Having buyers remorse =(

[bamf775]

Here is my gaming PC that I built just under 30 days ago:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For $193.44)
Motherboard: ASRock - X370 GAMING X ATX AM4 Motherboard (Purchased For $129.99)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (Purchased For $166.99)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $54.99)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $43.78)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card (Purchased For $539.99)
Case: NZXT - S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $69.99)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $88.98)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (Purchased For $88.89)
Case Fan: be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 140 61.2 CFM 140mm Fan (Purchased For $11.69)
Case Fan: be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 140 61.2 CFM 140mm Fan (Purchased For $11.69)
Monitor: Nixeus - NX-EDG27 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor (Purchased For $469.99)
Total: $1870.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-22 12:00 EST-0500

I've played with the overclock settings with the CPU, GPU, and RAM.

-I got the CPU to 3.9Ghz @ 1.3v

-GPU +100mhz on core and memory

-RAM @ 3066mhz 1.35v

Its been stable up until last night when I was playing BF4 and PUBG for few a hours when it started to crash a few times. So I turned down the CPU to 3.825 and RAM to 2933. When I play MMOs I dont have any crashes or issues.

I've only got like 2 days left before I can return some of the parts and I'm having second thoughts with this build. Its been impressive on games like Overwatch, Destiny 2, WoW, Assassins Creed Origins, PUBG (except for the crashes), and BF4 (except when it crashes).

-PUBG i get an avg of 50fps during the 1 minute pre-game lobby area. and then like 70fps during the game.

-WoW I get 80-90fps in a highly populated Goldshire.

-Assassins Creed Origins I have it set at High with an avg fps of 75fps.

-ESO I get like 40-50fps in highly populated towns and 90-100fps in low pop areas.

Temps on CPU and GPU are maxing out at 72-73c under heavy load for a few hours of gameplay. They idle at around 40c. So, I don't know if its just because I will never feel satisfied but I feel like I could do better with an $1,800 build. Any thoughts if I should make changes before its too late?

[Miyagie]

Here is my gaming PC that I built just under 30 days ago:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For $193.44)
Motherboard: ASRock - X370 GAMING X ATX AM4 Motherboard (Purchased For $129.99)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (Purchased For $166.99)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $54.99)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $43.78)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card (Purchased For $539.99)
Case: NZXT - S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $69.99)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $88.98)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (Purchased For $88.89)
Case Fan: be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 140 61.2 CFM 140mm Fan (Purchased For $11.69)
Case Fan: be quiet! - Pure Wings 2 140 61.2 CFM 140mm Fan (Purchased For $11.69)
Monitor: Nixeus - NX-EDG27 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor (Purchased For $469.99)
Total: $1870.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-22 12:00 EST-0500

I've played with the overclock settings with the CPU, GPU, and RAM.

-I got the CPU to 3.9Ghz @ 1.3v

-GPU +100mhz on core and memory

-RAM @ 3066mhz 1.35v

Its been stable up until last night when I was playing BF4 and PUBG for few a hours when it started to crash a few times. So I turned down the CPU to 3.825 and RAM to 2933. When I play MMOs I dont have any crashes or issues.

I've only got like 2 days left before I can return some of the parts and I'm having second thoughts with this build. Its been impressive on games like Overwatch, Destiny 2, WoW, Assassins Creed Origins, PUBG (except for the crashes), and BF4 (except when it crashes).

-PUBG i get an avg of 50fps during the 1 minute pre-game lobby area. and then like 70fps during the game.

-WoW I get 80-90fps in a highly populated Goldshire.

-Assassins Creed Origins I have it set at High with an avg fps of 75fps.

-ESO I get like 40-50fps in highly populated towns and 90-100fps in low pop areas.

Temps on CPU and GPU are maxing out at 72-73c under heavy load for a few hours of gameplay. They idle at around 40c. So, I don't know if its just because I will never feel satisfied but I feel like I could do better with an $1,800 build. Any thoughts if I should make changes before its too late?

I would call it a 1400$ build, monitor doesnt count ^^.
So why you want to switch parts ? because you play 3 of the worst performance games out there and you thought they should run better ?^^

[MrPaladinGuy]

Looks like what you chose was the best fit for your budget and needs.

You might be pushing that 1600 slightly beyond it's limit, and your ram clearly isn't using the XMP profile assuming that kit is on that boards QVL list. The 1600 OC could be playing a part in that if it's being pushed too high.

You're also out $60 regardless on the GPU purchase since Newegg lowers a purchase with a bundled game by $60 then issues a separate $60 charge so you can't screw them out of the game.

But in the end if you're happy with the performance then why worry about what 'could be' ?

[bamf775]

Looks like what you chose was the best fit for your budget and needs.

You might be pushing that 1600 slightly beyond it's limit, and your ram clearly isn't using the XMP profile assuming that kit is on that boards QVL list. The 1600 OC could be playing a part in that if it's being pushed too high.

You're also out $60 regardless on the GPU purchase since Newegg lowers a purchase with a bundled game by $60 then issues a separate $60 charge so you can't screw them out of the game.

But in the end if you're happy with the performance then why worry about what 'could be' ?

