[SOLVED] Ryzen 5 1500X or Upgrade?

[IDProG]

I currently have a Ryzen 5 1500X at stock (FYI, I bought 1500X and not 1400 so that I could overclock it later. Yes, back then, I thought only X processors were unlocked).

Here's my PC specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
GPU: GTX 1070
RAM: 16GB DDR4 2400MHz
PSU: 520W Seasonic 80+ Bronze

We know that this CPU bottlenecks high-end GPUs like RTX 2080 Ti (at least on 1080p).

I'm planning to upgrade my GPU to Nvidia's Ampere or AMD's RDNA 2.0 GPUs later, alongside my rig update.

Should I upgrade my CPU?
If I chose to upgrade, which CPU would give an increase in performance that's worth the cost?
(If I sell the CPU, I will only get half of the CPU's current cost (or probably even lower)).

Keep in mind that I will be playing games at 4K with my new GPU.

 

[cdrkf]

I currently have a Ryzen 5 1500X at stock (FYI, I bought 1500X and not 1400 so that I could overclock it later. Yes, back then, I thought only X processors were unlocked).

Here's my PC specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
GPU: GTX 1070
RAM: 16GB DDR4 2400MHz
PSU: 520W Seasonic 80+ Bronze

We know that this CPU bottlenecks high-end GPUs like RTX 2080 Ti (at least on 1080p).

I'm planning to upgrade my GPU to Nvidia's Ampere or AMD's RDNA 2.0 GPUs later, alongside my rig update.

Should I upgrade my CPU?
If I chose to upgrade, which CPU would give an increase in performance that's worth the cost?
(If I sell the CPU, I will only get half of the CPU's current cost (or probably even lower)).

Keep in mind that I will be playing games at 4K with my new GPU.

Hi, well a 1500X isn't a bad cpu- and at 4k (even with a high end gpu) it should probably keep up. That said it does depend on the game, there are a few games out there that need 6 cores to get the most out of the machine.

The good thing here though is you are on the AM4 platform so you have lots of upgrade options without needing to change your motherboard... (what is your motherboard btw?)....

My advice would be get the new gpu and try it with your games and current cpu. I think you might be ok for now for 4k gaming. If you do decide you need a cpu upgrade, the best value option is the Ryzen 5 3600 - that is 6 cores, 12 threads and the IPC is ~ 30% higher than your 1500X so it would be a big boost (and all you should need to do to support it is update the motherboard to the latest bios then drop in the cpu).

The other thing to think of as well is that the new Ryzen 4000 series is due out sometime this year, and there's a good chance you motherboard might get updated to support those as well so might be a better choice in a while (also Ryzen 3000 series chips will get cheaper once the new ones come out).

 

[IDProG]

Thank you for the advice.

My current motherboard is ASRock AB350M-HDV. I'm planning to move my build to Silverstone RVZ03 case, so I need a Mini ITX motherboard.

At first I thought I would wait for a B550, because it supports PCI-e 4.0. But, after I realized that it wouldn't increase GPU performance, and SSDs that could make use of it would be very costly, I decided not to do it and put B450 on my to-buy list instead.

I have planned that it will be between ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX and Gigabyte B450-I Aorus Pro Wi-Fi.
The Gigabyte is $10 more expensive.
Which one do you think is better?

 

[cdrkf]

Thank you for the advice.

My current motherboard is ASRock AB350M-HDV. I'm planning to move my build to Silverstone RVZ03 case, so I need a Mini ITX motherboard.

At first I thought I would wait for a B550, because it supports PCI-e 4.0. But, after I realized that it wouldn't increase GPU performance, and SSDs that could make use of it would be very costly, I decided not to do it and put B450 on my to-buy list instead.

I have planned that it will be between ASRock B450 Gaming-ITX and Gigabyte B450-I Aorus Pro Wi-Fi.
The Gigabyte is $10 more expensive.
Which one do you think is better?

