[SOLVED] Upgrade CPU from Ryzen 5 1600X to 3600 on an Asus Prime B350-Plus

[LrsLex]

Hi!

I just got a Ryzen 5 3600 and am going to upgrade my CPU to, well, that. Along with my new PSU.

Here's my hardware:

Ryzen 5 1600X
Asus Prime B350-Plus
BIOS version 4207 (this needs to be updated I guess)

So, from what I've gathered I should update the MoBo chipset to the latest version and after that flash a new BIOS version. But which one, from a USB stick or the Asus flash software? At which point should I swap the CPU?

As I'm installing a new PSU as well, here's how I'd do it, do tell if there's something dumb here:

1. Install the newest chipset drivers to mobo
2. Flash latest BIOS version (5407 from January) by Asus Flash Tool (I think the latest BIOS works with the old CPU as well)
3. Reset & shut down
4. Install the new CPU & PSU
5. Reassemble, plug in, press power button and pray for the silicon gods.

Thanks for any assistance!

 

[delaro]

If you are at 4207 then update your chipset driver to 18.50.16 and flash to 4602. From there you can flash any version higher than that pretty safely. I would not advise you to flash from 4207 to 5407 directly since 4602 did some tweaking to the flashing itself and fixes a crash issue that could happen. Gen 3 support started at 4801 and everything above that is stability and performance fixes.

So here is the thing about Flashing, AGESA updates don't always help RAM overclocking for many RAM/Board combinations the max AGESA might have given you better support to run high-Frequency RAM but they also lowered the max Overclock you could achieve on older sticks, If you're not into overclocking RAM then it doesn't matter and you can apply any Flash you feel like doing.

So
Update Chipset Driver
Flash to 4602
Flash to 4801-5407 as you see fit.
Turn off.. remove power.
Replace PSU/CPU/Thermal paste

 

[LrsLex]

If you are at 4207 then update your chipset driver to 18.50.16 and flash to 4602. From there you can flash any version higher than that pretty safely. I would not advise you to flash from 4207 to 5407 directly since 4602 did some tweaking to the flashing itself and fixes a crash issue that could happen. Gen 3 support started at 4801 and everything above that is stability and performance fixes.

All right, I guess I dodged a bullet here... I was reading up on ASUS site and on the 3600 it just said if you have a BIOS below 4801, update to the newest BIOS available, which I then did and fortunately it went without a hitch. No mention of the step-by-step version building, which I was specifically looking for. xD

On the memory side of things, I have 16 gigs of Corsair 3000 MHz that was auto-clocked to 2993, never tried to overclock it. I tried the Ryzen dram timing tool once but the values wouldn't work and the system wouldn't post so I just left it at that.

Off to the building stage now...

 

[delaro]

Good to hear you had no issues but flashing always comes with a what-if which is why it's suggested not to up flash 6+ updates a time.

As far as overclocking the RAM you can try it two different ways.

Set Frequency to 3200mhz
Set timing to 16-18-36
Leave the voltage alone.

or

Set Frequency to 3200mhz
Leave the timing a 15-17-35
Set Primary Voltage... you could go as high as 1.40V you would step it up by increments of .1 until you find what is stable.

You can find a decent guide here for DDR4 overclocking.

Leaving things at 2993 is a decent performance hit. 3rd gen chips defiantly make use of faster RAM.

 

[LrsLex]

As far as overclocking the RAM you can try it two different ways.

Set Frequency to 3200mhz
Set timing to 16-18-36
Leave the voltage alone.

or

Set Frequency to 3200mhz
Leave the timing a 15-17-35
Set Primary Voltage... you could go as high as 1.40V you would step it up by increments of .1 until you find what is stable.

Thanks for the tip!

The timings when OCing always puzzle me. In every guide there's a different amount of timings to tinker, like above three values. Sometimes it's four, five, or like Ryzen DRAM Calculator, it gives pretty much every one of the about 30 values that are in BIOS. Does the MoBo set rest of the values according the few "main values" even in manual mode? I get that XMP or DOCP auto-sets everything, you just have to set the memory speed and hope for a post.

That's pretty much what stops my memory OCing efforts; if the system doesn't post, I've got no idea if it's mismatched timings, MoBo auto-set wrong value somewhere, voltage or whatever else. Then it's back to the start with CMOS reset, so many variables!