

1. Probably.
2. Yes. The 5900X would be the one to focus on.
3. A premium X570 motherboard is what you want.

 

[MasterYoda327]

Thank you for the information. Based on the past history of the AMD Ryzen CPUs, if I get the Ryzen 9 5900X and got an Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU or a Radeon equivalent, and AMD changes the CPU socket type two years into the future when I plan to upgrade the GPU, would the 5900X still be capable of handling the demands of whatever is the current model GPU at that point that is that future's equivalent of the RTX 3070 (say RTX 4070 or RTX 5070 and whatever Radeon's equivalent of that card) or would I have to upgrade the CPU and, if necessary, the motherboard?

 

[drea.drechsler]

....

1. Is the Ryzen 9 5950X overkill for my needs?
2. Am I better off with the Ryzen 9 5900X or Ryzen 7 5800X?
3. Since I do not plan to overclock, but would like to maximize my chances of backwards compatibility of a future AMD CPU with the motherboard that I purchase, if AMD continues using the AM4 socket, would I be better off with an X570, B550, or other class of AMD AM4-based motherboard?

Thanks

Both the 5950 and the 5900 benefits come from their high core counts. Games don't take advantage of that but content creation (video editing, image rendering, graphics arts) and engineering apps do, so that's really where their forte lies. Games really aren't that heavily threaded so even a 6 core/12 thread processor is just as good in games, but 8 core/16 thread processors will help if you do a lot of things alongside gaming like streaming and video capture. You may be just as well off with a 5600.

I believe it's a settled thing: AM4 stops at Zen3. If not, let's know about it by someone with more info.

X570's only value vs. B550 is it has a lot of PCIe gen 4 lanes at your disposal. So far it's not proven Gen 4 is able to be properly used, though, and if you don't have plans to use several high-bandwidth AIC's a lot of PCIe lanes isn't that valuable either. For that you get a board with a chipset fan. A B550 board fully supports Zen 3 and they have VRM's that are the equal of any, and surpass many, X570's. The takeaway: buy either for what you need but don't shy away from B550 it's gonna work and work well.

 

[alceryes]

Gaming does take advantage of cache.
The 5900X give you 100% more cache than the 5800X with 50% more cores. The FPS difference will not be extreme, of course. But this extra cache (vs. the 5800X) will help performance.