Question Upgrade from i7 3770k to AM4...or AM5? At the end: Intel i5 12400F :)

[logainofhades]

Clear enough about the SSDs, many thanks!
Still i need to clarify the issue with long boot times.

So if i go with intel i5 12400f, spending less money, around 500 euro, then in 4-5 years i should change again motherboard, right? Or there will be some edge for a CPU upgrade only?

4-5 years, you will probably need to just change motherboard again. You have the budget, to go with an i7 12700. I would do it just to better handle future games, and maybe squeeze a little more time out, before you need an upgrade.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700 2.1 GHz 12-Core Processor (€340.00 @ Amazon Italia)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (€41.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€150.09 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€93.84 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €624.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-25 13:58 CET+0100

 

[savior99]

Considering that Elden Ring ran like hot garbage on my old 7600K in the secondary system, I can't imagine it will even come close to running well on the 3770K... and that CPU should be quite a bit better than your current one.

Personally, I grabbed a 12100F, an MSI Pro B660A and some DDR4 3200 RAM with two SSDs the other day for 420€, to upgrade my secondary system. That's frankly more than enough of an upgrade for a 1070, and even if the GPU will be upgraded in a couple years, that CPU is good enough unless you grab a really high-end one. Look at Gamers Nexus' reviews of that CPU. Considering you stayed with your CPU that long, what makes you think you will feel the need to upgrade soon, especially with the named titles, anyways?

Actually it holds quite well, with a bit of VGA overclock, I can run it at 60fps in interior, and 45-60 in external areas. Full HD of course and mostly High settings, but with some compromises of course.

I am really disappointed because i really wanted to go with AM5, but probably i should just go with i5 12400F, and then as you said, i might keep it for longer than planned...and hopefully i will have some CPU upgrade options anyway at that stage.

 

[savior99]

4-5 years, you will probably need to just change motherboard again. You have the budget, to go with an i7 12700. I would do it just to better handle future games, and maybe squeeze a little more time out, before you need an upgrade.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700 2.1 GHz 12-Core Processor (€340.00 @ Amazon Italia)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (€41.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€150.09 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€93.84 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €624.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-25 13:58 CET+0100

I think i agree with your view. I didn't consider the 12700, it seems quite more powerful than the 12400F even if a tad more expensive than i would like to pay it now. Actually i didn't follow the evolving of CPUs for long so there are many i didn't consider, I am just considering your suggestions here

 

[KyaraM]

Actually it holds quite well, with a bit of VGA overclock, I can run it at 60fps in interior, and 45-60 in external areas. Full HD of course and mostly High settings, but with some compromises of course.

I am really disappointed because i really wanted to go with AM5, but probably i should just go with i5 12400F, and then as you said, i might keep it for longer than planned...and hopefully i will have some CPU upgrade options anyway at that stage.

I don't speak about the FPS. Those are fine on the 1070, the card is good enough to run the game without OC. I talk about the stuttering a weak CPU causes. Which, on the i5-7600K I mentioned above, was horrenduous at times. Same for Horizon Zero Dawn. Iirc they recommend the i5-8400 for Elden Ring.

But like logainofhades above said, you have a high enough budget to go with the 12700, spare yourself the later CPU upgrade, and be happy the next ~6+ years. It doesn't really sound like you need it much, honestly. I plan to keep my 12700K for about 8 years, as a reference. At that point in time, AM5 will be long dead as well, so why should I concern myself with hypothetical upgrades?

 

[savior99]

Consider that in the budget i need to squeeze also at least a new SSD NVMe (1 but better if 2TB), probably crucial P3, P5 or Samsung 980 Pro (at least these were the best when i looked at them in October). And if i manage, also a new PSU.

I have checked the benchmarks and the i7 12700 isn't that faster than the 12400f, which is a beast in price/performance ratio, in many games they are practically the same.

So I think i have made up my mind to go with 12400F and in 4 years, maybe i will just upgrade CPU, or i will see.

Can anyone recommend a rig with 12400F, 16GB RAM 3200Mhz, Cooler, SSD 1 or 2 TB, and (possibly) PSU? Maximum 750 euro, but lesser even better? No fancy stuff nor wifi on MB

 

[logainofhades]

Do not go with 16gb ram. Do yourself a favor, and go at least 32gb. Newer games are starting to get to the point where 16gb is not enough.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (€195.00 @ Amazon Italia)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (€41.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€150.09 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€93.84 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€110.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G6 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€138.74 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €729.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-25 14:44 CET+0100

 

[KyaraM]

Consider that in the budget i need to squeeze also at least a new SSD NVMe (1 but better if 2TB), probably crucial P3, P5 or Samsung 980 Pro (at least these were the best when i looked at them in October). And if i manage, also a new PSU.

I have checked the benchmarks and the i7 12700 isn't that faster than the 12400f, which is a beast in price/performance ratio, in many games they are practically the same.

