[SOLVED] Confused on what to do: amd vs intel system

[TechGuy75]

Guys I am confused at this point. I am trying to put together a new build and am in the process of collecting the parts. I plan on using the machine for work everyday, which includes office work and programming. Some light gaming also and anything else I need to do as it is my only machine. I plan on keeping the machine for a long time; like 8 years.

So far the heart of my system will be a ryzen 3700x and a x570 msi tomahawk wifi mobo. One of the reasons I am doing this setup, is that I have room to upgrade in the coming years witha 5900x and pcie 4 parts. However, before I planed on doing this amd build, I didnt know that amd builds can be an headache with memory compatibility and other parts compatability. I hear intel builds are More plug and play and very stable And more compatible with various parts. For example if I do a memory kit with my amd build today and I want to buy more memory in the future, I will need to rebuy all the memory rather than just add to what I have. If I change my cpu to the 5900x who knows how that will play with the mobo and memory. Just wasnt aware of these headaches; I thought this was going to be easy To upgrade. Starting to think I might be marrying a headache.

so, should I change my plans and do something like an intel i710700k or i9 10850k and a z490 board? It will be more expensive but it sounds like it will be less headaches. Maybe not as upgradable as the amd, but maybe set it now and forget upgrading and when it becomes obsolete do a whole new build? I am not an intel or amd fanboy. Want whatever system performs, is stable and upgradability would be great. Your thought?

thanks.

 

[King Dranzer]

Nope AMD New Gen CPUs and Motherboards are not bad and not facing issues with RAM Compatibility or any other Driver issue. Ryzen has Become lot stable with the Past gen and this gen it was good just one update of Bios since Launch. Memory compatibility is also no issue. Any good RAM kit you can pick will be compatible. Just look for highest possible speeds you can get for the budget and capacity as well. Better go with 2 x 16GB kit instead of 4 x 8GB kit. Look for 3600Mhz or higher speed kits from Corsair, G.Skill, Crucial etc.

But purchase something like R5 3600 or 3500 instead of 3700X. Even 3400 and 3200 will do fine. But if you manage to find 3300 for low go for it. See all you need is a basic CPU as a Place holder till you manage to purchase R5 5900X. Don't spend lot of money on the CPU get something Low end what ever you manage to get will do fine.

 

[King Dranzer]

You're gonna be more than ok with the 3700X and X570 Tomahawk Wifi motherboard and like you said you can upgrade to a 5900X later.

And don't worry about AMD. Zen 2 and Zen 3 are really amazing CPU's.

Please watch this video before you buy your RAM. You can buy 2 sticks but make sure they are dual-rank sticks.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UkGu6A-6sQ

Yeah I just din't go through entire video but I guess Steve covered the part about Effect of Capacity over No. of Modules.

Like 4 x 8GB kit being superior in performance to 2 x 8GB kit.
But then 4 x 8GB kit being similar in performance to 2 x 16GB kit.

So going with 2 x 16GB kit over 4 x 8GB kit is better because OP can add in another 2 x 16GB kit over time to get greater storage capacity.

 

[LeiHeJun]

@TechGuy75
if you want to keep it for 8 years, and concerning memory compatibility. Let me remind you that DDR5 is under production for servers and will soon begin for home users.
Don't look at RAM for a long run, we're concluding current era.

 

[karenusa]

I think now Intel has no future at all for gaming setups and AMD will beat badly with ryzen 5000 processors in 2021 to intel.AMD is far bettet than if you will build a proper gaming setup with optimized cooling.

 

[Why_Me]

You don't need the unlocked Intel cpu's (K series) unless you plan on overclocking. btw what's your budget, what's your screen resolution and when do you plan on purchasing.

 

[TechGuy75]

Hi guys. Thank you for taking the time to provide me your thoughts. I having been thinking about this whole build and think I am planning on changing my whole idea on what I am doing. Here are some of my thoughts below.

• Basically I went with this amd build since the 3000 series present good value for the dollar. Also I wanted a build that would give me good scope to upgrade later. I think I have given up on the major upgrading part. I think I would rather buy the most I can afford/willing to spend now, use it for many years and then do a new build when this setup is obsolete, rather than do all kinds of upgrades. Kind of a more set it and forget it mantra.
  
