[SOLVED] CPU and Motherboard Upgrade advice

[bidot49236]

Hey there!
I currently have a R5 1600X on a ASROCK A320M-DGS board.
I was thinking of upgarding to a R7 3700X but Im not 100% sure if that is a good idea for the motherboard considering I keep seeing people saying that VRM and stuff might overheat and not handle the CPU well.. considering I don't have great airflow aswell. If I can't get a R7 3700X I would get a R5 3600.
Would the 3700X be bad in that motherboard ?
Would coming from a 1600x to a 3600 be a "big" difference or is it worth it ?
I do also have a RTX 2060 if that helps and usually play 1080p trying to get 144Hz.
Thanks for the answers in advance.

 

[Jmi20]

Vrm temp is only a big concern when overclocking.

The board should handle it perfectly well so long as you dont overclock. But i dont think you can overclock on an a320m, can you?

I’ve never had a 1st gen ryzen but according to userbenchmark the difference is 15%.

 

[bidot49236]

Vrm temp is only a big concern when overclocking.

The board should handle it perfectly well so long as you dont overclock. But i dont think you can overclock on an a320m, can you?

I’ve never had a 1st gen ryzen but according to userbenchmark the difference is 15%.

Yep. Can't overclock on the A320.
Indeed people say its a bad idea mixing that chipset with these CPUs. Regardless thank you for the answer.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Hey there!
I currently have a R5 1600X on a ASROCK A320M-DGS board.
I was thinking of upgarding to a R7 3700X but Im not 100% sure if that is a good idea for the motherboard considering I keep seeing people saying that VRM and stuff might overheat and not handle the CPU well.. considering I don't have great airflow aswell. If I can't get a R7 3700X I would get a R5 3600.
Would the 3700X be bad in that motherboard ?
Would coming from a 1600x to a 3600 be a "big" difference or is it worth it ?
I do also have a RTX 2060 if that helps and usually play 1080p trying to get 144Hz.
Thanks for the answers in advance.

While that motherboard's VRM lacks heatsinking at least it has 3 FET's for each phase and 4 phases. Considering you have no means to overclock the CPU on an A320 I'd think it should work out well enough for a 3700X. Getting memory you can clock as high as possible helps zen2 performance much more than overclocking anyway.

It's the poor case airflow that will hurt, worse even than the lack of heatsinking on the VRM alone, as 3700's boosting depends on staying cool. So getting set up with a better CPU cooler and more case fans only helps.

If VRM temperature should prove to be a problem you can put a small fan to blow on the CPU FET's to help cool them. All it takes is a little bit of airflow to help a lot. But if all you're doing is gaming VRM temperature won't likely prove to be a factor.

And since just gaming the 3700X would be 'better' not for the extra cores so much but just because of it's higher max boost clocks, 4.4G vs. 4.2G for a 3600. That's why case ventilation and cooling is so important to make sure the CPU maintains boost clocks.

 

[bidot49236]

While that motherboard's VRM lacks heatsinking at least it has 4 FET's for each phase and 4 phases. Considering you have no means to overclock the CPU on an A320 I'd think it should work out well enough for a 3700X. Getting memory you can clock as high as possible helps zen2 performance much more than overclocking anyway.

It's the poor case airflow that will hurt, worse than the VRM alone, as 3700's boosting depends on staying cool. So getting set up with a better CPU cooler and more case fans only helps.

And lastly: if VRM temperature should prove to be a problem you can put a small fan to blow on the CPU FET's to help cool them. All it takes is a little bit of airflow to help a lot. But if all you're doing is gaming VRM temperature won't likely prove to be a factor. Also since just gaming the 3700X would be 'better' not for the extra cores so much but just because of it's higher max boost clocks, 4.4G vs. 4.2G for a 3600.

Currently have a Hyper 212 EVO for my 1600X and that is a 95W TDP while the 3700X is 65W. That's why I was kind of confused.
I have 1 intake and 1 out on my current case. The 1600X currently always stays around 50c while gaming.
If this info will help you.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Currently have a Hyper 212 EVO for my 1600X and that is a 95W TDP while the 3700X is 65W. That's why I was kind of confused.
I have 1 intake and 1 out on my current case. The 1600X currently always stays around 50c while gaming.
If this info will help you.

A Hyper 212 is probably enough cooling for the CPU, especially since there's no overclocking, and quieter than the stock cooler while about it too. If you can put a 2nd fan on it would be even better. The reason isn't so much for cooling the CPU but the 2nd fan stirs up the air considerably over the VRM and that air movement helps cool off the FET's. It dropped VRM temperature almost 10 degrees on my B350 board with a second fan on the tower cooler of my 1700 OC'd to 3.85Ghz.

If you have any open 'holes' that can mount fans in your case I'd also try to fill those. Even if just zip-tied in place; I zip-tied a 140mm fan in the empty 5 1/2" drive bay blowing cool air towards the intake fan of my CPU cooler just to help it. It fit nicely and worked a charm.

But without proper case ventilation it's going to be your GPU that heats up the air inside the case. Using that hot air the Hyper 212 just can't cool off the CPU well enough so it ends up holding back on boost clocks. That's why case ventilation is so important.

ADDED: be sure you've updated to the latest Zen2 (Matisse) capable BIOS before swapping CPU's. Also follow the notes to upgrade in the proper sequence as it seems to matter for Asrock boards.

 

[bidot49236]

A Hyper 212 is probably enough cooling for the CPU, especially since there's no overclocking, and quieter than the stock cooler while about it too. If you can put a 2nd fan on it would be even better. The reason isn't so much for cooling the CPU but the 2nd fan stirs up the air considerably over the VRM and that air movement helps cool off the FET's. It dropped VRM temperature almost 10 degrees on my B350 board with a second fan on the tower cooler of my 1700 OC'd to 3.85Ghz.

