Question AsRock Steel Legend B450M - is it worth upgrading to Ryzen 5000? (Home Studio / Audio)

[TheOgre]

Hey guys. I'm needing an advice...

I have a home studio (I work with audio), activity where the raw power and count of cores/threads of the CPU really do matter. My current built (full specs on the signature) has a B450M Steel Legend (BIOS v3.30), with a 3500X and 32GB RAM (4x8GB @ 3200MHz). It's running smoothly, but I frequently reach full capacity of the CPU when inserting a cert amount of plugins in Reaper (which is a DAW that has an efficient multithreading usage).

I'm looking initially for a "direct upgrade" (3700X / 3800X), where I'd be able to keep the same BIOS version (which is stable within this built), but the issue is that is getting harder to find them (at least here in Brazil), unless looking at the second-hand market.

So my question is: are any of the latest BIOS updates for the Steel Legend to the Ryzen 5000 series stable, so that would allow me to keep the same equipment, and especially allow me to use the same RAM (I need the 32GB, if possible with the XMP Profile activated at 3200MHz), just by changing the CPU for one of a newer generation (5700X / 5800X)? I took a look at the AMD site, where I found this info about RAM usage (Max Memory Speed):
2x1R - DDR4-3200
2x2R - DDR4-3200
4x1R - DDR4-2933
4x2R - DDR4-2667

I've seen something similar in the Steel Legend specs, where Matisse and Vermeer series seems to behave the same:
https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B450M Steel Legend/index.asp#Specification
However, my 3500X is running normally at 3200MHz.

 

[Lutfij]

Gradually work your way to the latest BIOS version, making sure to skip BIOS version P4.25 [Beta] which is the dreaded 1.2.0.5 A.G.E.S.A code. Also, practically all older boards for any Ryzen AM4 socket processor are on A.G.E.S.A code 1.2.0.7 which has been stable for everyone on them.

Don't think too much, just update the BIOS to the latest version and then drop in the Ryzen 5000 series you're eyeing!

 

[hotaru.hino]

Your board supports the latest AGESA version (1.2.0.7), which is supposed to address issues people have seen with Zen 3. Whether or not it actually does that, I can't really say, but since I haven't seen anyone really complain about it, it's probably good to go.

Also you can update straight to the latest version. I don't see any requirements on the page that you need to have a previous version installed. The older versions apparently have a requirement to be past a certain version of the chipset drivers, but as long as you're on the latest that shouldn't matter.

 

[Karadjgne]

Best bet would be the 5700x. It's the same 65w output as the 3500x, meaning there wouldn't be any need to change the cpu cooler. Has the same support as the 3500x, just considerably stronger single thread IPC, combined with its 2core/10 thread advantage, it's basically double the Passmark score, which is a very sizable power advantage.

 

[TheOgre]

Gradually work your way to the latest BIOS version, making sure to skip BIOS version P4.25 [Beta] which is the dreaded 1.2.0.5 A.G.E.S.A code. Also, practically all older boards for any Ryzen AM4 socket processor are on A.G.E.S.A code 1.2.0.7 which has been stable for everyone on them.

Don't think too much, just update the BIOS to the latest version and then drop in the Ryzen 5000 series you're eyeing!

Awesome! I'll start upgrading my MOBO and, as soon as possible, I'll grab the 5700X, especially as I'm seeing it here in Brazil costing the same as the 3600XT was costing two years ago, when I built my PC. My only concern migrating to the series above is how and if it'll handle the 04 RAMs in the current XMP Profile (@3200MHz). And then, I think I'll buy a better air cooler than the Wraith Stealth that came with my 3500X, just in case.

Your board supports the latest AGESA version (1.2.0.7), which is supposed to address issues people have seen with Zen 3. Whether or not it actually does that, I can't really say, but since I haven't seen anyone really complain about it, it's probably good to go.

Also you can update straight to the latest version. I don't see any requirements on the page that you need to have a previous version installed. The older versions apparently have a requirement to be past a certain version of the chipset drivers, but as long as you're on the latest that shouldn't matter.

In fact, the B450M Steel Legend has the AMD AM4 AGESA Combo V2 PI 1.2.0.6b built-in the BIOS v4.30. The AGESA v1.2.0.7 is present only in the BIOS v4.31 [Beta], so I won't have it right away.

And yes, my chipset and GPU are kept up to date as much as possible.

Best bet would be the 5700x. It's the same 65w output as the 3500x, meaning there wouldn't be any need to change the cpu cooler. Has the same support as the 3500x, just considerably stronger single thread IPC, combined with its 2core/10 thread advantage, it's basically double the Passmark score, which is a very sizable power advantage.

Yeah! It's my target, indeed. The 5800X has more raw power per core, but in expense of more power consumption. And I don't know if I'll see that much improvement for audio work in it, more than I already expect to see when upgrading from the 3500X (06/06) to the 5700X (08/16).

 

[Karadjgne]

Zen3 has no issues with 4x sticks like Zen/+/2 has. It's just as comfortable running 4x 8Gb 1r as it is 2x 16Gb 2r.

The 5700x is @ 2% behind the 5800x. It scored 1645 points in the single-threaded tests, and 10196 in the multi-threaded benchmark run. The official Geekbench 5 5800X score is 1671 points for the single-threaded result and 10338 points for the multi-threaded score.

IPC is the same for both cpus, so the raw power difference is really only in the slightly different boost levels and nothing more, for just short of double the power use.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Should be just fine. I’ve got the AsRock ab350 pro 4. Updated my board to a beta bios 7.20. Now running a 5900x. As long as you keep it cool on my board at least it’s been perfectly stable. Your steel legend should be a better board than mine so you should be good to go.

 

[TheOgre]

One month update:
The 5700X arrived in November 24th, and the Noctua NH-U12S Redux (air cooler) arrived in November 26th, so, almost one month ago. I took the advantage of the necessity to open the PC to change the air cooler and the CPU, and also changed the PSU (DeepCool DA500 came out, Corsair CX650F came in), due to the good value of the PSU and to already prepare the system for a future GPU swap. Apart from some adjustments that were necessary to make in the BIOS after changing the processors, the swap was almost plug'n'play (I've upgraded the BIOS from v3.30 to v.4.30 previously to the arrive of the components). And, well... for the audio working, it reached a whole new level of experience. A project I was getting some issues (audio glitches, due to overusage of the processment of the CPU with the 3500X) is running smoothly with a lower Buffer Size (more processing), which is incredible.


And the memories are running smoothly at 3200MHz.

 

[Karadjgne]

👍