- Jan 17, 2025
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Hello!
I'm looking to update my PC and would like to ask for you to check some of my logic and assumptions.
Approximate Purchase Date: somewhere in the next 3 months
Budget Range: up to EUR 1000
System Usage from Most to Least Important:
- Music Production
- Gaming (non-competitive, but still demanding games)
- Image editing
- General office stuff
Are you buying a monitor: No
Parts to Upgrade:
- MOBO
- CPU + Cooler
- RAM
- Storage
Maybe:
- PSU?
Do you need to buy OS: No
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Germany-based (or EU based) preferred e.g. Mindfactory, Alternate, Caseking, Proshop. Generally use geizhals.de as a price comparison tool.
Location: Berlin, Germany
Parts Preferences: Prefer AMD, but not dogmatically so (although I don't expect a challenge here at this point in time).
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: 1440p
Additional Comments: It's tucked away under the desk, doesn't have a window so not wanting to buy any RGB or unnecessarily fancy looking stuff.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:
My current build is from 2018, with a 3070 purchased in 2020, and it's reached its limits on the processing front. It doesn't support Win11 either and as such it's time for an upgrade. Mostly use Ableton with a heap of VSTs and therefore Linux is out of the question due to compatibility issues, or at least the likelihood of it requiring time-consuming workarounds. The games I play don't need 5000fps, but are demanding in their own right (e.g. Cities Skylines 1, so more RAM is better, Cyberpunk2077, which I could play at launch but since its expansion runs like a geriatric bulldog with dementia) and I'd like to not be hardware-limited to have a go at new releases over the next years, though not necessarily at Ultra settings.
I'm looking to purchase a solid upgrade on processing power, while keeping the case and GPU. Doesn't have to be top-of-the-line or the latest & greatest, rather looking to maximise bang-for-buck in the higher-end segment so I'm set for the years to come. I'd also like to keep power consumption limited where possible, though I am not expecting to do any over/underclocking and prefer things to work largely out-of-the-box (minor tweaks that are straight forward and proven are fine, but I don't want to go down a rabbit-hole of optimisation).
I'm leaning towards an AM5 build over AM4 on account of future-proofing and upgrading, while the price difference doesn't seem to be too big anymore.
This is my current build:
PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix B450-I Gaming Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€33.24 @ Galaxus)
Video Card: Asus DUAL GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C MicroATX Mid Tower Case (€129.26 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: be quiet! Straight Power 11 650W 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
These are my considerations, narrowing down to a few options where possible:
PROCESSOR
Initially I was leaning towards the 7900x, though considering the 7950x for slightly more as well as the 9700x or 7700x if I can get away with fewer cores. The X3D stuff probably wouldn't make such a big difference as I play games pretty casually, and as such is not worth the significantly higher price point.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor (€499.88 @ Mindfactory)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor (€380.90 @ Alza)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor (€295.26 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (€341.58 @ Galaxus)
I've not found explicit Ableton-based tests, probably a long shot but if someone with prior experience in using Ableton on any of the above processors is willing to share their experiences that'd be fantastic.
PSU
Considering those CPUs; would my current 650W power supply suffice? I have read many different interpretations of headroom requirements and would probably prefer to be on the safe side, but if I could avoid spending an extra 130-something bucks on it that'd be swell.
By the looks of it, the Ryzen 9s have a TDP of 170w and the 9700x and 7700x have a 65w and 105w draw respectively.
Would I be right in thinking the 9700x could be ran easily with a 650w PSU and a decent MOBO? Where any of the others should really require an upgrade such as the below?
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€132.54 @ Mindfactory)
MOBO
The case allows for mATX motherboards, and I am leaning towards a B650M - where I've watched the Hardware Unboxed video basically summing it all up - though am still quite fuzzy about VRM requirements for the higher-end R9s. I also know the B850 is coming, though I don't see a use for PCIe5 yet and would rather hope its release bumps down the prices on the B650 models. Furthermore, I've read and heard of better performing RAM if there's just 2 DIMM slots opposed to 4 slots with only two being used. Though I do like to entertain the idea that I can expand rather than replace RAM, if it's a significantly cheaper but otherwise great MOBO then that'd be fine.
I use an Xbox controller to play certain games, so WiFi/BT should be on board - or have a free pci/m.2-e slot for a wifi card. At least 2x M.2 slots for storage, where heatsinks are a nice-to-have tbh. I use a USB Hub for most peripherals, so an extra port there doesn't do all that much for me.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650M AORUS ELITE AX ICE Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€182.90 @ Amazon Deutschland - note; 30eur cheaper than the black version)
Motherboard: MSI B650M GAMING PLUS WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€166.79 @ Galaxus)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650M-E WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€157.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€114.26 @ Mindfactory - note; a m.2 wifi card is about 20EUR)
I am inclined to go the cheaper route and get the ASRock plus the extra WiFi expansion card for EUR 135, as it seems like it could handle the 7950x according to the video mentioned. Am I missing something that should lead me to think otherwise?
