[SOLVED] What is the best, preferably AMD cpu that wouldn't bottleneck my GTX1660ti?

[Luke2323]

What is the cheapest preferably AMD cpu that will not bottleneck my graphics card, it must be AM4 or recommend a good cheap motherboard that will go with it? Also, it can ship to Germany. Thanks for your help.

Edit: Also would be nice if I didn't have to update the BIOS. But it's fine if I do if the price difference is too big.

 

[Tigerhawk30]

Looking at several different sites and threads, every answer says Ryzen 5 2600. One outlier says 2600X.

Just because I have it myself and, by all accounts/reviews seems to be the best B450 bang for the buck...MSI B450 Tomahawk, or the Tomahawk Max if it's available. OK overclocking chops, quite good VRMs.

 

[WildCard999]

The Ryzen 2600 pairs well with the 1660 ti. I have one paired with a 1660 Super and it games really well at 2560x1080/75hz. You may not be using a 21:9 monitor but it'll still game well at 1080P.

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (€119.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€72.98 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 Blackout 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€66.89 @ Alternate)
Total: €259.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-21 20:40 CET+0100

Just wondering, what do you currently have for a CPU?

 

[Luke2323]

The Ryzen 2600 pairs well with the 1660 ti. I have one paired with a 1660 Super and it games really well at 2560x1080/75hz. You may not be using a 21:9 monitor but it'll still game well at 1080P.

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (€119.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (€72.98 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Patriot Viper 4 Blackout 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€66.89 @ Alternate)
Total: €259.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-12-21 20:40 CET+0100

Just wondering, what do you currently have for a CPU?

Currently, for a GPU I have a 1030 so I'm making a really big upgrade. Thanks for the suggestion, also will I need to install/do anything with the BIOS. I don't want to risk losing power or something even tho it has literally never happened while living here. Also, could I install an SSD or something?

 

[Luke2323]

Looking at several different sites and threads, every answer says Ryzen 5 2600. One outlier says 2600X.

Just because I have it myself and, by all accounts/reviews seems to be the best B450 bang for the buck...MSI B450 Tomahawk, or the Tomahawk Max if it's available. OK overclocking chops, quite good VRMs.

Ok, thank you I think I'm gonna get this.

 

[WildCard999]

Currently, for a GPU I have a 1030 so I'm making a really big upgrade. Thanks for the suggestion, also will I need to install/do anything with the BIOS. I don't want to risk losing power or something even tho it has literally never happened while living here. Also, could I install an SSD or something?

Well going from the 1030 to the 1660 ti will be a good upgrade but if you haven't bought it yet I would actually look at the 1660 Super instead. Performs close to the ti version but is usually much cheaper.

Since your swapping over the motherboard you'll need to do a clean install of Windows and will want to backup any important files as your pretty much starting fresh.

 

[Luke2323]

Well going from the 1030 to the 1660 ti will be a good upgrade but if you haven't bought it yet I would actually look at the 1660 Super instead. Performs close to the ti version but is usually much cheaper.

Since your swapping over the motherboard you'll need to do a clean install of Windows and will want to backup any important files as your pretty much starting fresh.

Sorry for late reply, but why would I need to do a fresh install?

 

[WildCard999]

Sorry for late reply, but why would I need to do a fresh install?

Conflicting motherboard drivers, it may initially work but even if you download the newest drivers for the motherboard eventually the performance will get worse and you'll be forced to do it anyways. That is if it even boots up. Backup important files then start fresh to avoid issues.

 

[Karadjgne]

Every component, chipset, header, slot, etc has an address in registry. Every driver, software link, system file, font etc has address links in registry etc. It's all setup for all the addresses and links according to your old motherboard. Then you get a new mobo, and some stuff makes the transition. Some doesn't. So you run software, that says goto here and do this, if not then goto there and do that. And this/there are dead ends, orphans, wrong links altogether, and you get screen freezes, stutters, bad performance, bsod, blackouts or any number of errors as the pc tries going around in circles trying to work.

And that's if Windows even recognises the validity of the registration key, due to motherboard change.

 

[InvalidError]

Sorry for late reply, but why would I need to do a fresh install?

You may need it, you may not need it, depends on how well-behaved your drivers are. You are almost certain to need to boot into recovery mode at least once to force Windows to scrap cached drivers and rebuild based on the new system state.

 

[Luke2323]

Conflicting motherboard drivers, it may initially work but even if you download the newest drivers for the motherboard eventually the performance will get worse and you'll be forced to do it anyways. That is if it even boots up. Backup important files then start fresh to avoid issues.

And just a quick question, do you know what the 8 pin connector in the top right corner is? And does the Corsair Vengeance 550M semi-modular PSU have it? https://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/ProductImageCompressAll1280/13-157-870-V80.jpg

 

[Karadjgne]

Top right? You mean top-left. That's a 4+4pin EPS and any modern (ish) psu over 200w will have that. It's supplementary 12v power for the cpu.

 

[Luke2323]

Top right? You mean top-left. That's a 4+4pin EPS and any modern (ish) psu over 200w will have that. It's supplementary 12v power for the cpu.

Hmm, the one I have doesn't seem to have it, the CPU one can be snapped in half but I need it for well the CPU, any ideas?

 

[Karadjgne]

EPS, CPU is same thing, a 4+4. It'll be the only 4+4. Pcie is 6 or 6+2 and according to picture there's no power header in top right side. The only accessible power points in the whole top-right quadrant being cpu_fan and the 2x rgb points above the 20+4 mains.

