[SOLVED] Best Budget AMD CPU?

[b.1taylor]

Hey there! I need help picking a new processor for my computer. I recently built a new computer and am in need of replacing the processor. I looking to spend around $150 on this. I previously had purchased the Ryzen 5 1600 AF for only $85, which is now unusable and costs around $150. It seems ridiculous to purchase it again when paying almost twice the price. I have been looking into the Ryzen 5 2600 and possibly the 2600x. I have the MSI B450 Tomahawk which sadly only supports first and second-generation Ryzen, which is why I’m not considering the 3600. Is the 2600 worth the money? Is it worth the upgrade to the 2600x? Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have any other recommendations. Thanks.

CPU: ?
Motherboard: MSI B450 Tomahawk
RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz
Video Card: GTX 1650 SUPER SC ULTRA
Storage: 250GB Seagate Barracuda SATA SSD, 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
PSU: EVGA 600W BR
Case: NZXT H510

 

[Supernova1138]

I'm pretty sure the B450 Tomahawk supports the 3000 series Ryzen CPUs with a BIOS update. The 3300x is the best value gaming CPU right now, though it probably is worth splashing out for the 3600 if you can given that a new console generation is starting soon and CPU requirements are only going to increase.

 

[b.1taylor]

Oh really? How would I go about updating the BIOS?

 

[Supernova1138]

Oh really? How would I go about updating the BIOS?

If your current CPU is dead, you may need another one unless the B450 Tomahawk can flash the BIOS without a CPU (it's not a standard feature on most boards). If this was a recent purchase you might not need an update at all and can just drop in a 3600.

Are you sure the CPU is dead and not another component?

 

[b.1taylor]

I am on a completely different system, running an Intel chip and completely different components. I think I will end up buying the 3600 if I can actually flash the BIOS on the MSI B450 Tomahawk. Is that possible to do?

 

[Supernova1138]

I am on a completely different system, running an Intel chip and completely different components. I think I will end up buying the 3600 if I can actually flash the BIOS on the MSI B450 Tomahawk. Is that possible to do?

If you bought your motherboard recently, it probably already has the BIOS for the 3600 unless it's been sitting on a warehouse shelf for a long time. Now if this system is more than a year old, you'd need the update. Some motherboards can flash the BIOS without a CPU, but I'm not sure if the B450 Tomahawk is among them.

 

[FoxVoxDK]

The B450 Tomahawk has USB flashback, no need for CPU.

If his BIOS version is 7C02v19 or 7C02v1A* he is good though and is ready for 3rd Gen.

*B, C, D.

 

[Karadjgne]

Sort of.

The B450 will support any cpu that was released prior to its manufacture date. So if you bought a B450 today that was built yesterday, it'll have full support of any 1k, 2k, 3k cpu.

It's not so much the amount of data a bios contains that limits it, it's all the included change data and instructions for data change, on top of any new data, that's the problem.

So bios updates must be done with care, unlike prior bios you can't simply just install the latest.
Think your current bios has XYZ line of code. Next update has instructions and data to change XYZ to 123. The newest bios is size limited so will only contain change instructions and data to change 123 to ABC. It won't have instructions and data to also change XYZ to ABC. Not enough room.

So skipping all the bios files you'll get redundant code as there's no instructions or replacement data for XYZ, so it remains, and no 123 to change so ABC doesn't exist. And yet you have a latest bios revision with a bunch of 1000 code and only half the 3000 code you need.

Find your bios revision on the website, start reading the notes on the newer revisions. You'll see the updates and media files necessary to install before moving on.