System News
With Ryzen 3rd-gen CPUs having finally launched, Mark Williams offers some advice for those looking to purchase.
It’s been over ten years since AMD has been able to beat Intel. And now, like then, it has made the CPU landscape very exciting for those looking to upgrade. One of the amazing things about Ryzen since its launch two years ago is AMD’s commitment to the AM4 socket. That commitment has created a wonderful ecosystem for those that bought in early to the AM4 platform, as it allows simple drop in upgrades to the latest processors without needing to rebuild your system around a new motherboard, but it also provides a plethora of choices for those new to the platform. Here are some things to keep in mind when looking to upgrade or switch to the new Ryzen CPUs.
Choose wisely. Currently, the 3600X and 3800X products are just over 20% more expensive then their very similarly specced 3600 and 3700X siblings, yet only provide about 5% more performance. Lean towards the latter two for best performance for your dollar.
Get a good aftermarket cooler! Instead of paying more for the likes of the 3600X or 3800X, spend your savings on a beefier cooler as Ryzen’s are thermally constrained CPUs. Simply putting a better cooler on like an AIO water cooler will net you 100-200MHz extra in clock speeds without you having to do anything else thanks to AMD’s smart inbuilt auto overclocking features.
Don’t board the X570 hype train. The only real reason anyone should buy an X570-based motherboard to go with their new Ryzen is if it offers something current B450 or X470 motherboards don’t. For the most part
that’ll only be PCIe Gen 4.0 support. If you’re not going to use a PCIe 4.0-capable SSD, save yourself the expense and go for a B450/X470 as you won’t see any performance loss and your wallet will thank you. Just make sure where you buy it from can flash the latest BIOS on it for you, so it’ll be compatible when you receive it.
If you’re already on an A320/B350/ B370/B450/X470 motherboard and want to drop in a 3rd-gen CPU, research if your particular motherboard supports the desired CPU on the manufacture’s website. If so, update to the latest BIOS revision before pulling your old CPU out and dropping the new one in. Keep an eye on BIOS update release notes for the next few months as AMD has been issuing new AGESA updates in rapid succession to fix bugs and performance issues post launch.
Finally, if you’re using an older motherboard that doesn’t have the strongest of VRMs, don’t be afraid to drop in the beastly 3900X CPU (if it’s supported). It won’t be ideal as the VRMs could get stressed to their limits under high loads. Counter-intuitively, if you use the stock CPU cooler that comes in the box instead of going for a watercooler you may well find yourself some extra performance. Overstressed VRMs will cause the CPU to throttle back on speed so the motherboard doesn’t cook itself, but with the included Wraith Prism cooler the CPU fan will push air all around the CPU socket including the VRMs, cooling them down and allowing your motherboard to pump out the full wattage this hungry CPU needs without overheating and throttling.