[SOLVED] Need advice for upgrading the CPU and the Motherboard

[akaikisaki]

Hello All,

I would like to upgrade my existing CPU, Intel G4400 with a new one. All I'm looking for is a smooth gaming experience with Medium to High graphic settings, but I believe my current CPU, the G4400 is not able to handle it.

My current setup includes:

GPU: - GTX 1050 2GB OC
Ram: 8GB DDR4
Motherboard: Gigabyte H110M-S2
PSU : Corsair 450W
Windows 7

My budget would be Indian Rupees 15000 (Current USD: $212) for both CPU and a compatible Motherboard.

A few options which I could find are the Ryzen 5 1600 , Ryzen 3 1200.

I am going the Ryzen route because as far as I could figure out, they're available at a better price and offer almost similar performance to their Intel counterparts.

Thoughts that I have in my head are:

1). My H110 motherboard supports 6th and 7th generation CPUs, so I can have a second hand Core i5 (7th Gen) installed to it which will cost me $99 (but no warranty)

2). Ryzen 5 1600 is better than i5 7400 from what I could find from the internet, so I should better buy an AM4 motherboard and a new Ryzen 5 1600.

3). The 6th and 7th Gen Core i3s and i5s are outdated, so I should get an AMD board and stick to Ryzen for my budget.

These are just my findings. Could you please assist me and also give me suggestions as to any other CPUs I should consider in your opinion.

Thank you

 

[alexshen]

So, why not buy Ryzen 5 1600?

 

[akaikisaki]

Because these are just my thoughts based on what I could find from the web.

What I need is advice, whether this is good or not.... Whether there are other alternatives which I don't even know about. ....about the 2nd hand Core i5 which doesn't have a warranty. Etc etc.

 

[nmb255]

I would uprade the CPU on your existing board. You have the headroom to upgrade and it would be the simpliest and most cost effective upgrade.

A 7th Gen i5 or i7 would be a solid upgrade. Second hand shouldn't be anything to worry about, lots of people buy second hand CPU's.

I'm running a 4th Gen i7 and have absolutely no problems playing the latest games.

 

[akaikisaki]

I would uprade the CPU on your existing board. You have the headroom to upgrade and it would be the simpliest and most cost effective upgrade.

A 7th Gen i5 or i7 would be a solid upgrade. Second hand shouldn't be anything to worry about, lots of people buy second hand CPU's.

I'm running a 4th Gen i7 and have absolutely no problems playing the latest games.

Thank you so much for your input.

As for the Second hand Core i5, the only thing that's bothering me is the lack of warranty. The reseller will just install the CPU on my Motherboard and will show me that it is working immediately after installing it.. And that would be it.

 

[Karadjgne]

7 years ago I bought a used i7-3770K on ebay. Still rocking it today. Cpus are notoriously hard to mess up unless seriously abused by prior owners and excessive OC under bad conditions. Otherwise they are fully capable of 20 years or more, well beyond any software obsolescence.

I'd skip the i5. You'd be moving from 2 threads to 4, but the issue there isn't exactly that, it's the fact games come in 2 catagories. Those that use 4 threads or less and those that can use 5 threads or more. You'll only benefit from the first, and that catagory is getting considerably smaller every game release. Devs are packing so much info into games that the 2nd catagory is expanding constantly. Even online mmorpgs/open world games are getting server heavy and 4 threads drops fps like a hot potato.

That's the biggest benefit to the Ryzens, the amount of cores/threads covering far more games adequately, not so much specializing in single thread performance.

For example if a Ryzen could play 100 games averaging 60fps ± 10%, an intel i5 would average 100fps ± 10% in 30 games, but be averaging 40fps ±10% in all the rest.

For Intels, the i7 is the only upgrade worth the money. I7 6700/k, i7 7700/k only, not the shortchanged eco T or S versions.

 

[akaikisaki]

7 years ago I bought a used i7-3770K on ebay. Still rocking it today. Cpus are notoriously hard to mess up unless seriously abused by prior owners and excessive OC under bad conditions. Otherwise they are fully capable of 20 years or more, well beyond any software obsolescence.

I'd skip the i5. You'd be moving from 2 threads to 4, but the issue there isn't exactly that, it's the fact games come in 2 catagories. Those that use 4 threads or less and those that can use 5 threads or more. You'll only benefit from the first, and that catagory is getting considerably smaller every game release. Devs are packing so much info into games that the 2nd catagory is expanding constantly. Even online mmorpgs/open world games are getting server heavy and 4 threads drops fps like a hot potato.

That's the biggest benefit to the Ryzens, the amount of cores/threads covering far more games adequately, not so much specializing in single thread performance.

For example if a Ryzen could play 100 games averaging 60fps ± 10%, an intel i5 would average 100fps ± 10% in 30 games, but be averaging 40fps ±10% in all the rest.

For Intels, the i7 is the only upgrade worth the money. I7 6700/k, i7 7700/k only, not the shortchanged eco T or S versions.

