[SOLVED] Feedback on motherboard for 5600x

TobinUK

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I currently have i5 7600k CPU, Corsair H60 cooler, Nvidia 1660ti GPU, MSI z270 gaming plus motherboard with 32gb (4x8) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000mhz CL16 RAM, Corsair CX750M PSU with 970 Evo Plus m.2 and 860 Evo both 500gb each all inside a Corsair 4000D airflow case. Corsair RGB LL120 fans x6 total and Corsair Lighting Node + LEDs.

Now my question is and also seeking advice, i was thinking of upgrading CPU and then GPU later this year. I was looking at 9900k but then watching videos and being on a budget that im on i couldnt help notice that the 5600x seemed very good for its money and performed well so i think i may take the step to AMD for the first time. Being a novice in building PCs and this being my first build im noticing the motherboard situation i need to be careful of? Is there a motherboard that i can get that will plug and play without bios flashes as i dont have older CPU to do an AMD flash for bios on older motherboards, not sure if there's ways round it but i would prefer not to and just get the right motherboard from the get go? Motherboard upgrade was always going to be done anyway so i figured this might be the time to try AMD and go for 5600x, would all my components be fine to do the swap and continue on or would there be issues with RAM for example? I have a budget of around £100-150 being in UK, bluetooth and wifi not essential but great if it would be included if any recommendations?
I play games like World of Warcraft, Call of Duty Cold War, Battlefield 5 and planning Cyberpunk 2077 soon. I play at 1080p 144hz refresh rate.
Also like to add side note i couldnt attach the type C from case front panel as motherboard doesnt support it from what i see so mistake on my part so would hope new motherboard would enable me to connect also.

Sorry if ive missed any information so please ask if you need more.
 
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Solution
Actually I'm quite sure mobo will recognize 5000 CPU even if previous BIOS (7C02v39 ) is already installed. I say that, because I'm running BIOS from the same date (30th, November 2020) on MSI X470 board with 5900X in it. So, chances are (if board wasn't lying somewhere on shelve for long time), that your board will already recognize new CPU without further hassle. If not, just read MoBo manual and update BIOS.

RAM.. When buying I never check if it's QVL or not. I just buy brand with good reputation. And it never happened it wouldn't work.. in 20 years or so. But, it can happen, that board won't recognize/apply RAM's XMP profile, so you will need to overclock manually (if that important to you). And again, I could always apply...

AdamG

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I currently have i5 7600k CPU, Corsair H60 cooler, Nvidia 1660ti GPU, MSI z270 gaming plus motherboard with 32gb (4x8) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000mhz CL16 RAM, Corsair CX750M PSU with 970 Evo Plus m.2 and 860 Evo both 500gb each all inside a Corsair 4000D airflow case. Corsair RGB LL120 fans x6 total and Corsair Lighting Node + LEDs.

Now my question is and also seeking advice, i was thinking of upgrading CPU and then GPU later this year. I was looking at 9900k but then watching videos and being on a budget that im on i couldnt help notice that the 5600x seemed very good for its money and performed well so i think i may take the step to AMD for the first time. Being a novice in building PCs and this being my first build im noticing the motherboard situation i need to be careful of? Is there a motherboard that i can get that will plug and play without bios flashes as i dont have older CPU to do an AMD flash for bios on older motherboards, not sure if there's ways round it but i would prefer not to and just get the right motherboard from the get go? Motherboard upgrade was always going to be done anyway so i figured this might be the time to try AMD and go for 5600x, would all my components be fine to do the swap and continue on or would there be issues with RAM for example? I have a budget of around £100-150 being in UK, bluetooth and wifi not essential but great if it would be included if any recommendations?
I play games like World of Warcraft, Call of Duty Cold War, Battlefield 5 and planning Cyberpunk 2077 soon. I play at 1080p 144hz refresh rate.
Also like to add side note i couldnt attach the type C from case front panel as motherboard doesnt support it from what i see so mistake on my part so would hope new motherboard would enable me to connect also.

Sorry if ive missed any information so please ask if you need more.

crap shoot, alot of the motherboards say zen3 ready. some motherboards don't require cpu or ram installed to flash bios, just a usb stick with the bios file renamed. given the relatively recent release date november 2020, most would expect to have a bios update required as most motherboards have been in stock longer then that. most of the motherboards come with type-c connectors now aswell. Check am4 socket motherboards on newegg, even if you don't buy from newegg you can still find what one you think is good for you. probably looking at b550 or x570 chipsets.
 
