[SOLVED] Upgrading PC Advice Request

SH3ra2

Distinguished
Dec 9, 2012
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18,530
Hi guys, hope all is well

I built this PC approx 1 year ago, and am thinking of doing some upgrades to it. Its all purely for gaming:
Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X 3.9 GHz 8-Core Processor
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB WINDFORCE OC 3X Video Card
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL15 Memory
Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Toshiba P300 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
SeaSonic FOCUS 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Corsair 275R Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case

used on a 1080P projector, hoping to upgrade to a 4k porjector/tv at some point in future (current one sounds like it might die soon). also want to put in some more RAM as RAM usage seems to be very high sometimes (e.g. playing horizon)
Im thinking of upgrading the following parts:
processor to Ryzen 9 5900x (or perhaps 5950x)
rtx 3080 (when I can get hold of one)
add in 2x 16gb of the lpx vengeance 3000 RAM, and have 48gb total.

budget thinking: 100-200 for the ram, 500ish for the processor, and whatever I can for the gpu (may have to wait for whenever GPU market sorts itself out).
UK based
no overclocking
would prefer to buy from nearly any reputable mainstream seller (not ebay for e.g.)
q's: PC part picker says this as a warning for 5950 and 5900 (not for the 3950 or 3900): "Some AMD X570 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Vermeer CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions. " Is this a problem?
650W PSU should be fine here according to part picker and a few other PSU checkers I had a look at, anyone agree/disagree?

if anyone prefers this: current build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/SH3RAZ/saved/#view=d7sgBm
prospective build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/SH3RAZ/saved/#view=YZXN6h


Thanks very much
Sheraz
 
Solution
add in 2x 16gb of the lpx vengeance 3000 RAM, and have 48gb total.

The original RAM sticks are a different size than the new ones. You will have problems with dual channel. You will perhaps be able to use those while reverting to single channel (a performance hit). I'll suggest that 32GB is plenty for most gaming unless you do something special (e.g., some sort of streaming which might need more RAM). Personally I'd stick to all sticks of the same exact model/size/timing, or else go with only the two new 16GB sticks (32GB total). I actually run with 64GB of RAM and I've never seen a game plus o/s needing more than 32GB. Plus you save money if you go with 4 sticks of the exact same model, although I find a pair of 16GB sticks...
add in 2x 16gb of the lpx vengeance 3000 RAM, and have 48gb total.

The original RAM sticks are a different size than the new ones. You will have problems with dual channel. You will perhaps be able to use those while reverting to single channel (a performance hit). I'll suggest that 32GB is plenty for most gaming unless you do something special (e.g., some sort of streaming which might need more RAM). Personally I'd stick to all sticks of the same exact model/size/timing, or else go with only the two new 16GB sticks (32GB total). I actually run with 64GB of RAM and I've never seen a game plus o/s needing more than 32GB. Plus you save money if you go with 4 sticks of the exact same model, although I find a pair of 16GB sticks more appealing. If you get a model of RAM stick to replace your old RAM sticks, then you can go for a faster clock (which AMD CPUs do benefit from, but make sure the XMP profile speed is supported by your combination of mobo and CPU).

Just wanted to add that I like what @Why_Me said about saving a bit with a 5800X. It isn't just the CPU price, but the 5950 would probably require a new cooling solution if you don't already have a good system compatible with that CPU. Always check if your cooling fits a new CPU unless the new CPU comes with cooling and you know you can use that cooling.
 
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SH3ra2

Distinguished
Dec 9, 2012
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Thanks for the reply mate, Ill go with replacing the old ram with 2x16 then. If needed in the future I can then add another 2x 16, and that'll be enough for the lifespan of this motherboard.
when you say "check if your cooling fits a new CPU" do you mean physically in the case? my c75R case has 4 case fans already, along with a good cooler would be that be enough for a 5950/5900 or does it need something else (e.g. water cooling). How can you tell if your cooling is good enough?
what do you think of this warning: "Some AMD X570 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Vermeer CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions. "
Thanks
 
when you say "check if your cooling fits a new CPU" do you mean physically in the case?

If you change CPU fan/cooling, yes, you do need to know if the case can handle it, but mostly I was implying that when you change CPU, then the actual cooling may not mount on the new socket type. If the socket type is the same, then you won't need to change cooling mount...at least not due to socket spec. So far as comments of 5950 versus 5900, consider that AMD has a number of CPUs with the "xx50" designation, and that so far as I know, in all cases the "xx50" variant puts out a lot more heat than does the "xx00" variant. As an example, the 3900 and 3950 should fit the same socket, but the 3950 needs a lot more wattage of heat pulled off of it and I would not recommend a 3950 without liquid cooling (if you don't have ears you are probably ok with a fan :eek:).

As another example, look at the specs of a 3600 and 3600x cpu when they are sold with the fan ("Wraith" fan, 65W total dissipation rating for non-X, 95W fan total dissipation rating for X version). The fan is rated for the number of watts it can cool. The 3600x ships with a fan which can easily cool the CPU despite the CPU putting out more heat than the non-X version, and that is because the fan itself is "beefed up" compared to the non-X version. The 65W fan (for the non-X 3600) is closer to its limitations with that CPU than is the 95W fan with the X version. It isn't always about total watts, and is often an issue of whether the supplied fan is close to its limits or not. Closer to limits implies more noise (and higher fan RPM) and less acceptable temperatures.

For the 3900x compared to the 3950x you are reaching high enough temperatures that although you could air cool the 3950x the default 3950x fan solution, that 3950 air cooler solution is closer to its limits than is the 3900x fan solution (the 3900x air cooler is not operating as close to its limits as is the 3950x air cooler). The 3950x default fan is probably beyond the limits of hearing sanity (unless you don't have ears) even when not operating at max, and will end up with temperatures closer to the fan's limits. Thus I'd never operate a 3950x without liquid cooling, but would consider a 3900x with air cooling. Similar stories for the other higher end AMD CPUs for the XX00 versus XX50 variants, e.g., replace "XX" with "59". For the 3600 case I was demonstrating "XXXXx" versus "XXXX" differences (with or without trailing "x" in name), but the differences between "XX00" models and "XX50" models is more extreme so far as cooling requirements go (the "50" variant versus the non-"50" variant is a pretty big cooling requirement difference in comparison to an "x" versus non-"x" variant).