Question Which Motherboard/CPU should i buy?

[smithy332211]

my current specs:
motherboard - MSI B85M-E45 (MS-7817)
graphics card - GTX 1060 6gb
CPU - intel core i5 4690

i am looking to change the motherboard to a better one as it doesnt support the 1060 6gb which i recently bought. along with this i would also like to upgrade the cpu, i am open to switching to an AMD system if that would be cheaper and/or better ? i dont want to spend rediculous money on this but enough to get a decent setup, i would rather push the budget than hold back if it would mean getting a better component. overall for the total cpu and motherboard upgrade i wouldn't like to spend more than £400 - £500 but ideally under.
thanks for any help in advance!

 

[CrestHD]

I don't know about prices in England so I'll just recommend a setup.
Motherboard B450
CPU R7 2700X, or R5 3600 depending on which is cheaper, (3600, less cores but still better performance in games, might need to ask for a bios update at the store)
RAM, 16GB preferably @3200MHz

I think this comes close to your budget, you can always go cheaper, maybe an R5 2600 will be fine as well, because that is more than enough to not bottleneck the videocard.

 

[smithy332211]

I don't know about prices in England so I'll just recommend a setup.
Motherboard B450
CPU R7 2700X, or R5 3600 depending on which is cheaper, (3600, less cores but still better performance in games, might need to ask for a bios update at the store)
RAM, 16GB preferably @3200MHz

I think this comes close to your budget, you can always go cheaper, maybe an R5 2600 will be fine as well, because that is more than enough to not bottleneck the videocard.

ok thanks very much, which motherboard would you reccommend excactly, eg the B450 Tomahawk max, or the mortar max, etc .........
also i dont need to buy any ram as I already have 16GB

 

[CrestHD]

ok thanks very much, which motherboard would you reccommend excactly, eg the B450 Tomahawk max, or the mortar max, etc .........

I heard the Tomahawk is a very good board, I'd get that if I were you.

View: https://youtu.be/MWGzmbbimPw?t=147

 

[smithy332211]

I heard the Tomahawk is a very good board, I'd get that if I were you.

View: https://youtu.be/MWGzmbbimPw?t=147

ok cool, so i could actually get a Ryzen 7 3700x with the B450 Tomohawk max for just under £400, would this be a good buy?
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/QD6d4q

also on the website it mentions that the motherboard may need to have its bios updated for the newer ryzens, but as this is the tomohawk max i believe that it should be already the updated bios when i buy it?

 

[CrestHD]

ok cool, so i could actually get a Ryzen 7 3700x with the B450 Tomohawk max for just under £400, would this be a good buy?

also on the website it mentions that the motherboard may need to have its bios updated for the newer ryzens, but as this is the tomohawk max i believe that it should be already the updated bios when i buy it?

Unless it's mentioned somewhere on the motherboard's product page that it's 3000 series ready, I wouldn't be so sure that it wouldn't need a bios update. Also remember that your RAM is DDR3 right now and you will require DDR4 for this upgrade, need to include the price of a kit as well.

You can also look for BIOS version number on the store page and send it here, I could check whether that version of the BIOS is compatible with newer CPUs.

 

[smithy332211]

Unless it's mentioned somewhere on the motherboard's product page that it's 3000 series ready, I wouldn't be so sure that it wouldn't need a bios update. Also remember that your RAM is DDR3 right now and you will require DDR4 for this upgrade, need to include the price of a kit as well.

You can also look for BIOS version number on the store page and send it here, I could check whether that version of the BIOS is compatible with newer CPUs.

So I’m actually going to buy the B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC
Motherboard, so your saying this won’t support ddr3 ram, so I will have to buy new ddr4 ram?
also what do you mean by the price of a kit?
and do i need to nuy a new cpu cooler aswell ?

 

[CrestHD]

You get a decent CPU cooler with the new Ryzen and yes, you will need to buy DDR4 ram as well I'd recommend 16GB @3200 MHz. So CPU+MOBO+RAM, I'd guess the ram is around 100£

 

[sizzling]

Unless it's mentioned somewhere on the motherboard's product page that it's 3000 series ready, I wouldn't be so sure that it wouldn't need a bios update. Also remember that your RAM is DDR3 right now and you will require DDR4 for this upgrade, need to include the price of a kit as well.

You can also look for BIOS version number on the store page and send it here, I could check whether that version of the BIOS is compatible with newer CPUs.

The ‘Max’ means it comes 3000 series ready with compatible BIOS.

 

[sizzling]

So I’m actually going to buy the B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC
Motherboard, so your saying this won’t support ddr3 ram, so I will have to buy new ddr4 ram?
also what do you mean by the price of a kit?
and do i need to nuy a new cpu cooler aswell ?

That motherboard may require a BIOS update before it will support a 3000 series cpu. In the MSI B450 range stick to those with ‘Max’ in their name as they definitely come ready for a 3000 series cpu.

You will need new DDR4 RAM, DDR3 is not compatible. The stock cooler on the 3700X is ok.

 

[smithy332211]

That motherboard may require a BIOS update before it will support a 3000 series cpu. In the MSI B450 range stick to those with ‘Max’ in their name as they definitely come ready for a 3000 series cpu.

You will need new DDR4 RAM, DDR3 is not compatible. The stock cooler on the 3700X is ok.

ok thanks, but ive purchased a bios update through the company i got the ryzen and the motherboard with and they assure me they will make sure the bios is fully updated and ready to support the ryzen 7 3700x.

for information, I purchased this with the UK company CCL.

 

[sizzling]

ok thanks, but ive purchased a bios update through the company i got the ryzen and the motherboard with and they assure me they will make sure the bios is fully updated and ready to support the ryzen 7 3700x.

for information, I purchased this with the UK company CCL.

Ok, if they do the update for you then no problem.