Question To Upgrade or Not...

[bdcrlsn]

Hi everyone!

Current system is listed in signature, basically built around a first-gen Ryzen 7 1700 (non-X). Now, I am wanting to start working towards upgrading, so I was wondering...can I save quite a bit of money and get a better CPU cooler and overclock to 3.8-4GHz (currently stock) and be good for a while? My uses are gaming (older titles, nothing really new) and photo and video editing. I figure it still has plenty of life left being a 8-core, 16-thread processor.

Thank you for all your opinions!

 

[Gam3r01]

You probably dont even need to OC honestly, but you could attempt it.
A modest GPU upgrade would still be well suited for that processor, however old it may be. Depending on your photo editing suite GPU acceleration and potentially faster RAM may be a solid move.

 

[jnjnilson6]

Hi everyone!

Current system is listed in signature, basically built around a first-gen Ryzen 7 1700 (non-X). Now, I am wanting to start working towards upgrading, so I was wondering...can I save quite a bit of money and get a better CPU cooler and overclock to 3.8-4GHz (currently stock) and be good for a while? My uses are gaming (older titles, nothing really new) and photo and video editing. I figure it still has plenty of life left being a 8-core, 16-thread processor.

Thank you for all your opinions!

I would say to keep your CPU the way it is and then, perhaps, in 2024 when Meteor Lake hits the shelves (it should arrive by the end of 2023, beginning of 2024) - buy a new motherboard, a new CPU and more RAM (DDR5). You can get a better GPU even today, because in your system the GPU proves a lot slower than the CPU. Perhaps you should get a Sapphire Radeon RX 6600 (I would advise you to get Sapphire because it's the best vendor). The new video card should be about 214% faster than the GTX 1050 Ti (if you get 30 FPS with the RX 6600, you'll get 9.58 FPS with the 1050 Ti and if you get 60 FPS with the RX 6600, you'll get 19.16 FPS with the 1050 Ti; basically unplayable games on your current card would run more than smoothly on the new one). You could get such a card for $239.99 on Amazon - amazon.com/Sapphire-11310-04-20G-Radeon-Gaming-Graphics/dp/B09S1GCLYF/ . Don't worry 'bout the CPU; it can last a good 4 more years and be upgraded from smoothly at least 2 years from now. Your current CPU should not bottleneck the Radeon RX 6600 at all.

 

[LeviTech]

I would just update the GPU. You have a good machine despite of the age.
Other question: Do you feel you need a better machine or is just to be on date?

 

[jnjnilson6]

I would just update the GPU. You have a good machine despite of the age.
Other question: Do you feel you need a better machine or is just to be on date?

His machine is just a hairline under the i7-5960X and that until this day is considered 'enthusiast power.' I think the same, an update to something like the Radeon RX 6600 would tremendously outgo what the dated GTX 1050 Ti has to offer. It would carry the frames upward and away and there would truly be a big difference.

 

[bdcrlsn]

Well, I don't really want to upgrade, but with Zen 4/Raptor Lake about to release, it's kinda been on my mind since it's now technically 3 generations old. I am getting better RAM, since I know that original Zen loved fast RAM. As for GPU, that's another thing on my list. I was thinking lower end, 6500 XT or even a RX 580; I strictly use GOG and only play older games so I don't need an extravagant GPU. As for my editing, I do use Affinity and DaVinci Resolve, both pretty GPU intensive during certain tasks.

 

[LeviTech]

Well, I don't really want to upgrade, but with Zen 4/Raptor Lake about to release, it's kinda been on my mind since it's now technically 3 generations old. I am getting better RAM, since I know that original Zen loved fast RAM. As for GPU, that's another thing on my list. I was thinking lower end, 6500 XT or even a RX 580; I strictly use GOG and only play older games so I don't need an extravagant GPU. As for my editing, I do use Affinity and DaVinci Resolve, both pretty GPU intensive during certain tasks.

Well thats up to you. but if you don't feel the need to change...

 

[Gam3r01]

Depending on the games you play, and how often you do editing, you may want to consider an equivalent Nvidia card as well.
A 6600 (xt) or 3060 would be a solid move to round out that system, if need be.
If performance is still good for now, Id wait it out.
Im in the camp of "upgrade only when needed", I was running an R9 290 until it crashed and burned after nearly 8 years. Sure my 6700XT is a massive upgrade, but the only thing it did was bring render times down in DXO Photolab 5 from 30s a file to 6s a file. Which is certainly nice, but not vital.