If you have any open 'holes' that can mount fans in your case I'd also try to fill those. Even if just zip-tied in place; I zip-tied a 140mm fan in the empty 5 1/2" drive bay blowing cool air towards the intake fan of my CPU cooler just to help it. It fit nicely and worked a charm.

But without proper case ventilation it's going to be your GPU that heats up the air inside the case. Using that hot air the Hyper 212 just can't cool off the CPU well enough so it ends up holding back on boost clocks. That's why case ventilation is so important.

ADDED: be sure you've updated to the latest Zen2 (Matisse) capable BIOS before swapping CPU's. Also follow the notes to upgrade in the proper sequence as it seems to matter for Asrock boards.

Problem is. I have only 1 intake spot for a fan which is filled right now. I have 2 places on top of the case which I don't want to put as exhaust because of the pressure it will create and I dont want them to be intakes because they will put back all the hot air back in the case.
But still have 1 out on the back of the case above the IO.
Currently its true the 2060 gets around 79-81c during gaming (on 65% fan) and well I have quite a bad version with worse cooling. But the top of my case does indeed get pretty warm to the touch after playing for awhile with the GPU like that. However my 1600x is still around 50c.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Problem is. I have only 1 intake spot for a fan which is filled right now. I have 2 places on top of the case which I don't want to put as exhaust because of the pressure it will create and I dont want them to be intakes because they will put back all the hot air back in the case.
....

You are correct to not orient top fans as intakes. But I'm confused why you think they'll put to much pressure if you put fans there as exhaust; that's what that location is designed for. Proper ventilation is to put two fans up there and exhaust the hot air; with two fans you probably don't even have to run them at that high of a speed so you can keep the noise down.

 

[bidot49236]

You are correct to not orient top fans as intakes. But I'm confused why you think they'll put to much pressure if you put fans there as exhaust; that's what that location is designed for. Proper ventilation is to put two fans up there and exhaust the hot air; with two fans you probably don't even have to run them at that high of a speed so you can keep the noise down.

I meant it would be negative air pressure. My bad if I said it in a weird way.
And well my 212 is pretty big so Im not 100% sure if they will fit. Or if they do they will basically be very close to touching the cooler.

 

[drea.drechsler]

....
And well my 212 is pretty big so Im not 100% sure if they will fit. Or if they do they will basically be very close to touching the cooler.

Compared to many 'big air' coolers the hyper 212 is actually pretty small LOL, so I have to think the case designer considered that. Still, measure twice and buy once. All you need is about 25mm of clearance for most fans, but there are also slim profile fans available that would make it an even easier fit.

 

[geofelt]

Your post indicates that your objective in a cpu upgrade is to improve your FPS,
I presume that is for fast action games.
Most of the time, the limitation comes from the graphics card and not so much from the cpu.
The 3700X will be some 20% faster in single thread performance.
That is what matters most.
Try a backhanded test to see how sensitive your games are to cpu performance.
Run your games, but
Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 80%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 20% improvement in core speed might do.
Your motherboard will support a 3700X, but you will likely need to update your bios to support it.

What is the make/model of your case?

I do not think you will have a cooling issue.
It is normal for a gpu to run at 80c. under load.

You can always replace the front intake with a higher rpm fan that will provide more airflow.
(at the expense of more noise)

 

[bidot49236]

Your post indicates that your objective in a cpu upgrade is to improve your FPS,
I presume that is for fast action games.
Most of the time, the limitation comes from the graphics card and not so much from the cpu.
The 3700X will be some 20% faster in single thread performance.
That is what matters most.
Try a backhanded test to see how sensitive your games are to cpu performance.
Run your games, but
Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 80%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 20% improvement in core speed might do.
Your motherboard will support a 3700X, but you will likely need to update your bios to support it.

What is the make/model of your case?

I do not think you will have a cooling issue.
It is normal for a gpu to run at 80c. under load.

You can always replace the front intake with a higher rpm fan that will provide more airflow.
(at the expense of more noise)

I don't have a CPU overclock because of the A320 chipset. And yes I know games I usually play like Valorant or Overwatch would improve after upgrade.
So a 3700X won't necessarily cause bad effects on my specific motherboard considering many people say its a really bad idea ?
My case is pretty weird and not be anyone reputable. Random case that I got a long time ago for a relatively low price.
This is basically my case but it has one more fan spot at the top and only 1 in the front: https://ibox.pl/obudowy/1889-orcus-x14.html

 

[drea.drechsler]

....
So a 3700X won't necessarily cause bad effects on my specific motherboard considering many people say its a really bad idea ?
....

That's a carry-over from before Zen 2 launched. Everybody thought it would be like Zen+ just way more power hungry. Many haven't given up on that notion even though Zen 2, on7nm, is really extremely efficient. Just don't overclock and a 3700X is quite comfortable on low spec motherboards because of that.

It's only with the upper tier CPU's...12 core 3900x, 16 core 3950x and to a lesser extent the 5800X...that you might have issues with VRM cooling and motherboard longevity. And even then only likely to happen if you frequently do extremely heavy all-core workloads like rendering, video trans-coding, numeric engineering and scientific simulations and the like.

Gaming does not fit that criteria, it's generally light threaded with only one and maybe two cores working very hard and even then only intermittently. That's why 3600's are considered the optimum gaming CPU, but that assumes they can take benefit from PBO which you can't enable on an A320. So you have to take a CPU 'straight up' and a 3700X boosts to 4.4Ghz, one core at a time, while a 3600 will only boost to 4.2Ghz, one core at a time. That 200 Mhz makes the 3700X better for you...if the extra cost isn't a problem.