Thank youfor that detailed info. An i7 would be out of my budget for now.

Could you please tell which one would you recommend out of these three and why?

a) Core i5 9400F - $180
b) Core i5 7400F (Second hand with no warranty) - $99
c) Ryzen 5 1600 - $139

 

[Karadjgne]

For just the cpu, the Ryzen. It might not have the single thread speeds of the 9400f, but is far more adaptable. Motherboards are also far cheaper than Intel 300 series, needed for that 9400f

 

[akaikisaki]

For just the cpu, the Ryzen. It might not have the single thread speeds of the 9400f, but is far more adaptable. Motherboards are also far cheaper than Intel 300 series, needed for that 9400f

Okay.

This is the Ryzen which I have shortlisted: https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0...title_srh_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A17AW1CHVG2YBO

Would I be required to overclock the Ryzen to get better FPS? Or it will be enough to provide playable FPS in it's default state along with the GTX 1050 2GB?

I will be buying an OC compatible motherboard anyway.

 

[Karadjgne]

A320 is only amd not overclockable, B450 is the best value and often cheaper than older B350 series for same board.

Default is fine. Ryzens do prefer faster ram in dual channel, so 2x8Gb 3200MHz is about as good as it gets, it's also highly competitive speed, so is cheaper generally than slower ram.

You have a 1050 2Gb. That's on the lower end of the scale, so any graphically intense games will need to be played on medium settings to keep higher fps. For simpler games like CSGO, Sims etc that aren't graphically challenging, you'll be able to set the details higher. The 1600 is strong enough that chances are very good that your gpu will never be the stronger component.

 

[akaikisaki]

A320 is only amd not overclockable, B450 is the best value and often cheaper than older B350 series for same board.

Default is fine. Ryzens do prefer faster ram in dual channel, so 2x8Gb 3200MHz is about as good as it gets, it's also highly competitive speed, so is cheaper generally than slower ram.

You have a 1050 2Gb. That's on the lower end of the scale, so any graphically intense games will need to be played on medium settings to keep higher fps. For simpler games like CSGO, Sims etc that aren't graphically challenging, you'll be able to set the details higher. The 1600 is strong enough that chances are very good that your gpu will never be the stronger component.

I'm fine playing the games with medium settings. I just don't want any lag and stuttering.

However, I won't be able to upgrade my ram at the moment. The one that I have is a 2400 Mhz 8Gb ram.

So are there going to be bottlenecks because of the Ram and my 1050 2gb when they're paired with the 1600!?

 

[Karadjgne]

No. The default speed of ddr4 is 2133MHz so Ryzens run that as a normal state. But AMD Infinity Fabric (the communications between cores) is based on ram speeds (DDR - data rate), so in effect if you use faster ram, the communications between the cores is faster, which increases how fast the cpu can process stuff, so fps goes up. It's a freebie boost. The difference between 2133 and 3200MHz is roughly 20% performance increase. Basically well worth the investment.

Which works well on the B450 motherboards. The difference between 16Gb of 2400 and 3200 is negligible, they are the same price, @$60+ for 2x8Gb of either.

With just 1 stick of 2400 you may or may not see any increase over a dual channel 2133 set of ram.

 

[Insane Potatoz]

Hello All,

I would like to upgrade my existing CPU, Intel G4400 with a new one. All I'm looking for is a smooth gaming experience with Medium to High graphic settings, but I believe my current CPU, the G4400 is not able to handle it.

My current setup includes:

GPU: - GTX 1050 2GB OC
Ram: 8GB DDR4
Motherboard: Gigabyte H110M-S2
PSU : Corsair 450W
Windows 7

My budget would be Indian Rupees 15000 (Current USD: $212) for both CPU and a compatible Motherboard.

A few options which I could find are the Ryzen 5 1600 , Ryzen 3 1200.

I am going the Ryzen route because as far as I could figure out, they're available at a better price and offer almost similar performance to their Intel counterparts.

Thoughts that I have in my head are:

1). My H110 motherboard supports 6th and 7th generation CPUs, so I can have a second hand Core i5 (7th Gen) installed to it which will cost me $99 (but no warranty)

2). Ryzen 5 1600 is better than i5 7400 from what I could find from the internet, so I should better buy an AM4 motherboard and a new Ryzen 5 1600.

3). The 6th and 7th Gen Core i3s and i5s are outdated, so I should get an AMD board and stick to Ryzen for my budget.

These are just my findings. Could you please assist me and also give me suggestions as to any other CPUs I should consider in your opinion.

Thank you

I'm a bit late to the party here, but a Ryzen 5 1600 would be a fantastic upgrade. With 6 cores and 12 threads that thing can handle quite a bit. You could also upgrade your motherboard to something like an Asrock B450M Pro4 or B450M-HDV. Just my thoughts, but my recommendation is definitely the 1600.

 

[nmb255]

Thank you so much for your input.