I can understand insecurity before building first PC, but there's really not much to worry about. Important is, you read motherboard manual carefully, follow instructions precisely, check everything twice and don't hurry!
I think all B550/X570 mobo's have flash button which makes possible to install BIOS easily. But as demand of B550 is quite big, I assume BIOS needed to recognize 5000 CPU's will already be installed.
B550 or X570? Well I prefer B550: they are cheaper and don't have fan on chipset (which might get loud over the time).
As for brand, everyone has preferences.. I prefer MSI right now because of good price/features ratio. My choice would be either B550 Tomahawk or B550 Gaming Plus (if you look after full sized ATX mobo). Both have USB-C header for front panel, plus header for two USB 3.2 Type A connectors and two USB 2.0 Type A connectors -so your front panel should be fully covered.
But then, sometime small differences are important.. connections on rear IO panel, how many fans can be connected, etc.
On the other hand, there are things that are useless. Like 2.5Gb LAN, for example, as there's no affordable router that has 2.5Gb. Ok that might change in next years, but they will still be expensive compared to "normal" 1Gb routers. And even then, to make use of 2.5Gb LAN, you need NAS (for example) which needs to support 2.5Gb as well.

Hope that helps a bit.
 

TobinUK

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I can understand insecurity before building first PC, but there's really not much to worry about. Important is, you read motherboard manual carefully, follow instructions precisely, check everything twice and don't hurry!
I think all B550/X570 mobo's have flash button which makes possible to install BIOS easily. But as demand of B550 is quite big, I assume BIOS needed to recognize 5000 CPU's will already be installed.
B550 or X570? Well I prefer B550: they are cheaper and don't have fan on chipset (which might get loud over the time).
As for brand, everyone has preferences.. I prefer MSI right now because of good price/features ratio. My choice would be either B550 Tomahawk or B550 Gaming Plus (if you look after full sized ATX mobo). Both have USB-C header for front panel, plus header for two USB 3.2 Type A connectors and two USB 2.0 Type A connectors -so your front panel should be fully covered.
But then, sometime small differences are important.. connections on rear IO panel, how many fans can be connected, etc.
On the other hand, there are things that are useless. Like 2.5Gb LAN, for example, as there's no affordable router that has 2.5Gb. Ok that might change in next years, but they will still be expensive compared to "normal" 1Gb routers. And even then, to make use of 2.5Gb LAN, you need NAS (for example) which needs to support 2.5Gb as well.

Hope that helps a bit.

Thanks for the reply,

I also posted on another forum which suggested getting a 3700x and motherboard cheaper as more cores and threads. I see benchmarks on youtube which showed 5600x doing very well compared to this. Im just going to be gaming mainly with maybe odd bit of streaming here and there but nothing serious. Only thing that worries me is the 6 cores enough for me to get maybe 2-3 years more happy gaming with latest titles as my wife wasnt to happy when im upgrading CPU so soon when i thought it would last a while. Some reason Call of Duty Cold War runs 100% CPU all the time while gaming and nothing else, even had this with Division 2 but Warcraft its like 20% ish i think or bit more. So getting it right with my budget this time as it could be a while before i get to do more after the GPU which will be something to think about later this year (any suggestions on GPU with 5600x would be great).

Forgot to mention that i was planning getting ATX board so your recommendations are welcome :)
 
As you know, it's always a price question.. we all wish the best "long term" solution, which we can't always afford. On the other hand, we should be honest to ourself: what we might actually need in next years.
My opinion.. if you think you probably won't upgrade in next 5+ years, then get 8 core CPU... 5800X, for example. I know, for gaming, 5600X will be enough for next years. But we just can't know what's coming around the corner and for what purposes we might need to use PC. Yes, 5800X is quite more expensive than 5600X and also requires better cooler. But keep in mind.. it will serve you for many years to come.
About 3700X... I had it and it is an excellent CPU!! -not to mention the price. But if gaming is important to you, 5600X might perform a bit better (not a lot, though). Speaking for me, I would buy 3700X anytime instead of 5600X .. but my needs might differ.
Btw. Maybe you save a bit money by buying some good B450/X470 mobo.. price difference would cover costs for 5800X cooler :) . I'm running 5900X on MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max and it works just fine.
Decisions, decisions.. :)
 

TobinUK

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Btw. Maybe you save a bit money by buying some good B450/X470 mobo.. price difference would cover costs for 5800X cooler :) . I'm running 5900X on MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max and it works just fine

Could you clarify what you mean here, so had couple of drinks :D Also what does the 3700x have to offer for me and also long term over the 5600x? Also what is required for 5600x or 3700x mobo wise as i understand bios flashes might be involved, is this the case with both options?
 

