[SOLVED] Would this be a decent build?

funghi79

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Dec 19, 2018
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I am building my own PC with various parts I have and can come up with the following system - please note I am not a hardcore gamer at all and occassionally play slightly older titles now and again. The system is as follows and is from parts I have available:-

CPU: Ryzen 5 1600 (stock cooler)
Mobo: MSI B450 Tomahawk.
RAM: 16gb 2666MHz DDR4
OS Drive: 500gb Sabrent nvme drive
Storage: 6tb Seagate & 3tb seagate
Graphics: GTX 1060 STRIX OC


It is essentially the system I have been using for a few years other than the current MB and Processor are Gigabyte Z170 and i5-6600k. However, my Mobo is starting to get occasional faults so looking to replace before it dies on me and already have the Ryzen and MSI motherboard ready to use. My understanding is that my RAM is possibly a little slow to get the most out of the Ryzen 5, but my PC is used mainly for work which is a few undemanding applications and internet based work. As mentioned earlier, I only occassionaly play a small number of older games.

What are your thoughts on the system, will it still be a good PC and how would it perform compared to the Z170 / i5-6600k?

Thank you.
 
Solution
Those parts should all work fine imo - you can get an FPS boost in games specifically with a faster memory kit (you won't get higher than about DDR4 3200 mhz though, not with a first gen Ryzen). For other tasks the memory speed makes no difference though, and honestly with a GTX 1060 it should be fast enough to keep up.

I have a Ryzen 5 1600 + GTX 1070 as my gaming setup and it runs everything I throw at it no issue.

The only thing to keep in mind when you mention playing 'older titles' - certain popular older games really don't like Ryzen all that much, so if you are into Starcraft II, or other games based on Blizzards RTS engine (e.g. Dota 2) then you will probably see a performance drop vs the i5. These titles run better on Intel...
Those parts should all work fine imo - you can get an FPS boost in games specifically with a faster memory kit (you won't get higher than about DDR4 3200 mhz though, not with a first gen Ryzen). For other tasks the memory speed makes no difference though, and honestly with a GTX 1060 it should be fast enough to keep up.

I have a Ryzen 5 1600 + GTX 1070 as my gaming setup and it runs everything I throw at it no issue.

The only thing to keep in mind when you mention playing 'older titles' - certain popular older games really don't like Ryzen all that much, so if you are into Starcraft II, or other games based on Blizzards RTS engine (e.g. Dota 2) then you will probably see a performance drop vs the i5. These titles run better on Intel and don't benefit from the increase in thread count the Ryzen 5 offers (that said they will still run fine, but if you turn the FPS counter on you will see a drop).

More recent titles should get a good boost from the Ryzen vs the i5 - as many titles (the latest Tomb Raider series, Doom / Doom Eternal, AC Oddesy and such) really need more than 4 threads so the jump to 6 cores / 12 threads will help. The other thing to keep in mind, that motherboard has a really good VRM so should handle an overclock on the R5 which will help with single thread limited things like the older titles - if you have an uprated cooler from your i5 build you should be able to push the R5 1600 up to 4ghz all core no problem.
 
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funghi79

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Dec 19, 2018
9
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4,510
Those parts should all work fine imo - you can get an FPS boost in games specifically with a faster memory kit (you won't get higher than about DDR4 3200 mhz though, not with a first gen Ryzen). For other tasks the memory speed makes no difference though, and honestly with a GTX 1060 it should be fast enough to keep up.

I have a Ryzen 5 1600 + GTX 1070 as my gaming setup and it runs everything I throw at it no issue.

The only thing to keep in mind when you mention playing 'older titles' - certain popular older games really don't like Ryzen all that much, so if you are into Starcraft II, or other games based on Blizzards RTS engine (e.g. Dota 2) then you will probably see a performance drop vs the i5. These titles run better on Intel and don't benefit from the increase in thread count the Ryzen 5 offers (that said they will still run fine, but if you turn the FPS counter on you will see a drop).

More recent titles should get a good boost from the Ryzen vs the i5 - as many titles (the latest Tomb Raider series, Doom / Doom Eternal, AC Oddesy and such) really need more than 4 threads so the jump to 6 cores / 12 threads will help. The other thing to keep in mind, that motherboard has a really good VRM so should handle an overclock on the R5 which will help with single thread limited things like the older titles - if you have an uprated cooler from your i5 build you should be able to push the R5 1600 up to 4ghz all core no problem.

Thank you - I currently have a watercooler on the i5, should that be transferrable to the Pyzen 5 or will it be a different fitting?

The games I tend to occasionally play are really old titles like Sid Meier's Pirates, F1 2016, Kholat, Mafia 1, 2 and 3 and a couple of poker games. I would imagine they will still all run decent rates on ultra settings at 1080p, or even 1440 as I have a 1440 monitor.
 
Thank you - I currently have a watercooler on the i5, should that be transferrable to the Pyzen 5 or will it be a different fitting?

The games I tend to occasionally play are really old titles like Sid Meier's Pirates, F1 2016, Kholat, Mafia 1, 2 and 3 and a couple of poker games. I would imagine they will still all run decent rates on ultra settings at 1080p, or even 1440 as I have a 1440 monitor.

If you have the box to your water cooler, there should be a bracket to allow it to fit to AMD systems (I believe the cooler mounting for AM4 is the same as AM3 socket, so should be no issues if you've still got the kit). If not, you should be able to find the bracket online cheaply enough.

As for your games - at 1440p on a GTX 1060 the gpu is going to be the limiting factor so no issues there. I don't think you should have any problems.
 

funghi79

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Dec 19, 2018
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If you have the box to your water cooler, there should be a bracket to allow it to fit to AMD systems (I believe the cooler mounting for AM4 is the same as AM3 socket, so should be no issues if you've still got the kit). If not, you should be able to find the bracket online cheaply enough.

As for your games - at 1440p on a GTX 1060 the gpu is going to be the limiting factor so no issues there. I don't think you should have any problems.

That's great, thank you I really appreciate your help.

Looks like the system would still be a very decent PC for a couple of years, might even upgrade the processor if there's any decent bargains on Black Friday!