[SOLVED] AMD FirePro W4100 vs NVIDIA NVS 510 for AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)

[MrYossu]

I'm speccing up a new machine, first time custom build, so feeling my way around. As I have an AMD FirePro W4100 and an NVIDIA NVS 510 spare, I was thinking about ordering the machine without a graphics card and plugging one of these in.

I'm looking at using www.pcspecialist.co.uk for the build, and have chosen an ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready motherboard and an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4) CPU.

Are either of these two graphics cards suitable for this MB/CPU, and if so, is there any advantage of one over the other? I'll be using Windows 10.

I'm a software developer, and never play games, so don't need fancy graphics. All I need is something that will drive my four monitors.

Full spec of the proposed machine shown below. Note that the spec shows only 4Gb RAM, because they only offer a max of 32Gb, and I intend on plugging in 64Gb, which I will buy separately.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Proposed spec...

Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
4GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: £947.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[COLGeek]

Neither GPU will be a good performance match with the processing power of the CPU. Of the two, the W4100 would pair well with the AMD chipset and video files.

 

[MrYossu]

Thanks for the reply. When you say they wouldn't be a good performance match, what does that mean in practice? Bear in mind that I'm not doing any heavy graphical work, no games, rendering, etc. I want the powerful CPU as I use Microsoft Visual Studio, and with a large project, that can hammer a CPU. However, my graphics usage is moderately light.

In simple terms, am I likely to see any problems with one of these cards?

Thanks again.

 

[COLGeek]

Will they work? Yes.

The CPU is much more capable than either GPU's performance level. So the system will be out of balance in terms of processing efficiency.

Just keep in mind that both GPUs mentioned are on the lower end of the performance spectrum and your CPU on the high end. Also, both GPUs only have 2GB of memory. Something to keep in mind with 4 displays.

For your stated purposes, that should not be an issue.

 

[MrYossu]

Thank you

 

[COLGeek]

You are very welcome. Enjoy the new rig.

 

[MrYossu]

Also, both GPUs only have 2GB of memory. Something to keep in mind with 4 displays.

Just noticed this comment. Am I likely to have any issues with this, even for my use case? If it's going to make a difference, I don't mind getting a more powerful card, I just don't see the point if one of these will be fine. However if you think 2Gb is too low, please let me know. I'm not sure what difference it would make to me.

Thanks again

P.S. Since posting I realised that I actually have two AMD FirePro W4100 cards. Would I see any benefit in plugging both in, and running two monitors off each, as opposed to running all four monitors off one card?

 

[COLGeek]

What resolution(s) will your four displays operate at? Are all DisplayPort displays?

 

[MrYossu]

ASUS PB278 at 2560x1440 and three other monitors (two Dell one Asus) running at 1920x1080.

They are a mixture of DP and not, but as the card I'm currently using only has miniDp ports, I'm using adaptors for them all.

Thanks

 

[COLGeek]

That is a lot of pixels for either GPU. Try them and see how they perform. If necessary, you can always upgrade the GPU.

What are the specs for your current rig?

 

[MrYossu]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Current specs can be seen in this post.