What AMD CPU to choose for non-laggy multitasking?
Posted by rdmiche@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 27 comments
Hi everyone, my PC is getting kinda old and my CPU has been maxing out when I'm multitasking (playing League + watching a youtube video). Or any other intensive task.
My CPU is an AMD Ryzen 3 2200G 4-Core Socket AM4 3.5GHz and my motherboard is a Gigabyte AX370M-DS3H microatx board.
My GPU is a GTX 1050ti but I'm not planning to upgrade it right now. Same as RAM, 32GB.
What kind of CPU would be best for me who wants fluid performance when multitasking? I feel like my motherboard may limit how high I can go? I would like to get another AMD cpu but not totally sure which one would be best. No budget really but ideally not too expensive. Popular ones I see are AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and AMD Ryzen 5 7600X.
Thanks for any recommendations!
TheMagarity@reddit
The X370 chipset means you can use any AM4 CPU through all the 5000 series. Get whatever you can best afford that does not have "G" on the end of the model name, since you have a graphics card.
You will very likely need a BIOS update for a 5000 CPU. But that will probably make the 2000 series stop working. So don't update it until whatever you buy arrives and looks OK.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Thank you for the suggestion. I assume there is not much more benefit by going for something more than 5700x?
TheMagarity@reddit
A 5700x would be just great. If you are using the little round stock cooler now then you should get a tower cooler for the new CPU, whichever you get.
aminy23@reddit
If your budget is under $1,000.
AM4 - 5700X or 5800XT for under $250 would be my goto.
Intel LGA1200 - you can reuse your existing RAM. $100-$140 for a motherboard + $150-$350 for a CPU can cover the $250-$500 range with an i5-12600K(F), i5-14600K(F), or i7-14700(K)(F)
Intel LGA 1855 would need + $350-$400 in RAM + $80-$175 motherboard. This covers the $650-$900 range with a 250K(F) or 270K(F)
AM5 we'd be looking at maybe $850 for a 9900X + B850 + 32GB RAM.
Consider a good Gen 4/5 NVMe SSD with DRAM cache. This can help tremendously with multitasking if you don't already have one.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Thanks so much for your detailed reply. MY SSD is a Samsung 980 PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 1TB. I will probably stick to AM4 for now and upgrade everything elsse when I eventually get a new motherboard. Not sure how long AM4 will be viable for/not ovsolete?
aminy23@reddit
There's very few hard lines for when something becomes obsolete.
Ryzen 1000 (no-G) and 2000G doesn't support Windows 11, so that's one argument for obsolescence.
Ryzen 3000/5000 still keeps going well, but it's possible as new things come out - these CPUs won't be the best at it.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Sounds like 5000 series will be okay. Thanks for your help
ConsistencyWelder@reddit
Wait for the new release of the 5800X3D. It's the best gaming CPU for AM4 and will be a huge performance upgrade for you. Since you said "no budget" that is what you should get if gaming is important to you. If it isn't, you should get the 5950X.
I do think that the newly released 5800X3D's will sell out super quick though, as it's going to be a limited run, an "Anniversary Edition" to celebrate that AM4 has been around for 10 years now.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Oh I didnt hear about this. Gaming isnt super important to me (low demand games like LOL)
ILIKEBACON12456@reddit
Multitasking is where you'd want the 8 cores of a Ryzen 7. I wouldn't go below that. Since you don't want to upgrade the RAM you'll have to stay with the AM4 socket so that limits your choices to the 5th gen and earlier. The Ryzen 7 5700x is just slightly more expensive than the 5600 however it has the extra 2 cores (if we're talking strictly about gaming performance there isn't really a difference) so it'll be much better at multitasking and other productivity stuff.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
I’ll probably go with 5700x then and save Ryzen 7 for the future
Requirement_Fluid@reddit
Unless you are fully upgrading to AM5 with a new motherboard and ddr5 ram then stick with the AM4 chips as below
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Is it worth considering? I don’t expect my usage to change much, maybe only hardware demands from software/games
ConsistencyWelder@reddit
No, the prices of DDR5 RAM (which you need for an AM5 motherboard) are extremely high right now. They might be coming down a little but it's just way too expensive to be worth it right now. Stick with AM4, it's still a relevant platform for gaming, especially if you get an X3D CPU.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Got it!
caluhhhb@reddit
Not really, unless you can find amazing deals or don’t mind used hardware.
Icy-Connection-6587@reddit
For reference...I can mine XMR,play Diablo 4 and have chrome tabs open on an 9900x. No stutters.. If you stick to AM4..a 5900XT is 300 on Amazon and a 5950x is 350. Done deal.
BotherFantastic9287@reddit
Go for Ryzen 5 5600. Big upgrade and works with your current board (just update BIOS). 7600X needs a new setup, not worth it right now.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Thank you for the recommendation. The 5600 one I just saw is popular but are there any others? I guess the main things I would get with upgrade is newer gen Ryzen + more cores
BotherFantastic9287@reddit
5600 is the sweet spot, but if you want more cores you can look at 5700X. If you game a lot, 5800X3D is also really good, big jump in some games. but honestly for your setup, 5600 or 5700X is more than enough.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
I’ll have a look at all of those thank you, willing to spend more now if it’s more future proof
Requirement_Fluid@reddit
A 5600 if you want 6 cores or a 5700x if you want 8 cores
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Will this make much difference? I would be happy to pay more if I dont need to upgrade sooner in the future
Requirement_Fluid@reddit
The 5600 will be bottlenecked by your 1050 unfortunately but will be a big improvement on the 2200g
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
That’s alright, I will upgrade the GPU eventually. I may go for 5700x then
No-Actuator-6245@reddit
Either is a huge upgrade but for multitasking it makes sense to go 5700X for the extra 2 cores and 4 threads.
rdmiche@reddit (OP)
Thank you, that seems better