Ryzen 3000 Build - £1000-£1600

[Rookie1986]

Hey,

I'm pulling together a Ryzen 3000 build and I'm wondering which of the two below would be the better route to go?


Route 1:-

CPU: 3600 // RAM: 3200Mhz 16CAS // MOB: X470 // SSD: M.2 PCIe 3.0

Route 2:-

CPU: 3700X // RAM 3600Mhz 18 CAS // MOB: X570 // SSD: M.2 PCIe 4.0


Obviously, there are some "grey" areas within this, but if we just look at the fundamentals, which build would you opt for when it comes to a gaming system? Would you mix-match any of the components or even consider swapping out to a B450 MOB? Is the additional premium for route 2 worth it or are we talking a marginal difference in real-world use?


The system will primarily be used for gaming at 3440x1440 60Hz, some photo and 4k video editing (not daily) occasional streaming and then the typical day-to-day type stuff (internet, email, youtube, spotify etc) so nothing overly demanding, ideally I want the system to last 5-8 years before I need to consider another upgrade.


The total budget for the system is £1000-£1600 with everything after the basics going towards a new GPU. I already have a PSU (850w Corsair) Monitor (LG34UM95-P) and Peripherals so would just be looking at the PC system itself.

[Percy1983]

I have recently spec'ed and ordered the bits for a similar build so here are the results of my research. I am more photo/video editing first with gaming second.

CPU for me 3700x makes sense but if on a fixed budget the 3600 with more money for a GPU seems will give a better gaming experience.

I have personally gone for an x570 just so I have more of an upgrade root with a x3900/3950 or x4***s later so right now PCIe4 is little use to me but I plan to keep this board 5-7 years. As you have mentioned an x470 or even B450 be just fine if they have the features you need.

AS for SSDs, I think for the cost difference and the real world performance difference a fast PCIe 3 m2 will be more than enough (which is the route I have taken.

[Dareos]

Question is a bit general tbh, could you list the components included in each build that gives you that price, may help us give a more rounded answer

[kalniel]

If it's a choice between 1 and 2 then I don't think many would argue that 2 isn't better, so it's down to your budget for the core system - if for instance going for #1, or even a mix, means you can afford a better GPU that makes better use of your monitor then that's where you should spend the budget.

[rob4001]

I would still get a x570 for future up grades the Gigabyte Elite is relatively cheap for x570 200 or so has great VRM so more than 12 core chips no problem should you upgrade from 3600 in the future.

[Rookie1986]

I have recently spec'ed and ordered the bits for a similar build so here are the results of my research. I am more photo/video editing first with gaming second.

CPU for me 3700x makes sense but if on a fixed budget the 3600 with more money for a GPU seems will give a better gaming experience.

I have personally gone for an x570 just so I have more of an upgrade root with a x3900/3950 or x4***s later so right now PCIe4 is little use to me but I plan to keep this board 5-7 years. As you have mentioned an x470 or even B450 be just fine if they have the features you need.

AS for SSDs, I think for the cost difference and the real world performance difference a fast PCIe 3 m2 will be more than enough (which is the route I have taken.

Thanks for the reply, I’m leaning to a somewhere in the middle type build at the moment, most likely the X570 with 3700X but then opt for the PCIe 3 m.2. I’ll have to pull some parts together and see what budget I’ve got left over for the GPU.

Question is a bit general tbh, could you list the components included in each build that gives you that price, may help us give a more rounded answer

Where would you like me to expand and I’ll happily provide additional info where possible - I haven’t put a parts list together for either build (there are no prices included in my initial post).

If it's a choice between 1 and 2 then I don't think many would argue that 2 isn't better, so it's down to your budget for the core system - if for instance going for #1, or even a mix, means you can afford a better GPU that makes better use of your monitor then that's where you should spend the budget.

2 is defiantly the superior build, but due to the increased cost it would most likely result in me having to hold on to my 980Ti until I can afford something better as I’ll not have much budget left.

I would still get a x570 for future up grades the Gigabyte Elite is relatively cheap for x570 200 or so has great VRM so more than 12 core chips no problem should you upgrade from 3600 in the future.

The gigabyte looks good value, tbh I was a bit disappointed with the Ryzen 3000 launch when it comes to price as both the CPU and MOB are more expensive than their intel counterparts.

I’ll look to pull together some specific builds and then post them up on here.

[Rookie1986]

AMD Ryzen™ 7 3700X, AM4, Zen 2, 8 Core, 16 Thread, 3.6GHz, 4.4GHz Turbo, 32MB L3, PCIe 4.0, 65W, CPU, +Wraith Prism
£319.99

DEEPCOOL Castle 360 AIO Cooler, 3x 120mm ARGB Fan, Pure Copper Plate Heatsink, Aluminium 360mm Radiator, Intel/AMD
£99.98

ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING PCIe Gen4 AM4 ATX Motherboard
+ 1TB Corsair MP600 M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD Bundle
£479.99

32GB (4x8GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance RGB PRO Black, PC4-28800 (3600), Non-ECC Unbuff, CAS 18-22-22-42, RGB LED, 1.35V
£202.99

Total: £1114.45

I have pulled together one potential build based around the x570 // 3700x combination, this would most likely mean keeping my PSU and GTX 980Ti.

I still have to add a case so would assume around £100 to go on top of the above.

I'll take a look at an alternative 3600 configuration later this afternoon

<> Edit <>

Added a "Budget" build based around the 3600 CPU with stock cooler, B350 MOB and 3200Mhz RAM:-

AMD Ryzen™ 5 3600, AM4, Zen 2, 6 Core, 12 Thread, 3.6GHz, 4.2GHz Turbo, 32MB L3, PCIe 4.0, 65W, CPU, +Wraith Stealth
£188.99

ASUS AMD Ryzen ROG STRIX B450-F AM4 ATX GAMING Motherboard
£128.48

Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 32GB 3200 MHz DDR4 Quad Channel Memory Kit
£202.82

1TB M.2 Crucial P1 NVMe PCIe Performance 3D SSD/Solid State Drive
£111.49

Total: £643.28

Between the two what "real world" difference are we talking?

[redseven1]

I lean towards newer for future proofing and also to remove the potential bios comparability issues.

[Xlucine]

Real-world difference between a 360mm AIO and the stock cooler on zen2 is ~100 MHz of PBO - i.e. a gnats whisker. You've also got quad channel memory down for both options, which will be harder to overclock if you plan on trying it

[DanceswithUnix]

I can't imagine there would be any noticeable difference whilst gaming, but that didn't stop me from going 3700X

Going straight to quad memory sticks seems a bad idea, more work for the memory interface so even 3200 is on the edge.

[Dareos]

I was assuming that Route 1 build was £1000 and Route 2 was £1600, so you had parts mapped out.

As Rob4001 says theres a nice x570 mobo available at a reasonable cost atm.

In the past I would have advocated the most expensive build as being the longer lasting, but as I realised that my main machine is a 2012 build and i'll probably build a new one next year, it seems that we're getting longer and longer out of machines now.

I think that I personally will be spending more money on a high quality display than I will be on most other components now, as Ray Tracing is still not used in a great many things and todays mid range RAM and CPU's seem more than capable of the tasks you have in mind, which exceed my own.

id be tempted to use your existing graphics card for a bit longer, build the best system you can, then upgrade the card as and when demand exceeds your cards capability

[enver33]

route one but I would look to see if there are any cheap b450 boards floating around.