Question Upgrade advice/help for 4k gaming ?

[kira-faye]

IMO the minimum viable CPU upgrade for that platform going forward is a 5700 or 5800X3D. Gone are the days 4 cores are enough for modern games. I have a 5800X3D and it is often taxed to its limits, 50%+ utilization but still provides 160+ fps at 1440p. At 4k It will be useful for years to come.

As others have said as well, you need a better PSU for a better GPU. An 850w Seasonic focus gold or better, Corsair RMe / RMX or better would be my opinion on the PSU.

I disagree. A 5800X3D is very capable even today, and will be for at least a few years. He does not need new RAM, but that would be a very cheap upgrade at some point later. Even the cheapest AM5 build would be 400 dollars when you could just spend half of that on a CPU to get you 85% the way to AM5 performance.

B350 boards won't take a 5800X3D. The OP also has slow RAM that needs to be replaced to take full advantage of a faster CPU. If you're going to buy a new board, new RAM, and a new CPU... Unless budget is extremely tight, you're better off with AM5. Especially for someone who has kept the same build for 5 years and will likely do so again.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

B350 boards won't take a 5800X3D. The OP also has slow RAM that needs to be replaced to take full advantage of a faster CPU. If you're going to buy a new board, new RAM, and a new CPU... Unless budget is extremely tight, you're better off with AM5. Especially for someone who has kept the same build for 5 years and will likely do so again.

You can see the AB350 Pro 4 in the cpu support list here:

ASRock > CPU Support List

www.asrock.com

 

[helper800]

B350 boards won't take a 5800X3D. The OP also has slow RAM that needs to be replaced to take full advantage of a faster CPU. If you're going to buy a new board, new RAM, and a new CPU... Unless budget is extremely tight, you're better off with AM5. Especially for someone who has kept the same build for 5 years and will likely do so again.

That is definitely a concern. Not all B350 motherboards will supports all AM4 socket CPUs and is dependent on BIOS updates to add this support. Directly from the AsRock CPU support list for his motherboard; "Note3: Some of AMD CPU does not have integrated graphics processor. When this kind of CPU is installed, a discrete VGA card is required. ✡ AMD R3 4100/R5 4500/R5 5500 have no iGPU. Please install a graphics card." The 5500 is a Cezanne CPU and the 5800X3D is a Vermeer family CPU.

You can see the AB350 Pro 4 in the cpu support list here:

ASRock > CPU Support List

www.asrock.com

According to this compatibility list as well as this one. His B350 board is compatible with all suggested AM4 CPUs.

 

[kira-faye]

You can see the AB350 Pro 4 in the cpu support list here:

ASRock > CPU Support List

www.asrock.com

Surprised by that. Fair enough, my mistake.

 

[artk2219]

Surprised by that. Fair enough, my mistake.

Originally AMD did not allow 300 series chipset boards to run any 5000 series CPU's, much less a 5800X3D, but they relented and many boards released compatibility patches last year to allow the latest AM4 CPU's. I had a 5800X3D running on my Biostar X370GT7 test board a few months ago, and that Biostar board was originally considered one of the worst X370 boards. It's really redeemed itself with all of the bios updates, its turned into a super helpful testing board with the ability to have two different bios's flashed at the same time with a handy toggle switch to be able to flip between them. That's important because AMD stopped supporting Bristol ridge past a certain Bios revision, plus you can have a safe bios and an OC'd bios and flip between them.

 

[helper800]

Originally AMD did not allow 300 series chipset boards to run any 5000 series CPU's, much less a 5800X3D, but they relented and many boards released compatibility patches last year to allow the latest AM4 CPU's. I had a 5800X3D running on my Biostar X370GT7 test board a few months ago, and that Biostar board was originally considered one of the worst X370 boards. It's really redeemed itself with all of the bios updates, its turned into a super helpful testing board with the ability to have two different bios's flashed at the same time with a handy toggle switch to be able to flip between them. That's important because AMD stopped supporting Bristol ridge past a certain Bios revision, plus you can have a safe bios and an OC'd bios and flip between them.

You can also fudge a BIOS flash on one of them and still have the other for safety. I feel like motherboards have lost more features than gained in the last 4 years...

 

[DSzymborski]

OP, it would definitely be in your interest to check exactly *what* Thermaltake 750W you have. PC Part Picker lists 34 different Thermaltake 750W PSUs and they range from garbage (Smart, TR2, Evo) to solid (Toughpower Grand). If you have one of the minority of good ones, you may not need to replace your PSU right now.

 

[Order 66]

OP, it would definitely be in your interest to check exactly *what* Thermaltake 750W you have. PC Part Picker lists 34 different Thermaltake 750W PSUs and they range from garbage (Smart, TR2, Evo) to solid (Toughpower Grand). If you have one of the minority of good ones, you may not need to replace your PSU right now.

It is a shame that the sub $70 range is inhabited by cheap junk like the Thermaltake smart among others.

 

[helper800]

It is a shame that the sub $70 range is inhabited by cheap junk like the Thermaltake smart among others.

I can see that you use one yourself in your signature. Why not switch over to something else before you get the magic dust poof from your PSU?

 

[Order 66]

I can see that you use one yourself in your signature. Why not switch over to something else before you get the magic dust poof from your PSU?

I would have just gone with a higher quality PSU, but I bought my PC built to order off eBay, and the seller didn't mention the specific model of the PSU. I realize now that I should have asked about it. I also didn't know nearly as much as I do now about power supplies hence the reason I didn't inquire about it.

 

[artk2219]

I would have just gone with a higher quality PSU, but I bought my PC built to order off eBay, and the seller didn't mention the specific model of the PSU. I realize now that I should have asked about it. I also didn't know nearly as much as I do now about power supplies hence the reason I didn't inquire about it.

On the plus its one of those things you can remedy when you get a chance, just make sure you have it on a UPS or decent surge protector for now.