Can this CPU be upgraded?

[cfenton]

Thank you all for the thorough explanations and options.
Here's the bottom line...
I want something to perform as well as what I have, be a bit better at handling things that need more processing power (the odd game and some Sony Vegas and Sound Forge render functions can lag just slightly enough to be annoying), and will last for several years. You can clearly see I take good care of my hardware.
Let's say I was willing to throw, I don't know, $400 bucks at this. Would you all still recommend the same thing? (Keep in mind things here in Canada don't always cost the same as in the US. Sometimes more, sometimes less.)
And also, with overclocking, I've never read anything about overclocking that makes me feel like the longterm effects (even if they're only risks) are worth the immediate benefits.

There's a lot of pre-Black Friday sales on Amazon and NewEgg Canada right now, I'm thinking I could probably swing something now.

If you don't want to overclock, then it's probably not worth going for a 3770K, unless you can get it really cheap. The hyperthreading might help a bit, but any considerable performance increase would have to come from pushing the clock speed up. Whether you will notice a speed increase in Vegas or Sound Forge will largely depend on how multi-threaded the workload is in those programs. For example, I noticed very little difference going from a 3570K (4 cores with 4 threads) to a Ryzen 1700 (8 cores with 16 threads) when editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, but the imports and exports are much faster on the Ryzen machine. To get a big single thread performance increase, you'd have to get something from Intel's 8th or 9th generation. To get a big multi-thread performance boost you could go with the cheaper Ryzen options. It really depends on what's causing the slowdown you don't like.

 

[ehume]

OP - if you put your system together 7 years ago then you are running Win7. Since MS is turning off support for Win7 in 2020, you will have to change systems then anyway.

So start saving your money to buy an 8-core non-HT i7 9700k then. Or maybe something else. DDR4 RAM should be cheaper at some point between now and mid-2020. That's the only thing to pre-buy, and only get that if RAM pricing goes through a price valley.

Start saving for your new system now. Your old system should last you another year.

 

[tinpanalley]

OP - if you put your system together 7 years ago then you are running Win7.

Well, no, because I've upgraded to Win8 and then Win10 in the meantime.

 

[happy medium]

Another vote for the 2600k.
Save some money for a full CPU ,motherboard upgrade in about 2 or 3 years.

 

[tinpanalley]

Well this was almost a year ago now, I never ended up upgrading but things are more possible now financially.

My needs are really simple. I mean this thing works fine! I just think I need a tiny bit more oomph and I think I've exhausted all the other ways (RAM, SSD, dedicated GPU processing, etc). This thing was put together 8 years ago and today most people would write it off as junk but for my uses it's mostly fine. So, what's today's equivalent? Back in 2011, this wasn't top of the line, I spent 400-500 on the whole build. I had all the other components. I wouldn't even need a case this time. Any ideas? I really do not need a massive super prosumer machine.

Look, basically I can do about 500 Canadian. Ideally that would also include a new PSU but I haven't explored whether I even need one yet. The one I have is an Antec Truepower TP-650. That's the best link I can find for it. I'm not gonna be cheap about something as important as a PSU but I'd still like to come in at around 500 for the other parts and then maybe a bit more for a PSU if necessary.

I've been recommended Ryzen, the 1700, 3600, 3700X, 2700

• I do about 40% gaming, 40% video and audio editing (Sony Vegas and Sound Forge, very simple editing, no effects or 3d rendering) and 20% web and productivity. I was once told AMD CPUs were better for video editing because of the way video editing software splits the workload across several cores, I have no clue if that makes any sense.
• I like to have about 8-10 SATA ports for HDDs, SSDs, and optical drives I use.
• Plenty of PCI slots are good so that I can move my GPU around if necessary to access SATA ports.
• If I need to get a PSU, I got this one I have now because it gave me the option of molex connectors for older IDE drives I still access with video editing projects, but I suppose I could just upgrade that content on to newer HDDs. (Nevertheless, I do have an optical DVD drive I need to run from time to time that only runs well off the motherboard and not an external shell) Just giving all the info I can.
• I find my case gets dusty rather quickly, while I'm buying bits and bobs, can I do anything to expel more dust and heat from the inside cheaply? Using my electric blower is tough indoors because the dust will just go everywhere and over the winter it's too cold to do it outside.
• This one is nitpicky... I currently use my mobo to output analog 5.1 for games and video watching/editing because my computer is hooked up to my TV/receiver. I'd rather keep using analog 5.1 because I already have the long very high quality cables and because my receiver doesn't have HDMI. My GPU and mobo can't output 5.1 digitally, otherwise I'd pass the HD and 5.1 via my TV to the receiver the way I do with my Rpi2 and gaming consoles. Any help here would be great. Or a mobo that outputs digital 5.1 audio via TOSlink? Honestly, I think the analog 5.1 is the best solution.

