Upgrading to AMD Ryzen 9 5900x
Posted by ajwolfbane42@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 15 comments
I have been looking at upgrading my PC for casual gaming to keep up with new titles that include ray-tracing requirements or higher graphics without stuttering, or being below minimum specification with Last of Us Part II or Dune Awakening.
Looking at solid 1080p/1440p gaming, nothing too fancy. Otherwise don't really do much gaming with max settings. Would also come in handy for video compression apps.
My current PC was built around 2019, so very few parts are salvageable or compatible with new hardware. Buying brand new parts is not affordable for me at this stage. Based in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Currently I am looking at the PC specifications.
| CPU/Processor |
| GPU/Video Card |
| Motherboard |
| Memory/RAM |
| Storage |
| Storage |
| Storage |
| Cooling |
| Chassis/Case |
| Power/PSU |
My current build
| Current Build (2019) | |
|---|---|
| CPU/Processor | Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHZ 6-Core Processor 8th Gen |
| GPU/Video Card | Nvidia GTX 1070-Ti Strix Republic of Gaming |
| Motherboard | Asus PRIME Z370-A II |
| Memory/RAM | Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB |
| Storage | 500GB Samsung 970 Evo NVMe PCIe M.2 |
| Storage | WD 2TB HDD |
| Storage | WD 2TB HDD |
| Storage | WD 4TB HDD |
| Cooling | Corsair H100i v2 |
| Chassis/Case | NZXT H500 Mid Tower Case White |
| Power/PSU | be quiet Straight Power 11 Gold 650W Power Supply |
According_Spare7788@reddit
5900x + 3080. Basically my old build. Used it for a few years and it was a solid/balanced pairing. Still have the build now as sorta of a backup, and looking to downscale it to SFF for a semi portable 1080p build.
I suppose you are buying an entire used pc and not piecing parts together? While I'd agree the 5900x is not the best value or efficient processor for pure gaming, I'd disagree that it is inherently "slower" than any of the single CCD skus. In actually high setting gaming workloads where the GPU is more often than not the limiting factor, it's basically the same as a 5600x/5800x, but you get the additional benefit or 12 cores for multi thread workloads. The only downside tot he 5900x is really the extra heat and power consumption. At stock settings, PBO enabled, it regularly boosts to 130w in games and can even go up to 180w full load if you remove motherboard restriction settings. I had it on a 240mm liquid cooler for a while and while it did work, only a 360mm AIO comfortably tamed it to what i was more comfortable with.
The rest of the build looks pretty solid. That Asus Crosshair motherboard was really top end back in the day.
ajwolfbane42@reddit (OP)
Thank you for including all that detail, especially about the temperature. It's a huge help for making a decision. What are the concerns regarding extra power consumption?
According_Spare7788@reddit
Well, your power bill for starters ha? Jk, it depends on how much energy costs are in your area, but not something i'd be seriously concerned about.
Heat and noise is more of an issue for me personally. The hotter it is, the more the cooler needs to work to keep the temps down, resulting in faster fan speeds and higher temperature inside the case, especially if you have the liquid cooler exhausting hot air into the case.
Also, this is more of me just sharing, but i mentioned my plan of downsizing the system to a SFF (small form factor) pc. Currently, I'm experimenting using a small form factor cooler (thermalright axp120 x67) with the 5900x and it's proving to be difficult to control the temperature. Had to undervolt the CPU and cap PPT at 110w to have to run at under 80c in games.
ajwolfbane42@reddit (OP)
Wowzers. So really something to keep in mind when considering the pros and cons of managing heat, noise, power, and processing.
Powerful-Ad2869@reddit
Dont get the 5900X, it has the same gaming performance as the 5600X
and you will also be saving lots of money if you get the 5600X, and IF you want 8 cores,then get the 5700X, still the same gaming performance as the 5600X and but with 2 additional cores.
And you dont need that Asus ROG motherboard, its overpriced and overkill
Get a B550 board instead,it will give you the same performance as the ROG Crosshair one
And do you really need 64 GB even with video compression app? 16 is still fine and 32GB will be perfect
ajwolfbane42@reddit (OP)
Thanks for clearing up my confusion around the CPU numbers and thinking the higher the better. I have been considering annAsus PRIME B650-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 motherboard given its pricing in my country.
aragorn18@reddit
The 5900X isn't a great gaming CPU due to the way it's constructed out of two chiplets. A 5600, 5600X, 5700X, 5800X, or 5800XT would be a better option for gaming.
ajwolfbane42@reddit (OP)
Appreciate the insight. This is good for me to know as someone whose not familiar with the inner workings of a CPU. Could you please explain specifically why it wouldn't be good for gaming? Like physics or frames or something?
aragorn18@reddit
The Ryzen 9 CPUs like the 5900X are laid out internally as two separate chiplets known as CCDs (Core Complex Dies). Each CCD in the 5900X has six cores. They each act essentially as a separate CPU that can talk to each other. But, when data needs to go between the CCDs it adds some latency. Because of the inter-CCD latency, you only really want the game to run on a single CCD. That means that your games only make use of six of the cores and the cores on the other CCD are essentially wasted.
The Ryzen 5 and 7 models all use a single CCD and so don't have that inter-CCD latency problem.
ajwolfbane42@reddit (OP)
Thank you. That's an unfortunate design flaw.
aragorn18@reddit
It's not a design flaw. It's an architectural choice. Putting more cores on a single chip gets significantly more expensive. In order to go over 8 cores per chip it's cheaper to put multiple chips into a single CPU. It's still useful for applications like rendering or video editing where more cores is more important than process latency. It's a trade-off and it's important to use the right tool for the right job.
ajwolfbane42@reddit (OP)
Ah! Got it. Should help with video compression then.
aragorn18@reddit
Video compression is almost always best handled by the GPU.
gamblodar@reddit
I don't see anything in the charts except the categories.
ajwolfbane42@reddit (OP)
Sorry about that. Couldn't get the table formatting to comply. Have removed the formatting and readded.