  
• I already own the ryzen 3700x and x570 mobo. I was planning on using these for a few years and then do a 5900x when my setup was older and the price of this chip came down(its also hard to find now). However, I don’t think that is practical. I think in the long run I will spend more unnecessarily. I am sure amd will come out with a new series of chips next year and the 5900x wont be available new for more than about a year new. I dont want to buy it used. So that would kind of force me to buy a 5900x next year or so. Don't know if the 5900x would really come down at all in that time period due to the low supply and high demand. Also, I would need to sell my 3700x and would definitely lose money on that since it would be used. So I don’t see this saving money, quite the opposite.

• Next, if I swap out the 3000 chip with the 5000 chip, not sure if the bios update will mitigate any issues. How will the memory react with this new series of chip? Not sure, lets say that is not an issue, let me go on. Realistically the only 2 parts I might upgrade on this machine are adding more memory or drive space. Lets say that the memory kit I buy today works fine with this amd setup. If in a few years I need more ram, I read from many people that a new stick of ram might cause issues with the existing ram I already have, since they will most likely not be from the same kit. I might have to rebuy all my ram. I don’t want to do this, I want to be able to just add more ram to my existing set of ram. I hear intel is very good with this.

• Next, I plan on doing a nice 32” ips 4k Monitor. As mentioned, this is not really a gaming build but mainly a productivity and programming machine. I will do some light gaming like old games, and retro gaming. I don’t really like fps. Therefore I plan on doing a 1660 super or 2060 regular, something in that range. As you know gpus are all sold out and I have no idea when a reasonable amount of stock will be there. However, I need to build now and need a gpu that can drive a 4k screen just for office work, at the time being. So I am forced to buy a cheap gpu for now and will need to sell that to get a real gpu later, more money wasted. Instead if I do the intel cpu I am thinking of, I can just make use of the igp until I buy a real gpu.

• So my plan? I plan on returning my current chip and mobo. I plan on buying the best intel chip I can afford today, am willing to spend on, and that is available. I plan on doing the 10850k with a z490 msi gaming edge board. It is only roughly 100 dollars more than the price I got the 3700x for and looks like a beast of a cpu. Yes, the 5900x is a better chip but as mentioned I don’t want to spend that much with what I explained above and it is hard to find today. I would just keep the 10850k until it is obsolete for me and not worry about upgrading. I am getting a great cpu today, for not much more than the 3700x and I dont need to worry about upgrading it. Second, I hear that the 10850k, like most of the intel chips, are very accommodating to mixing ram brands and such, I like that. Third, it comes with a igp, which is perfect for me. The one negative is that pcie 4 is not supported, but by the time I really need that, several years from now ,then I will probably be looking to build a new machine. I doubt I am going to rebuy my ssd and gpu so that they run on pcie 4 when my build is very old, just do a new build at that time.

What do you think ?

 

[Vic 40]

what's your screen resolution

Still a valid question. At that gpu used as well. If res is pretty high will that 3700x not bottleneck and with a lower end gpu will it certainly not bottleneck. If anything would i rather upgrade the monitor to something higher res in the future if not already having one.

If you still want to swap to Intel fine with me. If you want to go route of 360hrz@1080p might it be better.

 

[TechGuy75]

Still a valid question. At that gpu used as well. If res is pretty high will that 3700x not bottleneck and with a lower end gpu will it certainly not bottleneck. If anything would i rather upgrade the monitor to something higher res in the future if not already having one.

If you still want to swap to Intel fine with me. If you want to go route of 360hrz@1080p might it be better.

i am sorry, I don’t completely understand what you are saying. I plan on doing a 32” 4k screen. It will probably be running at 60hz. I would like to do a 1660 super or a regular 2060. However, since they are so hard to get now, I planned on doing an el cheapo card just to be able to drive my screen for office work, until I can get the card I want. If the cpu I choose has an igp, then I thought I could use it for this purpose.

 

[Vic 40]

What i'm trying to say is that looking now at what resolution you want to go play and the gpu you want to use the 3700X you currently have will not be the bottleneck, so returning it is not really necessary. As in your plan for now with going Intel could you as well use this 3700X untill obsolete and upgrade after that since not wanting to look for a used 5900X . But in the end is that choice up to you.