Question Ryzen budget build: A320 + 2600X or B450 + 1600?

[TheMailonG]

Hi, it has been long since I last posted a thread in here, feels good to be back.

Anyway, I'm undecided between these two build options:
Gigabyte GA-A320M-S2H with Ryzen 5 2600X (R$ 1,344.23, shipping included)
and
MSI B450M PRO-VDH with Ryzen 5 1600 (R$ 1,303.96, shipping included).

Is the performance increase worth the ~40 extra bucks and a simpler motherboard? I will be using a single 2400/2666 8GB memory stick and a GTX 950, which I hope to upgrade to a RX 570/580 in the future. The Biostar Racing X370GTN is also an option, being R$ 100 cheaper than the MSI one but also R$ 100 more expensive than the Gigabyte one.

PS: R$ stands for the brazilian currency

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

The A320 board will need a bios update before it'll work with 2000 series, and that requires you to use a 1000 series CPU to do that.

Also, you can't overclock on A320.

Also, yes, overall the 2600 is better and worth it in my opinion.

Don't use single channel at that low of speed, won't do you any favors with Ryzen.

Dual Channel at 3000/3200mhz.

So take what I've told you to figure out a combination that'll work for your budget.

You can of course just get the b450 + 1600 and take that $40 in savings and apply it to new ram kit for dual channel at 3000mhz

 

[TheMailonG]

Yeah I'm aware A320 can't overclock, however, I was expecting the X version of the 2600 to be fast enough, allowing me to rely only in it's own automatic OC.

A correction: after seeing VMR overheating issues in that Gigabyte board (without a VRM heatsink )when using processors with a TDP higher than 65W, I'm now looking at the MSI A320M PRO-VH PLUS instead, which is R$ 60 more expensive and raises the difference between using the 1600 and the 2600X to R$ 100 (USD $26). Is it still worth the shot?

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

again.
The 300 series boards need a BIOS update to work with 2000 series processors.
And the only way to update the BIOS is to put a 1000 series CPU into the board first in order to boot it up and do that.

So unless you can be guaranteed that the 300 series board you are looking to buy comes pre updated to support the 2000 series CPU's, then don't mix those two together, otherwise you will be wasting your money.

But if you plan on getting an A320 board AND the 1600, then everything should work fine out of the box.

Still need faster RAM and in dual channel.
Single channel 2666MHz isn't going to do you any favors and will hurt the performance of the CPU greatly.
Due to the way Ryzen is built, it relies heavily on RAM speeds to get it's performance.

And so dual channel memory at 3000MHz is recommended.

2666MHz is kind of the minimum, but it still needs to be dual channel, not single channel.

So I'll break it down for you then:

300 series boards only work with 1000 series CPU's out of the box, and require a BIOS update to work with 2000 series.
And BIOS update requires you to have a 1000 series CPU first.

400 series boards are backwards compatible with 1000 series CPU's and don't require a BIOS update out of the box to work with both 1000 and 2000 series.

Dual channel memory at higher speeds is highly recommended.
While the system will run and work on a single stick of 2400MHz, both the fact that it's single channel and such low speed will cause your CPU to under perform.
3000MHz is the sweet spot for performance and affordability.
But you can get away with 2666MHz as long as it's dual channel, but the performance will still not be quite what you may be expecting, especially since you don't plan on overclocking.

So as I said, pick and choose your parts carefully to make sure you aren't wasting money and getting the most out of what you buy.

I could try to help you pick out your parts for a small budget, but unfortunately I don't have any experience with buying things in Brazil so you would have to educate me on what online retailers you use down there.
Unless what you're looking at is all local store stuff, then I can't be hardly any help at all unless I knew the full inventory list of AMD Ryzen CPU's and boards along with available RAM for all the local stores around you which isn't gonna happen LOL.

 

[prophet51]

Yeah I'm aware A320 can't overclock, however, I was expecting the X version of the 2600 to be fast enough, allowing me to rely only in it's own automatic OC.

A correction: after seeing VMR overheating issues in that Gigabyte board (without a VRM heatsink )when using processors with a TDP higher than 65W, I'm now looking at the MSI A320M PRO-VH PLUS instead, which is R$ 60 more expensive and raises the difference between using the 1600 and the 2600X to R$ 100 (USD $26). Is it still worth the shot?

The MSI A320 can overclock with a particular bios version(I don't think the latest bios but you could find the older bios to flash). Google is your friend for that. 2600 with the MSI 320 is the best choice for you.

 

[TheMailonG]

Thanks for the answer, but I already knew most of that. I have a limited budget (redundant, I know) and was just trying to distinguish the best option between those two or three.

Since then, however, I've researched more and found what seems to be a much better deal:

-Ryzen 5 1500 (with cooler), new and from a reputable AliExpress seller
-MLLSE 2X4GB 3200Mhz DDR4, same situation as above (also, extensively tested by other buyers)
-Biostar PRO TB350-BTC, the cheapest, overclockable, VRM-cooled, 3000-series-supporting (via BIOS update) motherboard, which I can occasionally find available on a well known brazilian eShop

All this for 820 BRL, around 125 USD cheaper than the cpu+mobo combos I was originally looking for (at the expense of a much longer shipping time and harder to RMA parts).

Anyway, thanks for your help and your time. Will update this thread as the build advances.

Currently looking for:
960 EVO 250GB SATA - R$ 200 [that Biostar motherboard lacks a M.2 connector]
CM Masterbox MB520 Black - R$ 340 [20 BRL cheaper than the NZXT S340 and being fully filtered]

 

[prophet51]

960 evo seems a bit of a premium over say a crucial bx500 240gb, I think you'd struggle to tell the speed difference between those 2 drives side by side so I'd get a cheaper ssd if I could.
Could you not also save extra $ by buying a 2nd hand ryzen cpu? There should be a surge in 2nd hand ryzen cpus coming soon.

 

[TheMailonG]

Why buy an used Ryzen if I can get one new and with a cooler? I play some light games, won't do editing or anything like that - thus can't see the point in getting a 6 core cpu, although newer games may take advantage of it.

As for the SSDs, userbenchmark places the 960 EVO on the same level as the MX500, not the BX500. You argument would be valid if I was buying on a national retailer, but Ali is dirty cheap compared to them, so even a 970 Evo Plus M.2 NVMe is cheaper there than the 860 EVO is here.