Part Recommendations

[jaandoh]

Along the way to completing my current build,

I bought bits and pieces, that I didn't use, as you do..

So I'd like to update the fully built one (Basanti 2)  and complete two new builds, all to a budget, since I hope to sell them once completed, so as to bring myself out of the red and back in the black (financially, not red as as in team lol... I'll always follow AMD)....

So one of the boards is an msi 970 gaming pro, I'll just stick an 8350 and a 3gb vga card in that and hope for the best...

Another board is the msi X570 a-pro and I'm lost when it comes to choosing a cpu for that, I thought that maybe using a ryzen pro cpu would save me from buying a gpu card? 

The last one is my msi X370 gaming pro and today while checking cpu support I see it supports 3000 and 5000 series ryzen cpu's too now... It only supported 1000 series when i bought it, But I think if it can take a ryzen pro cpu then I would prefer to do that, so as to save money and not buy a gpu card... 

I already have memory, psu, nvme and cases so just want to monetise those parts sitting around and getting old, before they get retired... 

Any advice from all you guys n girls who have trodden this path before?... 

[FunkZ]

You do not need a PRO series processor unless you want to use ECC memory. A standard 3400G or 5700G for example will do fine and should still be available new in the $150-$170 range with some searching.

Most X370 boards will support up to 5000 series processors with a BIOS upgrade but check with your motherboard manufacturer for CPU support list and be aware most boards of this era did not have a means to flash BIOS without a working CPU, meaning you will need to install an older CPU first, flash the BIOS, then install the newer CPU.

[jaandoh]

Thank you, I never knew that, I always thought the cpu with on board graphics were pro...  I have a 3400g so I'll use that in one of the boards... Saves me buying a cpu too... 

I'd thought of keeping the msi X570 a pro because it's a later board than the msi X370 gaming pro but if I'm still undecided...

I think I'll wait a bit more for more advice... 

[BigAl01]

The BIOS flashing is a problem if you don't have a Ryzen 1000 series on hand (first generation).  I keep a 1800X CPU in my collection just for this purpose.  I've used it once to upgrade a B350 motherboard and prepare it for a 5600 CPU.  See this link for details.

[jaandoh]

I do have the same cpu (ryzen 1800x) in my msi X370 Carbon Gaming pro mobo, so maybe I might need to use that cpu in the msi x570-a pro mobo, in order to flash it in case it won't support a cpu with on board graphics without flashing. 

So that also means I should check the x570-a mobo and ryzen 5 3400g first, in case it works and I don't need to strip the 1800x cpu out of X370. 

Yesterday I received the sapphire Radeon R9 280 dual-x vga card, and it looks like how think my card looks after 6 years of use without cleaning lol...

I intend to use it with msi 970-GAMING pro mono since it doesn't have on board video... Ideally I'd like to take the fans and plastic fan shroud off, to clean the dust, and I can't see the screws to realise it.. Then I thought maybe I could use the compressor at work to jet the dust of it... But there's a chance the compressor might spew moisture since it's old and that's a bigger concern...

I did get most of matted fluff /dust off just by picking at it with my finger nails... 

[jaandoh]

It's a 3gb vga card (forgot to mention that)