Thanks, guys for any further help with this.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

My earlier answer stands. Without going for new processor, memory and motherboard you will likely only see a marginal gain.
Your money so I don’t want to tell you how to spend it. If it’s was me id save for a complete new build and maybe save the case/power supply possibly then video card assuming it works good enough

On board analog audio is going to be tough but I’m sure there is an add on sound card that could handle it. I’m not an audio guy so I may be wrong.

 

[tinpanalley]

My earlier answer stands. Without going for new processor, memory and motherboard you will likely only see a marginal gain.
Your money so I don’t want to tell you how to spend it. If it’s was me id save for a complete new build and maybe save the case/power supply possibly then video card assuming it works good enough

Well, that's why I said in my new post that I was willing to buy new parts and which I was looking at. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Well, that's why I said in my new post that I was willing to buy new parts and which I was looking at. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

No I didn’t make my response clear. I’m glad you are doing a substantial build.
Sorry
From my research 2000 series ryzens are good but picky about memory
3000 series Ryzens are much less picky.

I’m putting together a 3700x with X570 board hopefully this week.

 

[Thunder 57]

Not sure I'd bother with a 1700. They ARE picky about memory. The 2000 series, for me at least, was not. I didn't spend the extra $$$ on B-die and I still just set XMP and it was good to go. that said, the 2700X is probably too pricey for your budget. I'd recommend the 3600(X). That's going to be pretty much the same performance as the 2700, from what I've seen. unfortunately Anandtech does not have the 2600(X) in Bench . As for motherboards, I'd have to get back to you on that. Good thing is RAM is cheap these days.

 

[tinpanalley]

the 2700X is probably too pricey for your budget. I'd recommend the 3600(X). That's going to be pretty much the same performance as the 2700, from what I've seen. unfortunately Anandtech does not have the 2600(X) in Bench .

Actually, right now on Newegg Canada, I can get a 2700X for LESS than a 3600x. Here's a comparison of the two if it helps you give me a recommendation. When we say picky about memory (you're not the first I've heard that from) what do we mean?

I didn't spend the extra $$$ on B-die and I still just set XMP and it was good to go.

I have absolutely no idea what that means.

As for motherboards, I'd have to get back to you on that. Good thing is RAM is cheap these days.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Actually, right now on Newegg Canada, I can get a 2700X for LESS than a 3600x. Here's a comparison of the two if it helps you give me a recommendation. When we say picky about memory (you're not the first I've heard that from) what do we mean?

I have absolutely no idea what that means.

B die memory is good quality Samsung memory that behaves real well with Ryzen 1000 & 2000 chips but was typically way over priced.

 

[DrMrLordX]

@tinpanalley

Might want to look into whether your video/audio editing software can take advantage of AVX2. If so, I think an R5 3600 might be faster than an R7 2700x.

 

[Shmee]

I would get a 3700X and a decent X570 motherboard. Ryzen 3000 is not as picky with memory, but I would recommend getting at least 16GB of DDR4 3200, which is probably the sweet spot. Also, what video card are you running? Another thing to consider when upgrading.

Also, what OS are you running? If still on Windows 7 or 8.1, its time to go to 10 or *nix.

 

[tinpanalley]

I would get a 3700X and a decent X570 motherboard. Ryzen 3000 is not as picky with memory, but I would recommend getting at least 16GB of DDR4 3200, which is probably the sweet spot. Also, what video card are you running? Another thing to consider when upgrading.

Also, what OS are you running? If still on Windows 7 or 8.1, its time to go to 10 or *nix.

Well a 3700X is getting outside my budget. Plus, isn't an X570 motherboard going to require a case other than the one I have for A540? My video card is much more recent so that won't be changing but I'm factoring it into what I buy (space, slots, etc)
And I've been running Windows 10 for about 5 years.

 

[Shmee]

Hmm, what video card do you have? Also what case? From what I can tell, you have a standard ATX motherboard now, so a standard ATX X570 board should be fine in an ATX case.

As for the windows 10, just a heads up, you will likely need to reactivate it. You should be able to use the existing license though, either by entering your key in from win 7 or 8, or with a phone call to Microsoft.