I am using the XMP profile settings. it also gives me the option to choose my the speed and 3066 was the highest I could get it to post at.

[MrPaladinGuy]

I am using the XMP profile settings. it also gives me the option to choose my the speed and 3066 was the highest I could get it to post at.

The memory isn't on that boards QVL list :/

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/Fatal1t...dex.asp#Memory

So you did try to manually set the timings and it wouldn't post ?

Edit - I goofed, https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/Fatal1...dex.asp#Memory

That's the correct link, but it's also not on the list.

[bamf775]

The memory isn't on that boards QVL list :/

http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/Fatal1t...dex.asp#Memory

So you did try to manually set the timings and it wouldn't post ?

No, I didnt mess with the timings. XMP sets it to 16-18-18-36 or 38 I think

But setting it at 3066mhz gets it to post but reluctantly as it goes through 2 power up cycles before it will.

And I know its not on the list, but that was something I forgot to research before buying. (I know its my fault).

I've heard that Asrock will continue to increase the list with more models in the future and its been active in producing BIOS updates so Idk.

[MrPaladinGuy]

No, I didnt mess with the timings. XMP sets it to 16-18-18-36 or 38 I think

But setting it at 3066mhz gets it to post but reluctantly as it goes through 2 power up cycles before it will.

I meant speed and timings, but yeah, seems like you tried manually setting everything as well.

[bamf775]

I would call it a 1400$ build, monitor doesnt count ^^.
So why you want to switch parts ? because you play 3 of the worst performance games out there and you thought they should run better ?^^

You think I should return the monitor and just stick with a 1080p 144hz monitor? Or would my GPU be overkill for that?

[Shakadam]

Seems like a solid build and performance is basically what you'd expect. I don't really see anything that can be changed for a big performance boost unless you spend quite a bit more money on a an i7-8700k + GTX 1080TI.

That said however, there are a few things I'd personally change if I made that build for myself.

- Your motherboard and memory doesn't play particularly well together (as you've discovered with the crashing). The G.Skill Ripjaws with part code F4-3200C16D-16GVGB uses Samsung E-die (Ryzen prefers B-die) chips. You can see a list HERE. 2933Mhz is about the limit of what you can get from Samsung E-die memory.
Your motherboard, from what I've read, also seems to not like high-speed memory all that much.
I would replace these 2 components with something like a Gigabyte X370 Gaming K5 + G.Skill Flare X 3200 MHz CL14 memory. That mobo also has a clock generator allowing you to fine tune the OC on your CPU and RAM even more.
High-speed + low latency memory (the latency in particular) gives quite a noticeable boost to Ryzen CPU's, especially the minimum FPS in games which is ultimately what matters to get rid of that stutterin feeling. Going from 2933mhz cl16 (presumably?) to 3200mhz (or above) cl14 would definitely be noticeable. See this video for comparisons:



Another thing I'd change is the SSD. 128GB really is just too little, and trust me, you won't wanna have games on a normal HDD for very long when you get used to the speed of an SSD. The Adata SU800 is also a very budget SSD. I guess it's "ok" in the 128gb category because honestly all small SSD's are quite bad, but I'd definitely look at something like a 500GB Samsung 850 Evo or Crucial MX300 instead.

[bamf775]

Seems like a solid build and performance is basically what you'd expect. I don't really see anything that can be changed for a big performance boost unless you spend quite a bit more money on a an i7-8700k + GTX 1080TI.

That said however, there are a few things I'd personally change if I made that build for myself.

- Your motherboard and memory doesn't play particularly well together (as you've discovered with the crashing). The G.Skill Ripjaws with part code F4-3200C16D-16GVGB uses Samsung E-die (Ryzen prefers B-die) chips. You can see a list HERE. 2933Mhz is about the limit of what you can get from Samsung E-die memory.
Your motherboard, from what I've read, also seems to not like high-speed memory all that much.
I would replace these 2 components with something like a Gigabyte X370 Gaming K5 + G.Skill Flare X 3200 MHz CL14 memory. That mobo also has a clock generator allowing you to fine tune the OC on your CPU and RAM even more.
High-speed + low latency memory (the latency in particular) gives quite a noticeable boost to Ryzen CPU's, especially the minimum FPS in games which is ultimately what matters to get rid of that stutterin feeling. Going from 2933mhz cl16 (presumably?) to 3200mhz (or above) cl14 would definitely be noticeable. See this video for comparisons:



Another thing I'd change is the SSD. 128GB really is just too little, and trust me, you won't wanna have games on a normal HDD for very long when you get used to the speed of an SSD. The Adata SU800 is also a very budget SSD. I guess it's "ok" in the 128gb category because honestly all small SSD's are quite bad, but I'd definitely look at something like a 500GB Samsung 850 Evo or Crucial MX300 instead.

Thank you!! this was a very well written and informative response. I have been kind of confused looking at how to maximize my ram performance because I knew that Ryzen has been proven to show a 10% increase in performance with the right ram/mobo setup but I've been confused on how to achieve that. I will definitely look into this.