RAM
As far as I can tell, the maximum out-of-the-box RAM speed for Ryzen 7000 series is 5200MT/s - though the difference to a 6000MT/s pair doesn't seem to be a lot. If I don't want to mess about, would I be right in thinking 5200 is fine?
I'd initially go for 2x16GB, with a possible future upgrade (to 2x32 or 4x16, depending on the MOBO situation). Both options below seem to be the cheapest 5200 set with CL36 seemingly being the lowest CAS latency.
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL36 Memory (€97.72 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL36 Memory (€94.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Then there's this 6000 RAM at about the same price with a lower CAS latency - would this still be a better performing RAM even if I don't OC to 6000MT/s?
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory (€98.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Or would it really not make a difference?
STORAGE
A single 2TB M.2 stick, something like the below, and an already-owned SATA 3.5" hard drive for backups. Happy to learn of alternatives here.
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€177.33 @ Mindfactory)
COOLING
The case has 2 Noctua front fans and I use the stock Ryzen CPU cooler. I reckon the case fans are fine, I would need to get a new CPU cooler regardless of the CPU I choose.
I don't think height is gonna be an issue in this case, but would still consider a low profile one or a slightly cheaper alternative
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9A-AM5 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler (€50.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (€34.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Would that be sufficient to cool a 7950x? Or any of the other CPUs?
In conclusion,
if I were to go for the high-end items on this (7950x, Aorus Mobo, new PSU) it'd be around 1100-1200EUR which is a bit much. Now considering where I'm upgrading from, I reckon any of the above options would give me a significant improvement. With that said, I'm happy to spend an extra 100-200 bucks if it means I don't have to faff about with it for the next 5 or so years.
What would you do? Wait for the prices to go down a bit & save up cash? Go for a cheaper option now? If so, where would you cut? Do something different all together? Curious to hear your thoughts.
So this turned out waaay longer than I anticipated - appreciate anyone reading this and offering up their pennies to this freshly registered newbie.
Cheers!
I'm looking to update my PC and would like to ask for you to check some of my logic and assumptions.
Approximate Purchase Date: somewhere in the next 3 months
Budget Range: up to EUR 1000
System Usage from Most to Least Important:
- Music Production
- Gaming (non-competitive, but still demanding games)
- Image editing
- General office stuff
Are you buying a monitor: No
Parts to Upgrade:
- MOBO
- CPU + Cooler
- RAM
- Storage
Maybe:
- PSU?
Do you need to buy OS: No
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Germany-based (or EU based) preferred e.g. Mindfactory, Alternate, Caseking, Proshop. Generally use geizhals.de as a price comparison tool.
Location: Berlin, Germany
Parts Preferences: Prefer AMD, but not dogmatically so (although I don't expect a challenge here at this point in time).
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: 1440p
Additional Comments: It's tucked away under the desk, doesn't have a window so not wanting to buy any RGB or unnecessarily fancy looking stuff.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading:
My current build is from 2018, with a 3070 purchased in 2020, and it's reached its limits on the processing front. It doesn't support Win11 either and as such it's time for an upgrade. Mostly use Ableton with a heap of VSTs and therefore Linux is out of the question due to compatibility issues, or at least the likelihood of it requiring time-consuming workarounds. The games I play don't need 5000fps, but are demanding in their own right (e.g. Cities Skylines 1, so more RAM is better, Cyberpunk2077, which I could play at launch but since its expansion runs like a geriatric bulldog with dementia) and I'd like to not be hardware-limited to have a go at new releases over the next years, though not necessarily at Ultra settings.
I'm looking to purchase a solid upgrade on processing power, while keeping the case and GPU. Doesn't have to be top-of-the-line or the latest & greatest, rather looking to maximise bang-for-buck in the higher-end segment so I'm set for the years to come. I'd also like to keep power consumption limited where possible, though I am not expecting to do any over/underclocking and prefer things to work largely out-of-the-box (minor tweaks that are straight forward and proven are fine, but I don't want to go down a rabbit-hole of optimisation).
I'm leaning towards an AM5 build over AM4 on account of future-proofing and upgrading, while the price difference doesn't seem to be too big anymore.