TobinUK

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Think im leaning towards the 5600x still. Chatting to wife and my budget cant go further with new coolers etc as Ive only just finished this current system being built a year ago so im treading carefully :D The 500 series motherboards are pushing it a bit with budget, so another question i have would be could i go with ROG Strix B450-F Gaming for example and have whats needed for my system? Or wait the extra month and go for 500 series as this is planned for end of Feb (birthday) but can wait until march ish and get 500 series. Just dont know if the extra fancy bits im going to want or need from 500 series which is PCI 4 or something and faster nvme? Lastly my cooler ok to cope with 5600x?

Sorry for so many questions, i dont have many people to talk computers with
 
About 5600X vs 3700X.. main difference being 6 cores vs 8 cores. Now you probably wonder, how big (if any) the difference is in everyday use. In all reviews we only see graphs (benchmarks) for gaming and productivity. It's pretty clear what gaming is, not so for productivity, though.
For productivity, we can see applications like Blender, HandBrake, 7-zip, etc. are being used. And you think, heck, I don't even know that stuff.
To keep it short: no matter what applications you are running, you do care about "productivity". Nowaday, we keep many applications running at the same time (sometimes not even realizing). And we expect all of them will run fast and smooth at the same time and all the time -and here core count matters.
Of course, 6 core 5600X can handle that.. it might just get a bit hotter in certain situations (compared to 3700X) and CPU fan gets louder.
About CPU cooler... it's about 50-60 US$ and worth to pay for in my opinion -no matter for what CPU you decide (silence is blessing).
Didn't checked, but I think 5800X is about 150US$ more than 5600X. I know, is quite a difference (for "only" 2 cores more). But you buy long term.. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to convince you, I'm just thinking aloud here :) On the other hand, 5600X is very solid performer for the money... and for 150 bucks you can get CPU cooler + fast NVMe SSD (for example).

ROG Strix B450-F Gaming seems to be fine mobo (but then, most of them are). Just keep in mind (if important to you): for front panel, you can only have 2x USB 2.0 + 2x USB 3.2 or 2x USB 2.0 + 1 x USB-C.
And I personally agree about PCIe 4.0.. it's a feature that doesn't play that important role.
 

TobinUK

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About 5600X vs 3700X.. main difference being 6 cores vs 8 cores. Now you probably wonder, how big (if any) the difference is in everyday use. In all reviews we only see graphs (benchmarks) for gaming and productivity. It's pretty clear what gaming is, not so for productivity, though.
For productivity, we can see applications like Blender, HandBrake, 7-zip, etc. are being used. And you think, heck, I don't even know that stuff.
To keep it short: no matter what applications you are running, you do care about "productivity". Nowaday, we keep many applications running at the same time (sometimes not even realizing). And we expect all of them will run fast and smooth at the same time and all the time -and here core count matters.
Of course, 6 core 5600X can handle that.. it might just get a bit hotter in certain situations (compared to 3700X) and CPU fan gets louder.
About CPU cooler... it's about 50-60 US$ and worth to pay for in my opinion -no matter for what CPU you decide (silence is blessing).
Didn't checked, but I think 5800X is about 150US$ more than 5600X. I know, is quite a difference (for "only" 2 cores more). But you buy long term.. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to convince you, I'm just thinking aloud here :) On the other hand, 5600X is very solid performer for the money... and for 150 bucks you can get CPU cooler + fast NVMe SSD (for example).

ROG Strix B450-F Gaming seems to be fine mobo (but then, most of them are). Just keep in mind (if important to you): for front panel, you can only have 2x USB 2.0 + 2x USB 3.2 or 2x USB 2.0 + 1 x USB-C.
And I personally agree about PCIe 4.0.. it's a feature that doesn't play that important role.