 

[simontompkins]

If you are a heavy video and photo editor maybe there is a case for upgrading from 16 GB to 32 GB of memory. The following article goes into more detail on that:
https://www.cgdirector.com/ram-video-editing/
If you do upgrade your cooler and as a household management tip, keep an eye on dust build up. If you do overclock it is even more important to make sure the fan is clean.
I'd also just take a look at Intel and AMD roadmaps (not just for CPU and GPU's but things like bus speeds etc) for the next couple of years when making a decision about what upgrades are best value and which parts you could bring over to a new build in the future.

 

[bdcrlsn]

If you are a heavy video and photo editor maybe there is a case for upgrading from 16 GB to 32 GB of memory. The following article goes into more detail on that:
https://www.cgdirector.com/ram-video-editing/
If you do upgrade your cooler and as a household management tip, keep an eye on dust build up. If you do overclock it is even more important to make sure the fan is clean.
I'd also just take a look at Intel and AMD roadmaps (not just for CPU and GPU's but things like bus speeds etc) for the next couple of years when making a decision about what upgrades are best value and which parts you could bring over to a new build in the future.

Yeah, I'm moving to 32GB of 3200MHz RAM. Since consensus is saying to not worry about overclocking, I'm thinking of just sticking with the Wraith cooler it originally came with....it does the job quietly.

Depending on the games you play, and how often you do editing, you may want to consider an equivalent Nvidia card as well.
A 6600 (xt) or 3060 would be a solid move to round out that system, if need be.
If performance is still good for now, Id wait it out.
Im in the camp of "upgrade only when needed", I was running an R9 290 until it crashed and burned after nearly 8 years. Sure my 6700XT is a massive upgrade, but the only thing it did was bring render times down in DXO Photolab 5 from 30s a file to 6s a file. Which is certainly nice, but not vital.

I use both PhotoLab and ON1 Photo RAW, they both use the GPU pretty intensely. (DeepPRIME really hammers it) I may go for a slightly higher GPU for those reasons alone.

 

[drea.drechsler]

Yeah, I'm moving to 32GB of 3200MHz RAM. Since consensus is saying to not worry about overclocking, I'm thinking of just sticking with the Wraith cooler it originally came with....it does the job quietly.
...

First: I'm speaking from my experience overclocking both CPU and memory with a Ryzen 1700.

First gen Ryzen was not very robust at overclocking it's RAM..and it was rated only for 2666Mtps. It might get that RAM to 3200, although 3000 is more likely. And if the 32GB is a 4 stick kit it quite likely won't even get to 2666.

All I ever got my 3200 GSKill b-die kit to was 3000. And I tried even when hitting it with 1.47V; supposedly b-die likes up to 1.5V for overclocking but I considered that my limit.

You should be able to get a stable 3.9G overclock on a 1700...4G is possible but not guaranteed. 4.1G was pretty rare even for 1800X's. But at those clocks you'll absolutely need better than the stock Wraithe. The guideline for voltage is 1.425V or less so long as temperature is kept less than 70C, and 1.375V or less up to 90C. Tjmax is 95C.

I could get 3.9G successfully with my 1700 on a B350m Mortar. The CPU temp was managed well enough with a 240mm AIO (85C, 1.35-1.375V) during long handbrake video transcoding but the VRM simply wasn't up to the task. FET temperatures would go over 110C, at 115C it would throttle the CPU to keep itself safe. If the VRM ran cooler I could probably have gotten 4G, but running that hot I'd use too much LLC so voltage was unstable. Your board looks to have a more robust heat sink (at least) but you should probably look out for temps too, hopefully your board has temp sensors on the FET's. Many ASUS boards don't.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Honestly…. I am guessing your board has a bios update to allow the ryzen 5000 series. I’m on an asrock ab350 pro 4 board and just upgraded to a 5900x. I’ve used a ryzen 5 1600, had a cheap upgrade to a 1700 that my friend sold me, later upgraded to a 3600. Then a 5600x, which I sold for almost what I paid for it and got the 5900x. So as you see I’ve had quite a few upgrades on this old board. I can tell you from the 1700 to the 3600 was a very good upgrade.

