PC Processors

[andrewstephen007]

Hi, I’d like some advice on upgrading my processor on my pc to a ryzon 9. My motherboard is ASRock A320M-HDV r4.0. Would it require any updates to the bios etc, or can I simply plug in a ryzon 9 and it’s good to go?

[FunkZ]

Here's the CPU support list for your ASRock A320M-HDV motherboard and which BIOS version is required.

While it states that Ryzen 9 is supported up to 105W TDP, with only 6 phase (4+2) power design and single 4-pin CPU power connector and no power cooling heatsinks you may very well run into issues trying to run a Ryzen 9 chip in that board. At a minimum you will likely not get the advertised performance out of the CPU.

[andrewstephen007]

Hmm, thank you for your advice. Very much appreciated. Which is the best ryzon processor for my board, if a 9 would be problematic? Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me. 

[FunkZ]

What processor do you have now that you are upgrading from? And what is your use case, ie. what types of games or applications do you use? Are you asking about Ryzen 9 because you want to maximize the core count? Or are you just looking for the best chip your board will support?

[andrewstephen007]

Hi, currently just has the standard Athlon 3000g with integrated Radeon vega graphics. I use it mostly for music production but would like to do maximum upgrades to it so I can also play games. I’m looking at ryzon 9 because that’s the best available to me at the moment. I’ll also look at the best graphics card I can get within budget at some point in the very near future. What would you recommend overall?

[FunkZ]

Depending on which music production software you use, it could possibly be able to utilize a dual-CCD processor like the Ryzen 9 5900X or 5950X, with either 12C/24T or 16C/32T counts. If you were to go this route however I would recommend a motherboard that can more readily handle the extra power draw those chips would need, and if you're replacing motherboard and CPU there's really no reason not to go AM5 as DDR5 prices have really come down.

If you're looking to replace your Athlon 3000G with another APU you should consider the 5600G or 5700G. Both have come down in price since launch, more than half off their original MSRP. While still utilizing Vega graphics they have more than double the graphics processor count of your current 3000G and triple or quadruple the CPU core count. Depending on game titles you're looking at and resolution/quality settings these IGPs can game nicely and with low power draw.

Finally if you're willing to spend extra on a discrete graphics card and want to maximize your gaming performance I'd suggest the 5700X3D or 5800X3D. Again both are still available below their original launch price, are not far behind the game leading 7800X3D in performance and would be a drop-in replacement in your existing system. You definitely need to take the power requirements into consideration depending on which graphics card you choose, as you didn't mention what power supply you currently have.

[johnnyenglish]

Hi there,

Allow me to me honest with you, don't get yourself hold back by a low end first gen Ryzen board.
You won't be enjoying PCI speeds and so much more.

Follow @FunkZ  recommendation about the VRM and so many more.

Having said that: If budget is a concern, get an affordable B550 AM4 and a 5800X3D, it should fare well with light music production and games like a champ!

Or, since you are initially after a Ryzen 9, Budget is not an issue, and if that's true. Jump on the AM5 bandwagon and get a shinny and decent B650 ready for future CPU upgrades. Then put a 7800X3D that's the best around for gaming and will also do a great job with lightweight music production.

Good Luck

[andrewstephen007]

Brilliant. Thank you for the advice. It’s very much appreciated. So a Ryzon 7 is the way to go for me. Can you recommend a good graphics card, plug and play. The power capability is standard, just out of the box for my board. 

[andrewstephen007]

So looking at graphics cards, I have a PCIe3x16 slot. My Ram is 16G DDR4, can I run a PCIe3x16 card that’s GDDR5X? 
im looking at this one.  Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB GDDR5X. 

 

[FunkZ]

The GTX 1080Ti while a great card in its day is showing its age. And it's power hungry. You never mentioned what power supply you have, you have to take into consideration whether it can power it.

You can use a PCIe 4.0 graphics card in a PCIe 3.0 motherboard slot. If it's a 16x card (uses all 16 PCIe lanes) there is minimal performance loss. What you should avoid is using a PCIe 4.0 card that is only 8x (RX 7600) or especially 4x (RX 6500) in a PCIe 3.0 slot, as performance will be degraded.