Recommendations for an AM5 CPU to pair with a Radeon 7900XTX Nitro Plus
Posted by JazzFusionEnjoyer41@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 8 comments
I work with Fusion 360 and would like to possibly dabble in local AI models as well. I would like solid gaming performance, and fortunately most of the games I play are over 4-5 years old so I have a feeling they will all run very well with most options. I mainly want to find a CPU that will work for my dual use case and not hold back the graphics card or only be good at workstation or gaming performance. I will be paring it with 16GB X 2 6400 CL38 ram since its what I have right now. I would like to overclock the chip as well and will take any suggestions for white OC capable AM5 MOBOs, maybe x870e? This is my first big upgrade in over 8 years, I got the graphics card for cheap and the ram for under $100 before the ram shortage. I plan on purchasing the CPU used and possibly the MOBO too. I do not want to be pigeon-holed from further compatibility or upgrades in the future, so unless AM6 is going to be so much better, what AM5 CPU is the best to pair with this card? Its been a while and I'm a bit of an amateur, so go easy on me please lol.
aragorn18@reddit
What's your budget? If you can afford it, the 9950X3D will do all of what you want.
unimportantinfodump@reddit
Nah why get that when you can get the 9950x3d2
YetanotherGrimpak@reddit
Because extra money for near zero improvement?
Of course, however, bragging rights.
Opening_Evidence6360@reddit
Minimum: 7600x3D if the 3D cache helps your work loads, otherwise I’d consider a 7700x as your minimum.
aminy23@reddit
It performs worse outside of gaming than the regular 6 core Ryzen because the X3D chip on top insulates the CPU dropping clock speeds.
In terms of multi-core workstation even an i5-12600KF would beat it, while a 250KF is almost double the performance: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/6249vs5648vs4625vs7246/AMD-Ryzen-5-7600X3D-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-7500F-vs-Intel-i5-12600KF-vs-Intel-Ultra-5-250KF-Plus
YetanotherGrimpak@reddit
"worse" is relative. The clock isn't much different.
Don't use cpu benchmark. Their score comes from their own software. Ok sure, passmark. What does that entail?
aminy23@reddit
One of the reasons Nvidia is the biggest company in the world is because of it's performance in things like AI/LLMs and 3D engineering. The AMD 7900XTX is primarily a gaming CPU and offered exceptional gaming performance. While it can be used for other things, it's a fairly recent change and tends to underperform compared to Nvidia on other areas.
Now LLM is largely RAM dependent. 24 GB vRAM or 32GB physical RAM will be the main constraint.
Intel is a very strong contender for your use case with CPUs like a 250K(F) or 270K(F).
If we go over AM5: * 6 cores - not great for workstation performance * 7000X3D - worse than 7000 regular outside of gaming * 8 cores - still not very competitive against the Intel in workstation tasks, but excellent choices for gaming * 12-16 cores - 7900X, 7950X, 9900X, 9950X = likely contenders * 9000X3D - 9900X3D possibly. 9950X3D or X3D2 will be very expensive.
Intel has zero upgrade potential. But it's so much cheaper that we can argue it's like paying $200 extra for AMD to maybe save $100 on a motherboard.
AM5 also can end up I/O limited in workstation tasks. This is important for your motherboard selection as well.
Many X870/X870E boards have more PCIe lanes than the CPU can support. As a result I actually recommend B850 for gaming PCs and also AI PCs because it guarantees the graphics card will run at full speed. With X870/X870E, most boards have to compromise and force you to pick 2/3: * Full graphics card connection * Support for multiple NVMe SSDs at full speed * USB 4
B850 sacrifices USB 4, which is often the best compromise. If you want a white board - look at the B850 Aorus Ice.
Also keep in mind most Ryzen 7000/9000 CPUs will struggle with RAM faster than 6000. You will likely need to manually slow it down to 6000CL36. For gaming this is negligible performance impact, but for AI it's more noticeable.
Intel guarantees 7200, so you may run the RAM at full speed and possibly even OC higher.
AMD
PCPartPicker Part List
Intel
Dual Thunderbolt/USB is provided by the CPU so it doesn't interfere with GPU/SSD performance. Aorus Pro is a step above Aorus Elite.
PCPartPicker Part List
ssuper2k@reddit
For cheap? Probably 7700x/9600X