Here’s a budget choice-3700x for $145

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3046361008...1QoO_yZSxW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY


If you look, it appears that you can sell a Ryzen 7 1700 for about 70-75 bucks. If you don’t want to spend 145 a ryzen 5 3600 can be had for about 115. For 150 give or take you can also get a 5600g. So for a cpu upgrade there’s good options. Trust me there is a difference when you go to something like a 5600x from a 1700.

As far as gpu, I’d go at least to a 6600. If a 4090 is supposed to be a 4 times as fast as the 3090, the 3060 class cards are effectively the new entry level. Be more careful here but I’ve been seeing 6600 cards used for about 200.

For example here’s one. He claims the cards are less than 2 months old and offers 30 day returns. Sure they probably were mined on but at less than 2 months old probably not too

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1255200174...1QoO_yZSxW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

You don’t have to go with these options but it lets you know what’s out there.

 

[bdcrlsn]

First: I'm speaking from my experience overclocking both CPU and memory with a Ryzen 1700.

First gen Ryzen was not very robust at overclocking it's RAM..and it was rated only for 2666Mtps. It might get that RAM to 3200, although 3000 is more likely. And if the 32GB is a 4 stick kit it quite likely won't even get to 2666.

All I ever got my 3200 GSKill b-die kit to was 3000. And I tried even when hitting it with 1.47V; supposedly b-die likes up to 1.5V for overclocking but I considered that my limit.

You should be able to get a stable 3.9G overclock on a 1700...4G is possible but not guaranteed. 4.1G was pretty rare even for 1800X's. But at those clocks you'll absolutely need better than the stock Wraithe. The guideline for voltage is 1.425V or less so long as temperature is kept less than 70C, and 1.375V or less up to 90C. Tjmax is 95C.

I could get 3.9G successfully with my 1700 on a B350m Mortar. The CPU temp was managed well enough with a 240mm AIO (85C, 1.35-1.375V) during long handbrake video transcoding but the VRM simply wasn't up to the task. FET temperatures would go over 110C, at 115C it would throttle the CPU to keep itself safe. If the VRM ran cooler I could probably have gotten 4G, but running that hot I'd use too much LLC so voltage was unstable. Your board looks to have a more robust heat sink (at least) but you should probably look out for temps too, hopefully your board has temp sensors on the FET's. Many ASUS boards don't.

I'm just using a 2-stick set. The ones I have selected are rated at 3200MHz, so if it can't get that high, it doesn't bother me because I'm moving from 2400. As for the overclock, I'm gonna hold off on that for the time being, overclocking is a lot more in depth than the days of Core 2 or Phenom, when was the last time I did serious overclocking.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I should mention when I went from my 1700 to the 3600 I had, the 1700 was overclocked and the 3600 still wiped the floor with it.

 

[drea.drechsler]

... As for the overclock, I'm gonna hold off on that for the time being, overclocking is a lot more in depth than the days of Core 2 or Phenom...

Not really...IMO it's actually pretty simple process for 1st gen once you understand how to monitor CPU voltage and temperatures. It's the follow-on Ryzen generations where it gets a bit more difficult with PBO.

But definitely, going to a Zen 2 or, especially, Zen 3 CPU would be massively preferable to overclocking that 1700. Even a 5600 would be a major improvement and I suspect a 5800X would work well on that board...not sure though. You'd definitely be able to get 3200 with your memory, the only thing you'd miss out on is PCIe gen 4 for GPU and NVME which isn't as big as it may seem.

ADD: BIOS support for Vermeer (5000 series CPU's) starts at Ver. 6402 which is the latest for your board (Asus B350 Strix-F).

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Agreed. My b350 board with gen 3 for storage is still lightning fast. As far as the 6600 or 6700xt, when I’ve looked it up there’s not much difference between gen 3 and 4 from what I’ve seen.

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT PCI-Express Scaling

When the Radeon RX 6600 XT launched with an interface limited to PCI-Express 4.0 x8, lots of discussion emerged about how AMD crippled the bandwidth, and how much it affects the gaming experience. In this article, we're taking a close look at exactly that, comparing 22 titles running at PCIe...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[drea.drechsler]

I should mention when I went from my 1700 to the 3600 I had, the 1700 was overclocked and the 3600 still wiped the floor with it.