 

[Luke2323]

EPS, CPU is same thing, a 4+4. It'll be the only 4+4. Pcie is 6 or 6+2 and according to picture there's no power header in top right side. The only accessible power points in the whole top-right quadrant being cpu_fan and the 2x rgb points above the 20+4 mains.

Wait, I'm confused, I also meant top left forgive my stupidity. I just don't know how? Like do I combine two of them, and how do I combine then???. And does my PSU support it. sorry for being so annoying since I'm new to building PCs. And can I get A 6 pin to 8 pin cable, like to plug it directly into PSU? And if so which one do I get?

 

[Luke2323]

You may need it, you may not need it, depends on how well-behaved your drivers are. You are almost certain to need to boot into recovery mode at least once to force Windows to scrap cached drivers and rebuild based on the new system state.

And by safe mode, you mean with the BIOS thing?

 

[WildCard999]

On the 4+4 you only use one of those connections for that particular motherboard. The reason there is another 4 is because some motherboards support the additional power. Also you cannot get another cable unless it's made for that specific PSU. Your PSU should have all the correct cables & connections.

 

[Luke2323]

Wait, I'm confused, I also meant top left forgive my stupidity. I just don't know how? Like do I combine two of them, and how do I combine then???. And does my PSU support it. sorry for being so annoying since I'm new to building PCs. And can I get A 6 pin to 8 pin cable, like to plug it directly into PSU? And if so which one do I get?

Is this it? Pic of box. And if it isnt could you please link one?

 

[Karadjgne]

Left hand picture is the EPS/CPU/ATX12V connector. It's the only 4+4 connector on that psu. It's keyed where you join both 4's together and it forms a 8pin. There's 2 reasons why it's 4+4, first being that some motherboards are so low-end, designed for really tiny power cpus that they only require a 4pin EPS. The second is to differentiate the EPS from PCIE, since both can be 8pin. (PCIE 6+2 is center picture). And the power pinout on those 2 plugs is totally different, so there's a need to identify the difference since not all vendors are nice enough to print EPS or PCIE on the plugs.

No adapters necessary. 4+4 is 2 halves of an 8pin, same as pcie 6+2 is 2 halves of an 8pin. They literally slide together (join them first before trying to install in the socket). It'll make sense when you actually see it.

 

[InvalidError]

And by safe mode, you mean with the BIOS thing?

By safe mode, I mean the mode Windows goes into when it fails to boot a couple of times. If you force it to safe mode yourself, you save yourself the 3-4 boots that Windows may attempt before figuring out that it needs to boot with minimal drivers to do sanity checks and scrap the driver cache first.

 

[Luke2323]

By safe mode, I mean the mode Windows goes into when it fails to boot a couple of times. If you force it to safe mode yourself, you save yourself the 3-4 boots that Windows may attempt before figuring out that it needs to boot with minimal drivers to do sanity checks and scrap the driver cache first.

Ahhh, thank you.

 

[Luke2323]

Left hand picture is the EPS/CPU/ATX12V connector. It's the only 4+4 connector on that psu. It's keyed where you join both 4's together and it forms a 8pin. There's 2 reasons why it's 4+4, first being that some motherboards are so low-end, designed for really tiny power cpus that they only require a 4pin EPS. The second is to differentiate the EPS from PCIE, since both can be 8pin. (PCIE 6+2 is center picture). And the power pinout on those 2 plugs is totally different, so there's a need to identify the difference since not all vendors are nice enough to print EPS or PCIE on the plugs.

No adapters necessary. 4+4 is 2 halves of an 8pin, same as pcie 6+2 is 2 halves of an 8pin. They literally slide together (join them first before trying to install in the socket). It'll make sense when you actually see it.

So I just join the pcie connectors together? And would the keys align?
When I tried to match them to the picture it looked like it wouldn't fit at all? I'm not sure and I'm really not in a position to spend 80€ on a motherboard and not be able to use it.
Again sorry for bugging you so much. And thanks for replying

 

[Karadjgne]

If you look at the 4+4, on 2 of the sides are little tabs. You'll literally pull one 4 connector back and let it slide into and lock into the other 4 connector. Making a somewhat solid 8pin. Can be a little trixy as different vendors have slightly different designs. You'll just have to trust that they do connect together.

 

[Luke2323]

So I just join the pcie connectors together? And would the keys align. When I tried to match them to the picture it looked like it wouldn't fit at all? I'm not sure and I'm really not in a position to spend 80€ on a motherboard and not be able to use it. Again sorry for bugging you so much. And thanks for replying

If you look at the 4+4, on 2 of the sides are little tabs. You'll literally pull one 4 connector back and let it slide into and lock into the other 4 connector. Making a somewhat solid 8pin. Can be a little trixy as different vendors have slightly different designs. You'll just have to trust that they do connect together.

Yes, I know that, but don't I need the 4+4 for the CPU? Also would the pcie cable work?

 

[Karadjgne]

Yes. You need the 4+4 for just the cpu. That's its only job. You only need 1x 4+4, which comes with that psu. There's no other place in a pc that that connector goes to, just the EPS/CPU/ATX12v or however the motherboard is labeled. It'll be the power plug in the top left corner.

The gpu uses a similar plug, the PCI/PCIE/GPU, which is 6+2. Some gpu need 8pin, so you'd connect the 6+2 together, some need 6pin, so you just use the 6+2 wire, but not the +2.