I was about ready to send back the Ryzen or sell it and go with an intel chip but it seems like this may be a good alternative.

- - - Updated - - -

Your motherboard, from what I've read, also seems to not like high-speed memory all that much.
I would replace these 2 components with something like a Gigabyte X370 Gaming K5 + G.Skill Flare X 3200 MHz CL14 memory. That mobo also has a clock generator allowing you to fine tune the OC on your CPU and RAM even more.

So I was thinking what if I just buy the ram kit first... and test it on the mobo I already have? I know its not on the QVL, but quite frankly, their QVL sucks anyway so why not try it and see. I could be the first to add it to their list because I haven't seen anyone on the internet yet claim that the ASRock x370 Gaming X + Flare X 3200 CL14 does or does not post @ 3200. Or should I not risk it and just suck it up and return it?

lol, Im just trying to avoid returning it and having to go through the whole reinstall windows and programs process but I probably should do the smart thing and return it.

[Miyagie]

You think I should return the monitor and just stick with a 1080p 144hz monitor? Or would my GPU be overkill for that?

No, i just think you play terrible optimize games and a stronger cpu wont bring alot more frames in this games.

[bamf775]

I've heard that the gigabyte x370 gaming k5 has mediocre vrm which means the cpu will get hot under load right?

[Kanegasi]

No, i just think you play terrible optimize games and a stronger cpu wont bring alot more frames in this games.

For WoW, it does. WoW uses only one core for the UI, which is where most FPS issues come from, and at least 100 Intel chips outperform even Threadripper in single core performance.

I do agree with PUBG, that's a lost cause.

[Shakadam]

So I was thinking what if I just buy the ram kit first... and test it on the mobo I already have? I know its not on the QVL, but quite frankly, their QVL sucks anyway so why not try it and see. I could be the first to add it to their list because I haven't seen anyone on the internet yet claim that the ASRock x370 Gaming X + Flare X 3200 CL14 does or does not post @ 3200. Or should I not risk it and just suck it up and return it?

lol, Im just trying to avoid returning it and having to go through the whole reinstall windows and programs process but I probably should do the smart thing and return it.

That's certainly possible. I can't find anyone who has that exact combination so, you know, it may or may not work :P

I've heard that the gigabyte x370 gaming k5 has mediocre frm which means the cup will get hot under load right?

Yeah that's a bit of a downside with the gigabyte board, the gaming 5 has better vrm afaik but it's also a bit more expensive. Anyway I don't think the k5 is any worse than your current gaming x regarding VRM. Another candidate would be the Asus x370 prime pro, that one has good vrm BUT the user reviews I've seen haven't been that great, quite a few complaining about the board simply dying after a few weeks or months.

- - - Updated - - -

at least 100 Intel chips outperform even Threadripper in single core performance.

Yeah.... no.

[reemi]

Only possible upgrade is an i7 instead, but... new motherboard will be required.

Or watercooler so you can overclock more? But if your computer crash your OC settings arent good maybe.

Also, 1440p monitor isnt a good choice if you want performance first.

You can use 1440p and reduce quality too. This is what I usually do.
You can play windows mode to reduce resolution.

Running a game at 1440p and 144fps minimum isnt that easy...

But, pretty sure your CPU is the bottleneck in your built.

[bamf775]

Only possible upgrade is an i7 instead, but... new motherboard will be required.

Or watercooler so you can overclock more? But if your computer crash your OC settings arent good maybe.

Also, 1440p monitor isnt a good choice if you want performance first.

You can use 1440p and reduce quality too. This is what I usually do.
You can play windows mode to reduce resolution.

Running a game at 1440p and 144fps minimum isnt that easy...

But, pretty sure your CPU is the bottleneck in your built.

I've never seen my ryzen hit 100% usage on all my cores. it's always the gpu that maxes out. I'm not looking for 144fps at 1440p. I just want steady 60fps on open world games and maybe 90-100 fps on fps games. I might go sli I later down the road

[Kanegasi]

Yeah.... no.

Thank you for that detailed rebuttal. Your sources are accurate and clearly debunk my post and source.

[bamf775]

I don't think single thread performance is the absolute defining factor in what determines the entire performance of the cpu right?

[Kanegasi]

I don't think single thread performance is the absolute defining factor in what determines the entire performance of the cpu right?

As I stated in my first comment, yes, for WoW. If you mainly/only play WoW and want WoW to perform at the absolute best you can afford, Intel is the only answer. Since you stated several games, your Ryzen is clearly the better choice for you. In fact, for the average gamer, AMD is better in most cases.

[Shakadam]

Thank you for that detailed rebuttal. Your sources are accurate and clearly debunk my post and source.

Ryzen IPC is roughly equal to Intel Broadwell, or about 2-7% behind Skylake/Kaby Lake/Coffee Lake depending on what you use as a benchmark tool.

The advantage Intel has comes from higher clock frequency. Ryzen caps out at around 4Ghz, Intel can best case reach around 5Ghz. K-series chips from Haswell onwards can go above 4ghz and beat Ryzen in single thread performance, as well as a handful of non-K skylake/kaby lake/coffee lake chips. Not hundreds.