Ryzen 1600 or i5 4690k for my build?

[Jrod_34]

I am looking to upgrade my cpu because mine is trash. The last thing I have to upgrade is my cpu and mobo. I've had some people tell me to get a ryzen 1600 and another say possibly an i5 4690k

Current build:
mobo: gigabyte ga-78lmt-usb3
cpu: fx 4300 (YIKES)
gpu: gtx 960
psu: Thermaltake 850W Gold (Overkill, but got a good deal)
Ram: Corsair Vengeance

I will be heading off to college next year so I will be using it for school work, gaming, programming, and maybe some light video/photo editing. I would like to stay around the $300- possibly $350 for a cpu and mobo, without ram included. But all suggestions are good

I was wondering which would be better for me to get?
Right now ryzen 1600 is still $200-$220 and the i5 4690k I could pick up at micro center for about $190. And along with these I know I would need a new mobo and ram.
If you have a suggestion on a different cpu, please let me know
Thank you for the help.

 

[RCFProd]

190 usd is too much for an i5-4690k today. I'd suggest either the 1500X or the 1600. Better to have atleast 8 threads now It's affordable.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1500X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar - X370GT3 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($112.55 @ Newegg)
Total: $301.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-11 17:20 EDT-0400

 

[chemmajorp53]

I would go to micro center, do the bundle with the 1600 and the Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 (it has 3200MHz RAM support and most of the others don't) and get 16GB of 3200MHz Gskill memory as cheap as you can find it. Then you can OC the 1600 to 3.9GHz or so and get the RAM running at 3200MHz or 2933MHz, will leave you with a very capable gaming rig with extra threads.

 

[Karadjgne]

Depends. The ram you have now is DDR3. The ram needed for a Ryzen or skylake/kabylake build is DDR4. If you don't want to buy new ram, the i5 is the only option, if you don't mind spending out on ram, then the Ryzen, paired with 16Gb of G-skill trident-Z or Rip-Jaws V is the better option.

 

[Jrod_34]

190 usd is too much for an i5-4690k today. I'd suggest either the 1500X or the 1600. Better to have atleast 8 threads now It's affordable.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1500X 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($188.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Biostar - X370GT3 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($112.55 @ Newegg)
Total: $301.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-11 17:20 EDT-0400

Then I think I would go with the 1600 and instead of the micro atx mobo would the MSI B350 Pc mate work fine?

 

[Jrod_34]

MERGED QUESTION
Question from Jrod_34 : "New Ryzen 1600 upgrade, is this mobo and ram good enough?"

I have decided that I will be upgrading my cpu to a new ryzen 1600.

Current build:
mobo: gigabyte ga-78lmt-usb3
cpu: fx 4300 (YIKES)
gpu: gtx 960
psu: Thermaltake 850W Gold (Overkill, but got a good deal)
Ram: Corsair Vengeance
HDD and SSD

I was thinking about getting the MSI B350 Pc Mate mobo and 8gb of 3000 corsair vengeance lpx ram. Are these good enough?

Upgrades: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/

I will be heading off to college next year so I will be using it for school work, gaming, programming, and maybe some light video/photo editing.

 

[Karadjgne]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($202.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI - B350M GAMING PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($78.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($138.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $420.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-11 20:17 EDT-0400

Ryzen cpus get best performance from higher speed ram, 3200 being the best price/performance value. Best compatability right now is with Samsung B-die which are found in g-skill trident-Z and ripjaws V. When it comes to gaming, there may or may not be much difference in 8Gb or 16Gb, but for the rest of things like the video editing and programming, rendering and compression, the 16Gb will be of more use.

 

[Jrod_34]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($202.98 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI - B350M GAMING PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($78.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($138.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $420.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-11 20:17 EDT-0400

Ryzen cpus get best performance from higher speed ram, 3200 being the best price/performance value. Best compatability right now is with Samsung B-die which are found in g-skill trident-Z and ripjaws V. When it comes to gaming, there may or may not be much difference in 8Gb or 16Gb, but for the rest of things like the video editing and programming, rendering and compression, the 16Gb will be of more use.

How much of a difference will the 3200 ram be over 3000 and I have an atx build, you linked a micro atx mobo.

 

[chemmajorp53]

The thing is that Ryzen is REALLY picky when it comes to RAM, you can really only get 3200 MHz if you use Samsung B-die memory, the most common sticks that use it are the higher speed G.Skill Trident and Ripjaws kits. If you buy random 3000 MHz memory, you might be stuck at 2400 MHz or lower as the motherboard can't operate those sticks at the same speed as they were verified to operate at on an Intel platform. Memory speed is really important when it comes to gaming performance for Ryzen because each CPU has 2 dies that communicate with each other over a link that AMD calls "infinity fabric." The speed of that link is basically directly proportional to RAM speed, so any tasks that require cores to talk to each other (like gaming) greatly benefit from faster RAM.

This would be a good video to watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZS2XHcQdqA

 

[Karadjgne]

Mobo size doesn't matter, in an ATX case you can use ATX or mATX and most will also accept mITX. The only real differences between ATX and mATX is mATX is 3" shorter, and will have fewer headers (fan, USB, sata) and possibly be single gpu or sli/crossfire 2way vrs 3way on the ATX boards. If you aren't going to make good use of the ports, not having them won't hurt. Many ppl prefer mATX just because it is shorter, makes it easier to navigate, especially some front audio or input connections.

Corsair Vengeance lpx use SkHynix IC's, which to-date have been an issue with the Ryzen cpus. It's not the ram at issue, just the way the controller on the ram stick integrates with the MC on the Ryzen cpu. AMD is working on fixes, but that's not out yet.
Otherwise, there's not much real difference in 3000 vrs 3200.

 

[RCFProd]

Mobo size doesn't matter but chipset does. Think X370 runs higher clocked memory more easily, not sure if that point still stands after BIOS updates.

 

[madmatt30]

^ depends on manufacturer as much as anything , Asus & gigabyte seem to be pushing updates faster, especially GB on the cheapish b350 gaming 3 - people are having much more luck getting 2933 on that board.

That said I managed ballistic sport 2400 at 2933 on a first revision bios asrock b350 pro 4 with a 1700 which is just a complete fluke - ram was actually bought cheap for a kaby lake build

Did the same build for someone else with a ryzen 1600 & the same model ram would not run on the same board model (with an updated bios) at more than 2400.

& honestly unless your trying to push a 144htz monitor forbgaming ram speed really really doesn't make that much difference as long as you're hitting at least 2400.
There is a difference but its hardly a system crippling one.

The ripjaw 2666seems to hit 2666 1t on most of the b350 boards now & that's a fairly decent price / performance spot.

 

[Karadjgne]

I'd still go with the 3200. With the price difference between that and lower speed ram, and the performance difference between 3200 and 2400, even if currently there's a speed cap(ish) of @2666 with some getting lucky and pushing the full 3200 or at least 2933, sooner or later amd will get its microcoded fixes out and ram problems (especially with SkHynix) will be fixed. At that point, you'll be able to run the full 3200 (has greater bandwidth than 2400,as well as greater speed) without issue. Be almost like a free upgrade. Worst case scenario. You spent a few $ more for ram that tops out at 2933. Either way, you win.