I can believe it...one of the bad aspects of zen 1 was the CCX-CCX latency which was a major reason it's gaming performance was never as good as it should have been considering how it destroyed Intel's processors at productivity and creativity tasks...even those in the HEDT segment. That was fixed with Zen 2 (3000 series) architecture improvements.

 

[bdcrlsn]

I was actually looking at the Ryzen 5 5500 for an upgrade...I don't need anything crazy or expensive and this looks to cover everything I would need.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

You could definitely go that route.

On Newegg it looks like the 5500 is this

https://www.newegg.com/amd-ryzen-5-5500-ryzen-5-5000-series/p/N82E16819113737

According to this review it’s basically equivalent to a ryzen 5 3600.

In my opinion, if you are going to pay $140 for a 5500, I think I’d look at this 3700x

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3046361008...1QoO_yZSxW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

If you need a cooler someone has one for $159 with the cooler.

If you still say you just want the six core, then as opposed to the 5500, I’d look at this ryzen 3600. It’s about 25 less than the 5500, you could reuse your cooler that you used with the 1700. Also the other reason I’d consider this cpu is that it has double the cache of the 5500. However I’m off the opinion that 6 core 12 thread parts will be on the way out sooner than later, so I’d suggest get the 8 core. However if you get the 3600 that leaves you a little extra for other things like ram, better gpu, etc

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1342445605...1QoO_yZSxW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY


Look up some info on it but eBay has what they call the money back guarantee. So if you get an item that’s not as described you are able to file a case. However, the 5900x and the 6700xt in my system right now came from eBay and so far zero issues.

Edit: need to look at more info but you could also look at the ryzen 4500.

 

[Cookiezaddict]

The decision to upgrade or not should always be considered based on the comfort of such an upgrade, to the wallet, is your system today giving you some "discomfort"? Say failing to provide smooth gameplay, running noisy because the system not as advance.

Your system sounds good for most games, but if you have money say $500 to burn? You could potentially consider getting new generation CPU that's good enough for gaming, (intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 5), new mid-tier motherboard, and good cooling system, that will leave you with requirement to spend maybe $400? $500?

Use your current GPU for now, try to sell your old mobo and old cpu at cheap price, believe me someone out there will feel fortunate to have them for $70-100, sell your cpu maybe for another $50-100 not sure how much it worth there, then you can get yourself maybe 3080 or 6800xt which will cost nothing more than $600 in 6 months.

With the new specs above? You are good for another 5 years, even 8 years lol

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Unfortunately on my phone I can’t see the ops opening rig, but I would say it definitely depends what you want to spend. You could also go the route of the 3600 and sell the 1700 and have basically a 30 dollar cpu upgrade that’s on par with the 5500 and then you can make decision on whether to keep, sell or repurpose your existing system.

I know when I upgraded my b350 board to a 5900x I’m relatively happy with that. I suppose I could go to the new stuff but this gives my old system legs to go another couple of years then I can save my pennies while I wait for potential price drops and for refreshes. Although conceivably I could also sit on this pc until am6 rolls around and maybe upgrade the gpu again and carry that to a new build in a couple of years. But as the poster above said don’t feel locked in. You’ve got a lot of good options.

 

[Cookiezaddict]

Unfortunately on my phone I can’t see the ops opening rig, but I would say it definitely depends what you want to spend. You could also go the route of the 3600 and sell the 1700 and have basically a 30 dollar cpu upgrade that’s on par with the 5500 and then you can make decision on whether to keep, sell or repurpose your existing system.

I know when I upgraded my b350 board to a 5900x I’m relatively happy with that. I suppose I could go to the new stuff but this gives my old system legs to go another couple of years then I can save my pennies while I wait for potential price drops and for refreshes. Although conceivably I could also sit on this pc until am6 rolls around and maybe upgrade the gpu again and carry that to a new build in a couple of years. But as the poster above said don’t feel locked in. You’ve got a lot of good options.

From 1700, what OP is using now, any CPU today will basically be a huge jump. Best value will probably 5600x

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I can agree with you the 5600x is a great cpu for what it is. Before getting the 5900x I bought one and used it for a short time. For what you pay the performance was wonderful. However I got a deal on a 5900x for $320 bucks and had been thinking I’d prefer a cpu like that to possibly hold me over for a couple years and was able to resell the 5600x. But on a budget the 5600x is a fine cpu. As you said almost any upgrade from a 1700 is going to be amazing to the op.