[SOLVED] What is the best way to get the most efficiency/value of a Ryzen 5 3600?

[kyxzu]

Being my first post in the Tom's Hardware forums, please redirect me to the correct location if needed. Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone,

With all the positive news regarding the new 3rd Gen Ryzen, I decided to buy a Ryzen 5 3600 for my build (as follows). Is there anything in this build that ensures that I'm getting the most value out of my PC? Or will I have to upgrade anything to achieve an overall better performance to value ratio. I mainly use this rig to play games such as Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and also do Video Editing and rendering in Vegas Pro and Creative Cloud apps. On a side note what kind of performance jump is the 3600 going to have for apps/games that require better CPU utilization?

• CPU: Ryzen 3 1200 @ 3.75GHz
• MOBO: MSI B450M Mortar Titanium
• PSU: Cougar STE500 500W Power Supply
• GPU: Zotac AMP! Edition GTX 1060 6GB
• MEM: 1x8GB DDR4 Team RAM 2400Mhz

Extra Notes: Running on a 144hz panel @ 1080p

Thanks, kyxzu.

 

[USAFRet]

2 x 4GB is better than 1 x 8GB
3000 MHz RAM is better than 2400MHz RAM

 

[kyxzu]

Right, so the next logical thing to upgrade would be the RAM right? Is there any specific modules that work well with the 3600 or 3rd Gen?

 

[USAFRet]

Right, so the next logical thing to upgrade would be the RAM right? Is there any specific modules that work well with the 3600 or 3rd Gen?

Start by what is on the QVL list for your specific motherboard.

2 x 4GB runs in Dual Channel.
1 x 8 GB is only single channel. A 15% or so deficit.

Ryzen CPU's thrive on faster RAM.



What drives are associated with this system?

 

[kyxzu]

What drives are associated with this system?

Is this referring to my storage drives? In that case its a 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD.

 

[USAFRet]

Is this referring to my storage drives? In that case its a 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD.

Yes.

If you can squeeze it in the budget, a new, larger SSD would be helpful. Possibly even an NVMe drive.
How full is that 120GB?

 

[kyxzu]

Not that full
Image

 

[USAFRet]

OK.
If you can keep it at that level, good.
Any more than that...look to a new, larger, drive.

 

[kyxzu]

Awesome, thanks for you advice. Its greatly appreciated!

 

[cryoburner]

2 x 4GB is better than 1 x 8GB
3000 MHz RAM is better than 2400MHz RAM

While that's true, if one is doing a RAM upgrade anyway, it might be worth going with 2 x 8GB so that you won't be needing to upgrade your RAM again for a number of years. Unless it's outside your current budget, of course.

 

[USAFRet]

While that's true, if one is doing a RAM upgrade anyway, it might be worth going with 2 x 8GB so that you won't be needing to upgrade your RAM again for a number of years. Unless it's outside your current budget, of course.

Agreed.