If you cannot quite afford the 3700X right now, I might recommend waiting a little bit until you can, especially since you seem to have your systems last a while. After all, black Friday is fairly soon so you might be able to save a bit and get a good deal on one. If not, possibly consider the 3600X, and you may have an upgrade path to Ryzen 4k on the same board in the future.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Well a 3700X is getting outside my budget. Plus, isn't an X570 motherboard going to require a case other than the one I have for A540? My video card is much more recent so that won't be changing but I'm factoring it into what I buy (space, slots, etc)
And I've been running Windows 10 for about 5 years.

Case should be the same they make atx, Matx and itx boards

 

[tinpanalley]

Case should be the same they make atx, Matx and itx boards

Sorry @Shmee , I meant to say ATX AM4, not "A540". I don't know what I was talking about.

Case is a CoolerMaster HAF-912.
Meantime, EVERY way I look at the 2700 vs the 3600, x or no x, the 3600 comes out on top. Whether it's in video editing comparisons, gaming, general processing, power consumption, whatever. So I think I'm leaning more that way. I'm just having a hard time understanding a real world practical reason for valuing the 3600X over the 3600. Something that plainly says, "this is why the 3600X is better". Any help on that? I don't overclock anything ever. And can you explain this further: "you may have an upgrade path to Ryzen 4k on the same board in the future "?

Also, what is this issue with "bios flashback" someone was telling me about the B450 motherboard and why would that be an issue for me on a 3600 / X?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Sorry @Shmee , I meant to say ATX AM4, not "A540". I don't know what I was talking about.

Case is a CoolerMaster HAF-912.
Meantime, EVERY way I look at the 2700 vs the 3600, x or no x, the 3600 comes out on top. Whether it's in video editing comparisons, gaming, general processing, power consumption, whatever. So I think I'm leaning more that way. I'm just having a hard time understanding a real world practical reason for valuing the 3600X over the 3600. Something that plainly says, "this is why the 3600X is better". Any help on that? I don't overclock anything ever. And can you explain this further: "you may have an upgrade path to Ryzen 4k on the same board in the future "?

Also, what is this issue with "bios flashback" someone was telling me about the B450 motherboard and why would that be an issue for me on a 3600 / X?

The x’s Are just better. Think of an x chip as the best sample possible chip for its frequency.

 

[tinpanalley]

Thank you everyone. Again.
I've got a good base to shop from now. I think I'll be getting the 3600 with a B450 motherboard and appropriate RAM. I'm thinking about even going with 32GB with the price of RAM these days but I have to study how much practical value that will have to the software I run. And I'll keep reading about 3600X vs 3600 with regards to gaming and video editing to study the actual value of the bump in price.
Last question... the 3600 despite being 6-core can be thought of as something that will age better than the 8-core? Is that accurate?

 

[DrMrLordX]

@tinpanalley

If you go B450, make sure you read up on how well it handles Zen2/Matisse chips. Try to find someone who already owns the board you want and see what they think. Some older boards have UEFI updates that cripple features due to the large size of UEFI updates that support the wide range of CPUs supported by B450. They have to make compromises if the motherboard firmware chips are too small in size.

 

[tinpanalley]

@tinpanalley

If you go B450, make sure you read up on how well it handles Zen2/Matisse chips. Try to find someone who already owns the board you want and see what they think. Some older boards have UEFI updates that cripple features due to the large size of UEFI updates that support the wide range of CPUs supported by B450. They have to make compromises if the motherboard firmware chips are too small in size.

Hmm.. I thought this combo was more straight forward than that. Ok thanks for the heads up.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Hmm.. I thought this combo was more straight forward than that. Ok thanks for the heads up.

Probably a 20% chance something unexpected could come up with a b450 board. Not show stopping but something weird like you need a bios update that may not ever happen to change cpu voltage or ram speeds stuck at whatever.
Pain in the ass type stuff but nothing that prevents it from working.

 

[Markfw]

Hmm.. I thought this combo was more straight forward than that. Ok thanks for the heads up.

x370 and x470 WITH THE RIGHT BIOS have no issues. I have 2 different x470s, and a 370.

 

[tinpanalley]

x370 and x470 WITH THE RIGHT BIOS have no issues. I have 2 different x470s, and a 370.

Ok, well this may be more over my head than what I'm capable of understanding. I'll need to research what the right BIOS is then to be able to confidently buy this combination.

 

[Markfw]

Ok, well this may be more over my head than what I'm capable of understanding. I'll need to research what the right BIOS is then to be able to confidently buy this combination.

Thats easy. Get the most recent bios for the motherboard, and flash it. Now if you are BUYING a motherboard, and only have the new Ryzen CPU, ask the vendor if the motherboard has new bios. If its used, the seller should know.