cross-posted from: https://lemmy.cat/post/203000
I bought this PC 5 years ago, today it struggles a bit on some games that require a lot of CPU. The graphics card is doing pretty well.
I’d like to update it, starting with the CPU, and switch to AMD, for better compatibility with Linux and notably to be able to encode videos more easily, I often edit long +4K videos.
Do you have any advice? The aim would be not to change my motherboard. And for the new components to last 5 years too? You can also advise me on graphics cards.
Here’s the PC configuration:
- Processor type: Intel Core i5 9600KF (6 cores - 3.70 Ghz - Turbo 4.60 Ghz - Cache 9 Mo - TDP 95W)
- CPU cooling model: Be Quiet Dark Rock 4
- Motherboard model: MSI MAG Z390 Tomahawk
- Memory size: 16 GB
- Memory type: DDR4
- Memory frequency(s): DDR4 2666 MHz
- RAM brand: Gskill
- Graphics chipset: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER
- Video memory size: 8 GB
- Graphics card reference: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING OC 3X
- Case format: Medium Tower
- Case model: Zalman Z7 Neo
- Power: 550 W
- Power supply model: Seasonic Focus GX Gold
That looks like a fairly balanced system to me. Are you sure the CPU is your biggest problem?
Like others said you pretty much have to change the motherboard for a decent upgrade. The next question is whether you upgrade to DDR5 or not. Which I think DDR4 would still be good enough in 5 years period.
You can’t switch to AMD without getting a new motherboard (either AM4 or AM5 socket). If you choose to salvage as much HW as possible, then you can go for AM4 motherboard (B550 chipset for instance) along with some R7 5700X, then you can reuse pretty much everything else (probably cpu cooler too) else. Although I’d prefer to have at least 3200MHz ram sticks for Ryzen. I really don’t know if your video encoding is more stressful on your cpu or gpu, but generally AMD gpus work better for linux than nVidia ones do.
So let’s say I switch to AM5 sockets, I would need to change the RAM (say 32GB 6000MHz ~100 EUR) and a new (better) AMD CPU, which one? I’d like the RAM + CPU + motherboard change not to exceed 550 EUR. Would the graphics card still be compatible? Would upgrading the CPU be worth it at that price?
I think it’s doable, here’s quick example of what I could buy in Slovakia:
CPU: Ryzen 5 7600X - 250€
MoBo: ASUS TUF GAMING B650M-E WIFI - 175€
RAM: Kingston Fury 32GB (2x16) DDR5 6000MHz CL36 - 112€
Total: 537€
You could replace the CPU with R7 7700 but that’s maybe 100€ on top of that.
Regarding GPU, yes it still would be compatible and you could still replace that down the road with something more powerful, maybe when next generation of GPUs will arrive, I don’t know what resolution you’re running but 2070S is still relevant graphics card.
Considering CPU uplift, it seems to be more or less double the performance - link to benchmarks.
Thank you! This looks like a good hardware setup and upgrade. But what about Max. GPU Memory? The R5 7600 and R7 7700 are max 8GB…
I’m not sure where you get that from, CPU doesn’t really care about GPU memory. Maybe you’re confusing it with newest AMD GPU lineup ? RX 7600 runs 8GB of VRAM, but there’s no correlation to the Ryzen 5 7600 CPU.
I got that from the benchmarks link :)
I see, that is if you were to use iGPU, the one integrated in the CPU, basically how much regular RAM it can eat to use for VRAM, if you have no dedicated GPU. Which isn’t your case.
Changing the CPU without also needing a new fitting motherboard is not really possible in most cases. (The AM4 socket was a lucky exception…)
Your best bet would be trying to find an used Intel Core i9-9900KF for cheap. But they are still at 200-300€.
I really want/would like to stop using intel
If you’re planning to change your CPU brand then you would need to change your motherboard too.
Motherboard has to be changed no matter you are upgrading to the latest Intel or moving to AMD. CPU-wise I dun think AMD is significantly more compatible with Linux than Intel… You may have confused the situation regarding GPU.
AM4 is on its last leg. So if you really make a change to AMD, I suggest moving to AM5 which means you need to drop your RAM too as AM5 only supports DDR5.
Since money is a concern, look at buying AM4 with a higher priced B550 motherboard, 5800x3D processor, for RAM look at 3600Mhz, you can keep everything else.
That patform is end of life but will be a real jump in performance, more cores and more cache. You could then upgrade in 2 years to an X770 board, DDR5 will be much lower priced, and AM5 will be a lot more ironed out with better graphics built into processors.