So I think i have made up my mind to go with 12400F and in 4 years, maybe i will just upgrade CPU, or i will see.

Can anyone recommend a rig with 12400F, 16GB RAM 3200Mhz, Cooler, SSD 1 or 2 TB, and (possibly) PSU? Maximum 750 euro, but lesser even better? No fancy stuff nor wifi on MB

I would recommend the P5 Plus, got the drive for the upgrade mentioned earlier and really like it. It's a really good budget drive, and unlike the P3, it uses TLC storage instead of QLC; QLC is less reliable. It's also nice and fast PCIE 4.0 instead of 3.0, if you need that. Iirc it got almost twice the speed and seems to be optimized for gaming.

Another variation that would result in 500GB more volume would be to buy a 500GB version of the P5 Plus as a system drive and for the most important stuff, and a 1TB one of a cheaper, QLC drive. As long as you use the QLC drive for games only (and other programs), and don't save any data on it (which realistically should be backed-up anyways), you shouldn't run into issues and if the QLC drives dies, you don't lose much and can still at least use the computer. I think I paid 130€ for that combo, 1.5GB NVME capacity. Just a thought.

 

[savior99]

Do not go with 16gb ram. Do yourself a favor, and go at least 32gb. Newer games are starting to get to the point where 16gb is not enough.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (€195.00 @ Amazon Italia)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (€41.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€150.09 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€93.84 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€110.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G6 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€138.74 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €729.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-25 14:44 CET+0100

Superfast! Many thanks man!

I simulated my actual build, it consumes 366W. With the new rig you proposed it goes up to 426W.

Do you think i can keep my XFX PRO 750W Silver 80+ purchased in 2016?

 

[savior99]

I would recommend the P5 Plus, got the drive for the upgrade mentioned earlier and really like it. It's a really good budget drive, and unlike the P3, it uses TLC storage instead of QLC; QLC is less reliable. It's also nice and fast PCIE 4.0 instead of 3.0, if you need that. Iirc it got almost twice the speed and seems to be optimized for gaming.

Another variation that would result in 500GB more volume would be to buy a 500GB version of the P5 Plus as a system drive and for the most important stuff, and a 1TB one of a cheaper, QLC drive. As long as you use the QLC drive for games only (and other programs), and don't save any data on it (which realistically should be backed-up anyways), you shouldn't run into issues and if the QLC drives dies, you don't lose much and can still at least use the computer. I think I paid 130€ for that combo, 1.5GB NVME capacity. Just a thought.

Thanks for the advice and technical headup, really interesting and useful. I think for the time being i will keep the OS on the new SDD and i will keep my 2 other old SSDs for the games. Then when i will feel the need i will add a new SSD instead of the old ones.

 

[savior99]

Do not go with 16gb ram. Do yourself a favor, and go at least 32gb. Newer games are starting to get to the point where 16gb is not enough.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (€195.00 @ Amazon Italia)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (€41.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€150.09 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€93.84 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€110.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G6 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€138.74 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €729.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-25 14:44 CET+0100

Wouldn't it be better to purchase the ASUS PRIME B660-PLUS D4 which supports also 13rd Generation CPUs?

In single thread benchmark, which i understand is crucial for games, the 13900K performs almost 40% more than the 12400F http://valid.x86.fr/bench/1

If tomorrow i feel lazy, and i have money, I can always upgrade only the CPU for a nice boost (like I did on my current motherboard by the way)

 

[KyaraM]

They all support 13th gen after an upgrade. Personally, I would recommend the MSI Pro B660M-A or B660-A. Should be available for a similar price, the B660M-A variant was VRM tested and found to be a really good board at the price point, adn AFAIK the Pro B660-A is simply the ATX version with slightly different rear I/O.

Best Budget Intel B660 Motherboards, VRM Thermal Test

Our first look at VRM thermal performance of entry-level Intel B660 motherboards. On hand we have models boards from Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Asrock, Soyo and Maxsun. Pricing...

www.techspot.com

I'm not sure what those boards currently cost in Italy, but they are definitely worth a look at the price point. The Asus board you linked seems to have not fared too well in this test compared to the MSI Pro B660M-A from the link above:

Intel B660 Motherboard VRM, Mid-Range Roundup

In this roundup we have 8 new Intel B660 motherboards that go for from $150 to $250. Spoiler alert: We're looking at a hefty 70% difference between...

www.techspot.com

 

[savior99]

They all support 13th gen after an upgrade. Personally, I would recommend the MSI Pro B660M-A or B660-A. Should be available for a similar price, the B660M-A variant was VRM tested and found to be a really good board at the price point, adn AFAIK the Pro B660-A is simply the ATX version with slightly different rear I/O.