Thanks for the info back, think im going to go for the 5600x but cant decide on front panel, currently not connected on mobo is the USB 3.1 type C but others are. Is there a 400 series mobo that take this type C, USB 3.0 and HD audio cables from front panel? My headset is only thing that has type C (Asus ROG Delta Gaming Headset) but has a USB adaptor so i just plug into rear panel for it to work on current setup. The Strick B450 i saw on some reviews run very hot and liked the look the MSI b450 tomahawk, so im lost at motherboards that would benefit me for gaming and maybe some streaming here and there. If type C wasnt an option its not the end of the world from front panel if rear panel can still function my headset. Trying to stay clear of the 500 series to maybe spend on cooler if that was needed in the end. Also will my current RAM be fine to use from the get go?

Thanks for help so far, appreciate it very much,
 
I just mentioned front panel connectivity, so you wouldn't miss that little detail -it's important for some, but less for others.
One just can't keep track on details for all brands motherboards and when deciding about mobo, everyone has different approach for picking the right one. In general, it's all about connectivity and less (if at all) about performance. That is, 5600X will perform equal on solid B450 as on X570. But, if you're about overclocking, then newer boards might be more flexible (faster RAM can be used, etc).
So, if B450 Tomahawk has what you need and price is right, get it. However, if price difference is small enough, get X470 Gaming Plus Max instead -because of much better connectivity: has two USB 3.2 front headers, has two M.2 slots, and also compare back IO panel. But, X470 doesn't have Flash BIOS button, so you need to make sure BIOS is already updated (able to recognize 5000 series CPU).
Yes, I think you'll be fine with RAM you already have.
 

TobinUK

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I just mentioned front panel connectivity, so you wouldn't miss that little detail -it's important for some, but less for others.
One just can't keep track on details for all brands motherboards and when deciding about mobo, everyone has different approach for picking the right one. In general, it's all about connectivity and less (if at all) about performance. That is, 5600X will perform equal on solid B450 as on X570. But, if you're about overclocking, then newer boards might be more flexible (faster RAM can be used, etc).
So, if B450 Tomahawk has what you need and price is right, get it. However, if price difference is small enough, get X470 Gaming Plus Max instead -because of much better connectivity: has two USB 3.2 front headers, has two M.2 slots, and also compare back IO panel. But, X470 doesn't have Flash BIOS button, so you need to make sure BIOS is already updated (able to recognize 5000 series CPU).
Yes, I think you'll be fine with RAM you already have.

Dont know if im over thinking on the motherboard :D Im just looking for good gaming experience, i do overclock a little bit on GPU and also have played around with CPU with my 7600k, im mainly a gamer and love my music so chipset for audio would be great. When i watch reviews on youtube and read online my mind changes every day. Strix 450 runs very hot apparently, so looked at Tomahawk, then a guy says dont buy it as other better boards etc etc. I love my RBG so stix appealed to me and also ebuyer had many positive feed back on it. Argggghhhh! Even the MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon Max wifi turns my head for another possibilty.
 
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When i watch reviews on youtube and read online my mind changes every day.
LOL .. and I believe you :)
About reviews, I watch them too, of course. But you shouldn't take their "verdict" (or ranking) too serious. It's their job to make videos "interesting". Heck, some can talk about good/bad VRM solutions endlessly. But reality is, even if you pick some board blindly, it will work just perfect. Boards are made to work -is not a lottery.
I can understand, there's also visual factor, so why not? Is not a sin if you pay few bucks more for a little bling. As from my part, I just pointed on some things, that are important in general.
 

TobinUK

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Im planning on getting 5600X come the end of the month and wanted to pair with mobo but with budget on motherboard being around the £100 mark. Been watching loads of youtube vids, reading customer reviews etc etc. Now i quite like the ROG Strix B450 Gaming-F but heard it can run hot under load and the other mobo i like reviews on is MSI B450 Tomahawk Max. Dont want to write what i heard about these boards as im curious what you guys here think of the choices and also are there other choices people could recommend for same budget. Just cant decide as soon as i find a mobo i like i will then see and vid or something and put me off and want to get this right :)

Its going to be for gaming and maybe some OC once i learn more on it and odd streaming here and there for friends.
 
