[SOLVED] Upgrading PC - CPU + MBD + RAM + SSD

[andreoei]

Hi everyone, I am planning to upgrade my PC, in particular m CPU and MBD and RAM which were bought in 2015. My current specs are:

Userbenchmark PC Build Comparison
Baseline Bench: Game 73%, Desk 78%, Work 56%
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1070
SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 500GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 2TB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 1600 C9 2x8GB
MBD: Asus H97-PLUS

Have 4 questions that I would really appreciate advice on. My needs are pretty simple. I use the desktop for work, streaming and gaming. For gaming I would say my preferences and budget are suited for a mid-range gaming PC. I definitely don't need high-end for gaming. Mostly play action and open-world games like Overwatch, RDR2, Watch Dogs, Tomb Raider, Batman, Far Cry etc.

1) [CPU] i5-9600K vs AMD R5 3600X
Which would you recommend? The reviews are mixed between the two. I am leaning towards i5-9600K though as it's cheaper, especially after pairing with the MBD. My usual shop recommended the i7-9700 with Asus ROG Strix Z390-H Gaming MBD but I am not sure I should pay the premium for that, given my needs.

2) [MBD] B360 vs H370 vs Z390
(Or for AMD: B450 vs X570)
After selecting the CPU, my next dilemma is the motherboard. After searching online, I am still none the wiser. My main question is - should I pay more to get the H370 / Z390 / X570 to future-proof my PC? Understand that these have some special features that might become the norm in the future?

3) [RAM] 16GB vs 32GB
My sense here is that 16GB DDR4 RAM is sufficient for my needs, and I can always add on more in the future if I'd like to. Would you agree?

4) [SSD] nvme SSD?
Just a quick question whether it's worth investing in a NVME SSD. They seem to be all the hype these days and are apparently even faster than SATA SSDs. Do you think it would be a good purchase?

Grateful for any advice on my 4 qns above. Thanks v much.

 

[Vyrvelata]

1) 3600X. Games are constantly adding more and more cores support, so even thou now 9600k is faster, it wont last.

2)B450 is enough if you not gonna OC, but if you can wait for B550, even better, it will support Ryzen 4000

3)16GB is fine for now, especially for gaming, for work you can go as more as you need.

4)Nvme all the way, they are not that more expensive than regular SSD and they are crazy fast!
Normal SSD 500MB/s -Write 550MB/s Read
Nvme SSD 1500MB/s -Write 2200MB/s Read (reasonably priced ones, very close to SSD + maybe 5-10% bigger price)
Extreme Nvme 3000MB/s Read/Write and above

Also!
They don't take space!
They don't need cables to be connected (less problems).

 

[Rodrigodrt]

2) the 450 will still support ryzen 4000 series, they backed up on that, but if the price on the 550 is is affordable, then its better, a huge gap and just stick with 450

4) agree on preference over NVME but the difference between a M2 and regular SSD is nil in practice, at least in what regards loading times.

 

[Zerk2012]

1. Depends on the work programs for both the CPU and amount of memory.

2. CPU 3600X, 3700X or wait a few days till the Intel 10600K is released. The games don't really matter 6 pure cores will last a long time for gaming. Price to performance if you need the extra cores for workloads then the 3700X if not the new 10600K for the pure speed still 6 cores /12 threads.

3. 16 or 32 GB of memory again depends on the work program. With the price you can get a fancy set of 2X8GB or pay about 30 bucks more of regular 2X16GB.

4. The SSD don't really mater both are so fast you can't in real world use really tell a difference. The M.2 NVME drives are running benchmarks faster, but they slow down when their hot, I have also repaired 2 PC's where the M.2 drive actually melted. 1. Had no heat shield the other was using the motherboard heat shield and actually had to pry it apart.

More or less whatever you can get the best price on.

 

[gingerrankin]

I basically agree with Vyrvelata.
I add some comments:
1) The I5-9600K does not include cooler, this has to be taken into account when looking at the price. Since you have discrete GPU you can also look at the I5-9600KF which is cheaper and same power but without igpu. On the other hand, since the I7-9700 cannot be used, it is a waste to join it to a Z390 board.

Both the Ryzen 5 3600x and the I5-9600k (even the ryzen 5 3600) are much more powerful than the cpu you have now and perfectly support the gtx 1070. You can choose the one you prefer without fear of being mistaken.

The difference in games would only show up in much more powerful GPUs. With your current GPU you won't notice any difference between the two options.

2)If you choose I5-9600K you must choose a Z390 motherboard in order to take advantage of the OC of the chip which is very important. On the other hand, if you choose the Ryzen 5 3600x, the B450 is enough (or wait for the B550) since this chipset supports OC (which is very limited in the 3600x anyway). The X570 should only be chosen if you are going to use its exclusive facilities, which you do not need according to your needs.

4) Currently the price difference between NVME and SSD is small. I would choose an NVME.

 

[andreoei]

Thank you so much Vyrvelata, Rodrigodrt, Zerk2012 and gingerrankin for your advice. Greatly appreciate it.

Based on your advice, I've decided to go for the R5 3600 (not the 3600X because the consensus seems to be that the extra performance is not worth the price). Have a two-part follow up question on motherboard choice:

Q1a) Should I get a B450 or X570 motherboard? (B550 is not offered by my usual shop) I am leaning towards X570 as I am intending to upgrade my graphics card 2-3 years from now (am using Nvidia GTX 1070), hence the X570 would be more future proof because of the PCIe v4.0 ports. Would you think this is a good enough reason to spend more to buy a X570 over a B450 board?

Q1b) Regardless of whether I get the B450 or X570, would anyone have any views on whether I should go for the ASUS TUF or the Gigabyte Aorus series? I also considered the ASUS ROG Strix line but that seems more expensive than the other two. Is it purely just about form factor? Ease of BIOS etc is not that big a deal for me. Number of ports and VRM appear to be comparable too?

Thanks v much once again.

 

[Vyrvelata]

Q1a) Should I get a B450 or X570 motherboard? (B550 is not offered by my usual shop) I am leaning towards X570 as I am intending to upgrade my graphics card 2-3 years from now (am using Nvidia GTX 1070), hence the X570 would be more future proof because of the PCIe v4.0 ports. Would you think this is a good enough reason to spend more to buy a X570 over a B450 board?

Your question was already answered, read careful.

the B450 is enough (or wait for the B550) since this chipset supports OC (which is very limited in the 3600x anyway).
The X570 should only be chosen if you are going to use its exclusive facilities, which you do not need according to your needs.

About PCIe v4.0, it will be some time to make a difference, today Video Cards and peripherals cannot use v4.0.
Also you have to have not only motherboard supporting it but CPU also (you have to buy one of the new AMD 4000 CPU's when they came out).

Q1b) I'd go with ASUS....It's just my overall life experience with them has always been satisfying, can't say the same about Gigabyte.