Looking at the reviews, the ASRock board is rated better, I know the Gigbyte B450 boards all have pretty weak VRM's so I'd go with the ASRock.

 

[mdd1963]

The GTX1070 is still well over 'adequate' in my opinion, especially if at 1080P....

(And, since even Nvidia's next gen is now also rumored to Q4 this year, we all have a while to wait anyway)

If you could update your BIOS, and have a decent B450 board, I'd check out R5-3600 prices/availability, now hitting as low as $179....

 

[xravenxdota]

It also depends where you live.I had to buy a second hand gtx 1070 ti because the rtx 2060 cost double the price.At least it the 1070 ti got a 1y warranty.They are still pretty good in 1080p.If you are not planning to upgrade monitor soon then rather hold off and see what the next generation brings.There's even a rumor amd's bringing out a rtx card but i'll rather wait and see if it's true

 

[EndEffeKt_24]

I would take the MSI B450i gaming plus ac or the Asus B450i Strix over your choices because they got better vrm.

 

[IDProG]

If you could update your BIOS, and have a decent B450 board, I'd check out R5-3600 prices/availability, now hitting as low as $179....

My country is fortunate enough to have access to Ryzen 5 3500, which costs $150. But I'm still not sure if I need to upgrade.

It also depends where you live.I had to buy a second hand gtx 1070 ti because the rtx 2060 cost double the price.At least it the 1070 ti got a 1y warranty.They are still pretty good in 1080p.If you are not planning to upgrade monitor soon then rather hold off and see what the next generation brings.There's even a rumor amd's bringing out a rtx card but i'll rather wait and see if it's true

I'm well aware that Nvidia and AMD would bring new generation cards. I do hope AMD would make cards that rival Nvidia's high-end cards like 2080 and 2080 Ti that cost less. I'm sick of Nvidia overpricing the cards to maximize profit.

I would take the MSI B450i gaming plus ac or the Asus B450i Strix over your choices because they got better vrm.

Asus motherboard has quite expensive cost, $205 in my country.
Unfortunately, the MSI isn't available in my country. I could order it from Newegg, but it would cost me $185.
ASRock one costs $155, Gigabyte one costs $165.

Which one of the 4 do you think is worth the price?

 

[EndEffeKt_24]

My country is fortunate enough to have access to Ryzen 5 3500, which costs $150. But I'm still not sure if I need to upgrade.


I'm well aware that Nvidia and AMD would bring new generation cards. I do hope AMD would make cards that rival Nvidia's high-end cards like 2080 and 2080 Ti that cost less. I'm sick of Nvidia overpricing the cards to maximize profit.


Asus motherboard has quite expensive cost, $205 in my country.
Unfortunately, the MSI isn't available in my country. I could order it from Newegg, but it would cost me $185.
ASRock one costs $155, Gigabyte one costs $165.

Which one of the 4 do you think is worth the price?

Ok pricing is pretty steep. I would not buy the Strix board for that money. I got mine for 135 € used. Maybe the used market got something to offer. The msi board is probably the best of the bunch and was reasonably priced when available.

 

[IDProG]

Ok pricing is pretty steep. I would not buy the Strix board for that money. I got mine for 135 € used. Maybe the used market got something to offer. The msi board is probably the best of the bunch and was reasonably priced when available.

I know right. I wish there was a Micro ATX that's as small as RVZ03.

 

[IDProG]

By the way, what's with Gigabyte motherboards? Why are people avoiding them?

 

[cdrkf]

By the way, what's with Gigabyte motherboards? Why are people avoiding them?

It's not that all gigabyte motherboards are bad, just that for the b450 range of motherboards gigabyte went very cheap on the vrm meaning the boards aren't good with any of the higher core count or higher wattage cpus. The gigabyte board should be fine for any of the 65 watt parts (so up to r7 3700x) but will struggle with something more powerful like a 3800x or 3900 series part making it a bad investment if you want the option to upgrade.

I think the main issue though is for the same price range the other brands offer much better vrm on their boards.