Best Budget Intel B660 Motherboards, VRM Thermal Test

Our first look at VRM thermal performance of entry-level Intel B660 motherboards. On hand we have models boards from Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Asrock, Soyo and Maxsun. Pricing...

www.techspot.com

I'm not sure what those boards currently cost in Italy, but they are definitely worth a look at the price point. The Asus board you linked seems to have not fared too well in this test compared to the MSI Pro B660M-A from the link above:

Intel B660 Motherboard VRM, Mid-Range Roundup

In this roundup we have 8 new Intel B660 motherboards that go for from $150 to $250. Spoiler alert: We're looking at a hefty 70% difference between...

www.techspot.com

Thanks, there are many options indeed. I checked on the Gigabyte website and it mentions only 12th gen CPUs, which anyway sounds strange also to me: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B660-GAMING-X-DDR4-rev-10#kf
Why shouldn't they write it on their website? Not good advertising for them If it supports 13th gen CPU, i would go for the one suggested

Otherwise I will need to check other options for motherboards, i really want the best bang for the buck. I will study better the reviews for MSI Pro B660M-A or B660-A . Only problem i would want to stick with ATX, not sure the other formats would fit in my case.

EDIT: Oh, in the home page of the gigabyte MB, it says 12th gen, but if you go in the supported CPUs, it lists the 13th gen, so good!

 

[KyaraM]

Thanks, there are many options indeed. I checked on the Gigabyte website and it mentions only 12th gen CPUs, which anyway sounds strange also to me: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B660-GAMING-X-DDR4-rev-10#kf
Why shouldn't they write it on their website? Not good advertising for them If it supports 13th gen CPU, i would go for the one suggested

Otherwise I will need to check other options for motherboards, i really want the best bang for the buck. I will study better the reviews for MSI Pro B660M-A or B660-A . Only problem i would want to stick with ATX, not sure the other formats would fit in my case.

EDIT: Oh, in the home page of the gigabyte MB, it says 12th gen, but if you go in the supported CPUs, it lists the 13th gen, so good!

The B660-A is also ATX^^
Only issue I think one might have with the board is that there are only two m.2 slots plus one for a wifi card, but at least they are both PCIE 4.0. Else, it's pretty much perfect for me at least.
About mainboard formats. As a rule of thumb, unless they are all fixed, which they usually aren't, the mainboard spacers should be adjustable to at least fit mATX as well. That should give you some more choices.

 

[savior99]

Do not go with 16gb ram. Do yourself a favor, and go at least 32gb. Newer games are starting to get to the point where 16gb is not enough.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (€195.00 @ Amazon Italia)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 2 CPU Cooler (€41.00 @ Amazon Italia)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€150.09 @ Amazon Italia)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (€93.84 @ Amazon Italia)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€110.41 @ Amazon Italia)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G6 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€138.74 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €729.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-25 14:44 CET+0100

Ok i got everything of this list finally! Just ordered! apart the PSU, I will keep mine for the time being.

Can you please recommend a good case, maximum 150 euro, better if around 100 euro? Sober, with fans included.
And possibly without glass, but that's not a priority.

For now i will keep the GTX 1070 but in the future i will upgrade, so a good airflow would be useful i guess

 

[savior99]

I think i would go with this: NZXT H7 Flow

Thoughts?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Haven’t used next personally but they’ve got a decent reputation and that case appears to have good airflow which is a plus.

 

[logainofhades]

The H7 flow is nice, but a bit pricey. The Fractal pop air comes with more fans, and is cheaper.

PCPartPicker Part List

Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (€97.01 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €97.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-27 13:35 CET+0100

 

[savior99]

The H7 flow is nice, but a bit pricey. The Fractal pop air comes with more fans, and is cheaper.

PCPartPicker Part List

Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (€97.01 @ Amazon Italia)
Total: €97.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-27 13:35 CET+0100

Thanks a lot dude, cool one this, only i need it in black and it doesn't seem available in that color. And yesterday i was in shopping frenzy and I already went with NZXT
For the rest i bought everything you recommended, apart from the CPU cooler, which was a hard choice anyway, both really good.

 

[logainofhades]

It is available in that color. There are buttons, on the case page, that gives you other color options, and then their price.

https://it.pcpartpicker.com/product/QnD7YJ/

 

[savior99]

It is available in that color. There are buttons, on the case page, that gives you other color options, and then their price.

https://it.pcpartpicker.com/product/QnD7YJ/

I saw that, thanks, I often buy on Amazon. But the black was not available for fast delivery, I would have had to wait longer, only for the case, all the other parts have already arrived. today also the case
I will let you know how it goes the assembling

 

[savior99]

I didn't buy the heatsink for the Crucial P5 Plus. Do you think it's already included in the Gigabyte B660 Gaming X?

If not, do i absolutely need to buy it? I read that if the case is well ventilated, and mine will be, probably is not strictly necessary. Of course, it wouldn't hurt i guess

 

[logainofhades]

The motherboard has a heatsink, for the top NVME slot.

 

[savior99]

Cool, thanks, as i presumed. I will check the temps and if high, maybe later on i will buy a better heatsink probably