This is my current build:
PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix B450-I Gaming Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€33.24 @ Galaxus)
Video Card: Asus DUAL GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini C MicroATX Mid Tower Case (€129.26 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: be quiet! Straight Power 11 650W 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
These are my considerations, narrowing down to a few options where possible:
PROCESSOR
Initially I was leaning towards the 7900x, though considering the 7950x for slightly more as well as the 9700x or 7700x if I can get away with fewer cores. The X3D stuff probably wouldn't make such a big difference as I play games pretty casually, and as such is not worth the significantly higher price point.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor (€499.88 @ Mindfactory)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor (€380.90 @ Alza)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor (€295.26 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (€341.58 @ Galaxus)
I've not found explicit Ableton-based tests, probably a long shot but if someone with prior experience in using Ableton on any of the above processors is willing to share their experiences that'd be fantastic.
PSU
Considering those CPUs; would my current 650W power supply suffice? I have read many different interpretations of headroom requirements and would probably prefer to be on the safe side, but if I could avoid spending an extra 130-something bucks on it that'd be swell.
By the looks of it, the Ryzen 9s have a TDP of 170w and the 9700x and 7700x have a 65w and 105w draw respectively.
Would I be right in thinking the 9700x could be ran easily with a 650w PSU and a decent MOBO? Where any of the others should really require an upgrade such as the below?
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€132.54 @ Mindfactory)
MOBO
The case allows for mATX motherboards, and I am leaning towards a B650M - where I've watched the Hardware Unboxed video basically summing it all up - though am still quite fuzzy about VRM requirements for the higher-end R9s. I also know the B850 is coming, though I don't see a use for PCIe5 yet and would rather hope its release bumps down the prices on the B650 models. Furthermore, I've read and heard of better performing RAM if there's just 2 DIMM slots opposed to 4 slots with only two being used. Though I do like to entertain the idea that I can expand rather than replace RAM, if it's a significantly cheaper but otherwise great MOBO then that'd be fine.
I use an Xbox controller to play certain games, so WiFi/BT should be on board - or have a free pci/m.2-e slot for a wifi card. At least 2x M.2 slots for storage, where heatsinks are a nice-to-have tbh. I use a USB Hub for most peripherals, so an extra port there doesn't do all that much for me.
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650M AORUS ELITE AX ICE Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€182.90 @ Amazon Deutschland - note; 30eur cheaper than the black version)
Motherboard: MSI B650M GAMING PLUS WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€166.79 @ Galaxus)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650M-E WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€157.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard (€114.26 @ Mindfactory - note; a m.2 wifi card is about 20EUR)
I am inclined to go the cheaper route and get the ASRock plus the extra WiFi expansion card for EUR 135, as it seems like it could handle the 7950x according to the video mentioned. Am I missing something that should lead me to think otherwise?
RAM
As far as I can tell, the maximum out-of-the-box RAM speed for Ryzen 7000 series is 5200MT/s - though the difference to a 6000MT/s pair doesn't seem to be a lot. If I don't want to mess about, would I be right in thinking 5200 is fine?
I'd initially go for 2x16GB, with a possible future upgrade (to 2x32 or 4x16, depending on the MOBO situation). Both options below seem to be the cheapest 5200 set with CL36 seemingly being the lowest CAS latency.
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL36 Memory (€97.72 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL36 Memory (€94.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Then there's this 6000 RAM at about the same price with a lower CAS latency - would this still be a better performing RAM even if I don't OC to 6000MT/s?
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory (€98.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Or would it really not make a difference?
STORAGE
A single 2TB M.2 stick, something like the below, and an already-owned SATA 3.5" hard drive for backups. Happy to learn of alternatives here.
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€177.33 @ Mindfactory)
COOLING
The case has 2 Noctua front fans and I use the stock Ryzen CPU cooler. I reckon the case fans are fine, I would need to get a new CPU cooler regardless of the CPU I choose.
I don't think height is gonna be an issue in this case, but would still consider a low profile one or a slightly cheaper alternative
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9A-AM5 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler (€50.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (€34.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Would that be sufficient to cool a 7950x? Or any of the other CPUs?
In conclusion,
if I were to go for the high-end items on this (7950x, Aorus Mobo, new PSU) it'd be around 1100-1200EUR which is a bit much. Now considering where I'm upgrading from, I reckon any of the above options would give me a significant improvement. With that said, I'm happy to spend an extra 100-200 bucks if it means I don't have to faff about with it for the next 5 or so years.
What would you do? Wait for the prices to go down a bit & save up cash? Go for a cheaper option now? If so, where would you cut? Do something different all together? Curious to hear your thoughts.
So this turned out waaay longer than I anticipated - appreciate anyone reading this and offering up their pennies to this freshly registered newbie.
Cheers!
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