As for the Second hand Core i5, the only thing that's bothering me is the lack of warranty. The reseller will just install the CPU on my Motherboard and will show me that it is working immediately after installing it.. And that would be it.

I see, so you aren't doing this upgrade yourself. That would deminish the value of a second hand cpu. Particularly as a i7 is really the most valid option.

You should forget i5 and compare costs of New vs i7

 

[akaikisaki]

No. The default speed of ddr4 is 2133MHz so Ryzens run that as a normal state. But AMD Infinity Fabric (the communications between cores) is based on ram speeds (DDR - data rate), so in effect if you use faster ram, the communications between the cores is faster, which increases how fast the cpu can process stuff, so fps goes up. It's a freebie boost. The difference between 2133 and 3200MHz is roughly 20% performance increase. Basically well worth the investment.

Which works well on the B450 motherboards. The difference between 16Gb of 2400 and 3200 is negligible, they are the same price, @$60+ for 2x8Gb of either.

With just 1 stick of 2400 you may or may not see any increase over a dual channel 2133 set of ram.

I can buy another Ram stick but that will be possible only after some time.

As for the B450 motherboard, can you advice which one out of these is better:

https://www.amazon.in/GIGABYTE-B450...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.in/Gigabyte-B450...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-4

https://www.amazon.in/ASUS-Prime-B4...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-9

 

[akaikisaki]

I'm a bit late to the party here, but a Ryzen 5 1600 would be a fantastic upgrade. With 6 cores and 12 threads that thing can handle quite a bit. You could also upgrade your motherboard to something like an Asrock B450M Pro4 or B450M-HDV. Just my thoughts, but my recommendation is definitely the 1600.

Thank you so much for giving me your opinion.

My doubt with the R5 1600 was that it would get bottlenecked by the less powerful GTX 1050 2GB, but Karadjgne who has been helping me with my queries says that there won't be bottle neck issues.

As for the B450 motherboards, the support for AS-Rock in my place is a bit, let's say, not that great compared to other manufacturers. That's the reason why ASRock never comes into my mind when it comes to Motherboards. I have shortlisted few others though. Could you please tell which one do you think would be better amongst these:

https://www.amazon.in/GIGABYTE-B450...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.in/Gigabyte-B450...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-4

https://www.amazon.in/ASUS-Prime-B4...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-9

 

[akaikisaki]

I see, so you aren't doing this upgrade yourself. That would deminish the value of a second hand cpu. Particularly as a i7 is really the most valid option.

You should forget i5 and compare costs of New vs i7

Yes, the CPU will be fitted by a shopkeeper who sells used items and that too without any warranty.

As for the i7 processors, they'll be out of my budget, be it used or new.

 

[Insane Potatoz]

Thank you so much for giving me your opinion.

My doubt with the R5 1600 was that it would get bottlenecked by the less powerful GTX 1050 2GB, but Karadjgne who has been helping me with my queries says that there won't be bottle neck issues.

As for the B450 motherboards, the support for AS-Rock in my place is a bit, let's say, not that great compared to other manufacturers. That's the reason why ASRock never comes into my mind when it comes to Motherboards. I have shortlisted few others though. Could you please tell which one do you think would be better amongst these:

https://www.amazon.in/GIGABYTE-B450...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.in/Gigabyte-B450...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-4

https://www.amazon.in/ASUS-Prime-B4...ywords=b450+motherboard&qid=1572807492&sr=8-9

Your third motherboard is the best one in my opinion. The second one only has 2 pci e slots and 2 ram slots. The third one has 2 pci express x1 slots which I like if you aren’t doing any sli or whatnot. It leaves room for a WiFi card and sound card or whatever. This first one just looks like a slightly worse version of your third option. This is all just from taking a glance at these, but if you want to do research by yourself, a motherboard is better when it has more slots/sata - or room to grow. It also makes it better when the ports are faster if that makes sense.

 

[Karadjgne]

Imho, the 2nd Gigabyte is the better board as such. Wifi cards and most other pcie addin cards of that size use the x1 or x4 slots, not additional x16, and the B450m Gaming has 2x pcie x1 slots, so that's mostly a moot point.

Ryzens don't work worth a damn using 4x sticks, even with 3000 series cpus on a B450 chipset. They won't xmp past 2667MHz/2933MHz, a limitation of Infinity Fabric.



So 4x slots are useless as such, 2x works just fine, if you want more ram, it's better to buy a new kit in 2x sticks of the size you want anyways. So another moot point really.

The Asus Prime A is Asus lowest value mobo, so expect issues with VRM's on higher or harder OC etc. It's basically Asus version of the Gigabyte DS3H (first board)

 

[akaikisaki]

Thank you so much for all your help.

I have decided to go with the Ryzen 5 1600 and the Gigabyte B450 Gaming motherboard.

Over here, a 7th gen i5 is around the same value of a Ryzen 5 + B450. So I have decided to give Ryzen a shot. It's going to be my first ever Ryzen CPU.

Once again, thank you so much for your patience and giving me the best advice.

Cheers!!!