Need Advice on Upgrading Aftershock PC

[viventa]

I bought an Aftershock PC in June 2019 with the following specs:

• ASRock A320M
• AMD Ryzen 5 2600
• ZOTAC NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 (AMP OC Edition)
• Klevv Bolt 8GB (8GB x1) DDR4 3000MHz CL15-16-16
• Toshiba 1TB 3.5 Inch HDD
• 256GB M.2 NVME Ultra Fast SSD
• EVGA/FSP 600W
• Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (AX/AC3000 + Bluetooth 5.0)

I use my computer mainly for coding and gaming. I upgraded the RAM in 2021 to Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32GB (16GB x2) DDR4 2666MHz CL16-18-18 because I was tired of the 8GB of RAM bottlenecking my PC.

I'm planning to upgrade my PC since BFCM is coming up. In particular, I'm looking to take advantage of new releases (eg, AMD Zen 4 CPUs) to grab the second latest generation products (eg, AMD Zen 3 CPUs) at bang for buck prices. I would be grateful for advice on the following:

1. It took me 3 years to realise that I have been running a HDD instead of SSD; the 256GB SSD has basically been unused all this time. I'm looking to purchase a 1TB SSD to replace the 1TB HDD. Any advice on which SSD would be good for my setup?
   
   
2. For the CPU, I'm looking at the AMD Ryzen 5 5600. I'm somewhat tempted to get the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, but I'm not sure if the marginal increase in performance is worth the extra money.
   
   
3. For the mobo, I'm planning to get the MSI B550M PRO. I know very little about mobos so any advice on this would be much appreciated!
   
   
4. In terms of RAM, given that I just recently upgraded my RAM, I'm unsure if it's worth the money to upgrade from DDR4 2666MHz to DDR4 3600MHz. Will the performance boost be worth the upgrade?
   
   
5. GPU-wise, I'm looking at the RX 6000/RTX 3000 cards. But I'm currently leaning towards just keeping my current RTX 2060 since I'm used to running my games on close to the lowest graphics settings. The only other thing is that I recently purchased an LG 38GN950-B monitor, and I'm not sure if I'm overworking my current RTX 2060 by running games or movies on ultrawide resolution, even if on the lowest graphics settings.

Thanks in advance for your inputs!

 

[NightRaven49]

im just gonna lump these 2 together:

- I'm looking to purchase a 1TB SSD to replace the 1TB HDD. Any advice on which SSD would be good for my setup?
- For the mobo, I'm planning to get the MSI B550M PRO. I know very little about mobos so any advice on this would be much appreciated!

considering u are switching to b550, a gen 4 drive is viable. u can get the sn770 1tb for about 150 from dynacore with local warranty, or if looking at amazon sg for bf, a samsung 980 pro 1tb for about the same price right now would be the better choice. that particular b550 board is a good pick too.

For the CPU, I'm looking at the AMD Ryzen 5 5600. I'm somewhat tempted to get the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, but I'm not sure if the marginal increase in performance is worth the extra money.

dont bother with the 5800x. if u are considering an 8 core, u can look at 5700x or 5800x3d, though the former wont offer an appreciable gain over the 5600 either.

In terms of RAM, given that I just recently upgraded my RAM, I'm unsure if it's worth the money to upgrade from DDR4 2666MHz to DDR4 3600MHz. Will the performance boost be worth the upgrade?

if not getting the 5800x3d, then yes as ryzen does well with fast ram. if u can get 3200mhz ram that would already be a decent bump too, and they are pretty cheap nowadays especially on amazon.

The only other thing is that I recently purchased an LG 38GN950-B monitor, and I'm not sure if I'm overworking my current RTX 2060 by running games or movies on ultrawide resolution, even if on the lowest graphics settings.

i dont think videos will be an issue. as for games, u can test out ur games with that monitor and see if the experience is still good enough for u. if it is, then i see no reason to upgrade.

 

[Koenig168]

2. The 5600 is a good choice for gaming. If going for 8-core, then 5700X as NightRaven49 suggested. The 5800X3D is the fastest gaming CPU on AM4 but not worth the hefty premium over the 5600/5700X.

4. Moving up to DDR4-3600 will give you a few percentage points improvement in performance. However, since you have recently bought 32GB of DDR4-2666, probably not worth the upgrade. You can try running the existing RAM at DDR4-3000 or DDR4-3200 on the new CPU/MB. Might have to loosen the timings.

5. You got quite a good monitor. However, if you are happy with games at low settings, then by all means keep the existing GPU. Actually, just disabling shadows, ray-tracing and anti-aliasing is good enough to give you decent frame rates.

Videos not an issue as they do not tax the GPU.

 

[Hailgod]

most cost efficient is this.
buy r5 5600. update your bios https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/A320M/index.asp#BIOS.

r5 5600 uses same or less power than 2600. Dont need to upgrade your motherboard just for the sake of it

https://www.tomshardware.com/featur...performance,spot for this generation, though.While there is good memory scaling, its not worth buying a new set jsut for that 5%. u already have 32gb 2666 just use it.