Im planning on getting 5600X come the end of the month and wanted to pair with mobo but with budget on motherboard being around the £100 mark. Been watching loads of youtube vids, reading customer reviews etc etc. Now i quite like the ROG Strix B450 Gaming-F but heard it can run hot under load and the other mobo i like reviews on is MSI B450 Tomahawk Max. Dont want to write what i heard about these boards as im curious what you guys here think of the choices and also are there other choices people could recommend for same budget. Just cant decide as soon as i find a mobo i like i will then see and vid or something and put me off and want to get this right :)

Its going to be for gaming and maybe some OC once i learn more on it and odd streaming here and there for friends.
I'd be looking for a B550 board and If you're going to overclock you need to invest more money into a better board with better VRM than you'll find at £100. The best B550 boards run about £200-250 or more, but you can still get a good board for £150-175. You could settle for a B450 Tomahawk Max if budget is really a problem. It is a good board.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...omahawk-atx-am4-motherboard-mag-b550-tomahawk
 

TobinUK

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It was more of getting peoples feedback on a b450 motherboard, you helped me and grateful for it but one persons help i was trying to expand on, sorry if its against the rules as im new ish for posting here.
 

DSzymborski

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It was more of getting peoples feedback on a b450 motherboard, you helped me and grateful for it but one persons help i was trying to expand on, sorry if its against the rules as im new ish for posting here.

It seems to have been done innocently, but we don't multiple threads from the same person on the same issue for several reasons. There are a lot of people that need help and having numerous identical threads creates a mess and risks wasting people's time both as they duplicate their effort and when some information is available in some threads and some isn't.
 

TobinUK

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I'd be looking for a B550 board and If you're going to overclock you need to invest more money into a better board with better VRM than you'll find at £100. The best B550 boards run about £200-250 or more, but you can still get a good board for £150-175. You could settle for a B450 Tomahawk Max if budget is really a problem. It is a good board.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...omahawk-atx-am4-motherboard-mag-b550-tomahawk

Regarding the B450 Tomahawk Max, i looked on the bios download page and it shows 'Updated AMD AGESA ComboAm4v2PI 1.1.0.0 Patch D' so im guessing this is the required bios flash for the board to accept the 5600X? Just the RAM issue to solve as ASUS got back to me and said by the looks of the QVL list my RAM isnt on there and may not work properly. My budget is super tight so it has to be a B450 mobo for now. Weird thing is my current RAM isnt on QVL list for current mobo and works fine so guess i will just take the chance and see what happens :)
 
Actually I'm quite sure mobo will recognize 5000 CPU even if previous BIOS (7C02v39 ) is already installed. I say that, because I'm running BIOS from the same date (30th, November 2020) on MSI X470 board with 5900X in it. So, chances are (if board wasn't lying somewhere on shelve for long time), that your board will already recognize new CPU without further hassle. If not, just read MoBo manual and update BIOS.

RAM.. When buying I never check if it's QVL or not. I just buy brand with good reputation. And it never happened it wouldn't work.. in 20 years or so. But, it can happen, that board won't recognize/apply RAM's XMP profile, so you will need to overclock manually (if that important to you). And again, I could always apply XMP profile on all board/RAM combos I had till now.

Actually, all this stuff is less complicated than one might think .. ok, or I was just lucky all the time :)
 
Solution
Amazon has a sale right now for the i7 10700f down from $310 to $230. For 8 cores/16 threads and that price, as a 5600X owner I would recommend that over getting a 5600X
-yes, looks appealing.. at first sight.
Now, 10700F (non K) isn't really some speed master and so I can imagine 5600X can compete in many/most real life usage scenarios.
Intel socket boards tend to be quite more expensive than those for AMD, and cooler included is more a placeholder rather than usable cooler (noise!).
I think there's a reason why 10700F has become that cheap.. -nah, you just keep your 5600X :)
 

TobinUK

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Thanks guys for the feedback, Tomahawk seems to mentioned more in my research as the better mobo (peoples opinions), some mention its better for OC options too but me being a newbie i try to understand best i can with many hours of videos and reading. When you say manual OC on RAM, is that where you put in frequency manually and timings to what the RAM sticks say on the specs?

Updated AMD AGESA ComboAm4v2PI 1.1.0.0 Patch D is the 5000 series support right? Just to be clear :)
 

johnsoner13

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Now, 10700F (non K) isn't really some speed master and so I can imagine 5600X can compete in many/most real life usage scenarios.
Intel socket boards tend to be quite more expensive than those for AMD,
It’s $70 cheaper than the 5600X (assuming you can find one in stock) and you cant overclock it meaning a well priced b460 board can be used for around the price of any decent b550 board