[SOLVED] Should I Wait?

[SierraArgo]

Hi all, I wanted to ask for opinions on an upgrade. Currently, I am running an x370 board that is getting a bit long in the tooth. It is no longer getting firmware updates so support for some of its features is fading fast, and so I wanted to upgrade. Is it worth waiting for AMD's DDR 5 compatible CPUs and Mobos, or should I bite the bullet and hop on the tail end of DDR4? I had been holding out for AMDs DDR5 offerings, but it looks a little uncertain as to when they will actually launch, as well as how available the hardware will be. Let me know what you think!

 

[CountMike]

Hi all, I wanted to ask for opinions on an upgrade. Currently, I am running an x370 board that is getting a bit long in the tooth. It is no longer getting firmware updates so support for some of its features is fading fast, and so I wanted to upgrade. Is it worth waiting for AMD's DDR 5 compatible CPUs and Mobos, or should I bite the bullet and hop on the tail end of DDR4? I had been holding out for AMDs DDR5 offerings, but it looks a little uncertain as to when they will actually launch, as well as how available the hardware will be. Let me know what you think!

Waiting for DDR5 only, not worth it, it will be a year or more before it takes position DDR4 has now. That's why Intel decided on dual mode CPUs and AMD on improved DDR4 CPUs. Other part is prices that will probably run wild for more than a year, maybe two, it's a mess in chip market right now with no real solution for some time to come.
On the other hand, today's top systems meet or exceed most user's needs. Hypothetically speaking, let's say a good B550 MB topped by R7 5800x3D and 3600 MHz RAM would be competitive for next 4-5 years because SW and games will need to catch up to seriously challenge such systems.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Hi all, I wanted to ask for opinions on an upgrade. Currently, I am running an x370 board that is getting a bit long in the tooth. It is no longer getting firmware updates so support for some of its features is fading fast, and so I wanted to upgrade. Is it worth waiting for AMD's DDR 5 compatible CPUs and Mobos, or should I bite the bullet and hop on the tail end of DDR4? I had been holding out for AMDs DDR5 offerings, but it looks a little uncertain as to when they will actually launch, as well as how available the hardware will be. Let me know what you think!

When you say it's features are fading fast can I ask what you mean? As for the upgrading, there is a case for doing so given you have a 3080, particularly if your doing high refresh rate gaming. If it were me I wouldn't worry too much about DDR5 vs DDR4 right now, it's difficult to justify the cost based on the performance gains. Zen 4 which will support DDR5 is likely to launch at the end of this year but it's difficult to say when or what the stock situation will be like. I wanted a 5900X when it came out but after months of waiting for stock I just bought Intel instead. It really depends on how eager you are to upgrade, do you have any complaints about the performance your getting right now or is it just an itch but you don't really need it right away? If it's the latter then I'd be tempted to wait but you may be waiting for much of this year at least.

 

[SierraArgo]

When you say it's features are fading fast can I ask what you mean? As for the upgrading, there is a case for doing so given you have a 3080, particularly if your doing high refresh rate gaming. If it were me I wouldn't worry too much about DDR5 vs DDR4 right now, it's difficult to justify the cost based on the performance gains. Zen 4 which will support DDR5 is likely to launch at the end of this year but it's difficult to say when or what the stock situation will be like. I wanted a 5900X when it came out but after months of waiting for stock I just bought Intel instead. It really depends on how eager you are to upgrade, do you have any complaints about the performance your getting right now or is it just an itch but you don't really need it right away? If it's the latter then I'd be tempted to wait but you may be waiting for much of this year at least.

They aren't doing firmware updates for the board anymore, so I'm actually in a position where stuff like ethernet seems to not work on newer Windows versions.

 

[helper800]

They aren't doing firmware updates for the board anymore, so I'm actually in a position where stuff like ethernet seems to not work on newer Windows versions.

Your ethernet will work on win11. The drivers for your ethernet are typically one and done drivers by either intel or others. Very rarely will you need a driver update for ethernet or it wont work anymore. If you are referring to a BIOS version that no longer supports your ethernet on a certain OS it is in the same scenario as the drivers.

 

[Kona45primo]

I'm in a similar situation with a B350 board & 3700x

As much as I would like to upgrade I'm going to wait. Upgrading will not give a meaningful performance boost from a gaming visuals standpoint.

From a benchmark standpoint I'm sure jumping to a 5800x or something similar would boot frames 10-15% but again, not really that big of a deal as I'm close enough to capped @ 144hz

I'll be waiting for another generation or 2 before making the jump, unless I find a great deal on a used next gen setup where I can still use DDR4.

In terms of stuff not working I've had no issues, certainly that's a driver or hardware failure issue, I still have a decade old AMD DDR3 system that works like a charm.

 

[Nighthawk117]

I'm in a similar situation with a B350 board & 3700x

As much as I would like to upgrade I'm going to wait. Upgrading will not give a meaningful performance boost from a gaming visuals standpoint.

From a benchmark standpoint I'm sure jumping to a 5800x or something similar would boot frames 10-15% but again, not really that big of a deal as I'm close enough to capped @ 144hz

I'll be waiting for another generation or 2 before making the jump, unless I find a great deal on a used next gen setup where I can still use DDR4.

In terms of stuff not working I've had no issues, certainly that's a driver or hardware failure issue, I still have a decade old AMD DDR3 system that works like a charm.

Stay strong, get some cream for that itch if you have to Upgrading a 3700X to a 5800X would not be a wise upgrade, you'd notice an improvement in your frame counter on some games at 144hz I'm sure, but not enough, the 3700X is still a great chip. He'd benefit more because he's paired a 3080 with a 6 core chip, so you could make the case that if he needs a 3080 then maybe he might need more than 6 cores, but it's not an urgent upgrade. I'd still go for something big though like a 5900X to make it a worthwhile upgrade.

Never encountered problems with first gen Ryzen and driver support but only ever used it on Windows 10.