 

[NightRaven49]

Dont need to upgrade your motherboard just for the sake of it

to be fair that a320 is junk tier, cant even run xmp. if he can find b550 for a good price during bf why not.

also i just reread this:

It took me 3 years to realise that I have been running a HDD instead of SSD; the 256GB SSD has basically been unused all this time.

that is amazingly incompetent of aftershock, though not surprising.

 

[Hailgod]

to be fair that a320 is junk tier, cant even run xmp. if he can find b550 for a good price during bf why not.

buy a new board + new set of ram, 250-300$ just to get 5% better performance? might as well sell rtx 2060 buy 3070 on carousell.

 

[Yongkit]

If TS plan to use the current motherboard please update to the latest bios just release 2 weeks ago to support the zen3 cpu

 

[KYZT2021]

no ask for after sales service?

 

[kashix]

to be fair that a320 is junk tier, cant even run xmp. if he can find b550 for a good price during bf why not.

also i just reread this:

that is amazingly incompetent of aftershock, though not surprising.

really is after buying then kena shocked, wdf man

 

[ragnarok95]

With black friday sales starting tomorrow maybe you can consider changing a few items.

CPU: 5700X @ S$277 in amazon.
Mobo: Asrock B550m @S$160 in amazon from bizgram.
Use back your old rams.

 

[viventa]

Thanks everyone! I'll keep my current PC's RAM and GPU, and get one of the 1TB SSDs as recommended by NightRaven49.

CPU-wise, I've read that the Wraith Stealth CPU cooler that comes with the Ryzen 5 5600 isn't that good. I don't intend to overclock my CPU, but I don't mind spending a bit more for a quieter CPU cooler. I'm thinking of opting for the Ryzen 5 5600 instead of the Ryzen 7 5700X, and using the cost savings to get the SE-226-XT. Any thoughts?

I'm also considering buying a new computer case. I'm currently using the Aftershock Bolt case but it seems to have pretty poor airflow. I feel like I might as well get a new computer case if I'm already getting a new mobo and new CPU cooler... any recommendations?

With black friday sales starting tomorrow maybe you can consider changing a few items.

CPU: 5700X @ S$277 in amazon.
Mobo: Asrock B550m @S$160 in amazon from bizgram.
Use back your old rams.

The ASRock B550M looks quite a bit cheaper than the MSI B550M PRO.

Is there any significant difference between the two? Apart from price, I'm not sure how I should be deciding between the various B550M mobos.

really is after buying then kena shocked, wdf man

no ask for after sales service?

that is amazingly incompetent of aftershock, though not surprising.

I actually emailed them last year about upgrading my PC's RAM. They told me that they would be able to upgrade my PC's RAM to from 8GB DDR4 3000MHz to 16GB DDR4 3200MHz within a single day. So I took half-day leave and brought my PC all the way down to their service centre, only to have the staff there tell me that they would need 7 to 14 working days, and they would only be able to upgrade my PC's RAM to 16GB DDR4 2666MHz.

I got so fed up that I decided to just upgrade the RAM myself...

 

[ragnarok95]

I didn't see you have the MSI one. Take the MSI one.

 

[oddbasket]

Better to forget about about reusing your old motherboard, could potentially save you some hassle.

300 series boards even though granted bios updates are not guaranteed to work well with Ryzen 5000 or at all, that's why there are only beta bioses.

Just buy new CPU and mobo, it's more lasting and future proof, or you might end up having to buy a mobo later without discount.

My msi b350 is one of those that didn't work even with the latest beta bios that's supposed to support.

 

[86technie]

Thanks everyone! I'll keep my current PC's RAM and GPU, and get one of the 1TB SSDs as recommended by NightRaven49.

CPU-wise, I've read that the Wraith Stealth CPU cooler that comes with the Ryzen 5 5600 isn't that good. I don't intend to overclock my CPU, but I don't mind spending a bit more for a quieter CPU cooler. I'm thinking of opting for the Ryzen 5 5600 instead of the Ryzen 7 5700X, and using the cost savings to get the SE-226-XT. Any thoughts?

I'm also considering buying a new computer case. I'm currently using the Aftershock Bolt case but it seems to have pretty poor airflow. I feel like I might as well get a new computer case if I'm already getting a new mobo and new CPU cooler... any recommendations?

The ASRock B550M looks quite a bit cheaper than the MSI B550M PRO.

Is there any significant difference between the two? Apart from price, I'm not sure how I should be deciding between the various B550M mobos.



I actually emailed them last year about upgrading my PC's RAM. They told me that they would be able to upgrade my PC's RAM to from 8GB DDR4 3000MHz to 16GB DDR4 3200MHz within a single day. So I took half-day leave and brought my PC all the way down to their service centre, only to have the staff there tell me that they would need 7 to 14 working days, and they would only be able to upgrade my PC's RAM to 16GB DDR4 2666MHz.

I got so fed up that I decided to just upgrade the RAM myself...

Do you need wifi? If so can consider either Gigabyte B550M DS3H AC or MSI B550M PRO-VHD WIFI.
Asrock is cheaper but for gaming wise recommend get better quality boards like Gigabyte or MSI.