AMD Ryzen

[Ganrich]

Shame that fast RAM is so expensive (and here pretty unavailable, I can't source any 3200MHz CL14 from reputable sources at all) and anything 3200+ isn't officially supported, and it's still a bit random as to whether it will actually work at rated frequency. Being faster than a 7700k at games, albeit marginally overall and dependent on the game, is one of the last tick box Ryzen needs to fill.

I still say with new mobo Bios, newer Mobos in general, and the Windows scheduling update (whenever that comes) will bring Ryzen much more into line with Intel's offerings in performance. Even if it is still somewhat behind Intel the extra cores and price point will make it a no brainer for anyone doing anything more than just gaming with their PC. Even still those extra cores might come in handy with Vulkan/DX12 titles at some point and give a little more cushion in future proofing.

 

It's sad because I have the money right now, but can't justify it until the bios/scheduler issues are cleaned up.

 

I haven't even prices those high speed ram sticks. I am going to do that right now. Mostly because I'm bored.

[Zoraptor]

It would definitely be nice to know what the premium speed wise is for the increased price and how it balances out for timings and frequency, so more testing of that aspect would be very welcome once they've worked the kinks out. I'd be confident buying 3200Mhz RAM that it will consistently work as stated, eventually, but I can get 3600 or even 3733 Mhz for not that much more- less than it would cost to get a cooler for a 7700k- and if that ends up adding, say, 5% performance it would be worth the premium for sure. Plus it would be better if I need to add RAM in the future, current computer uses downclocked RAM since I couldn't find any RAM slow enough (!) to match what it already had once I wanted to upgrade.

 

I've got probably a month further for things to settle down before buying anyway, since at this point I'll definitely be waiting for the R5 (just about certain to get a 1700 though) and 5 series graphics cards. Probably too soon for revised MBs, but hopefully the BIOS revisions and updates will have largely been rolled out by then.

[Ganrich]

Yeah, I have the money, and I have been dragging my feet at filing my taxes and have another $2k coming back on top of what I have. I always drag my feet on new CPUs to increase the overclocking "silicon lottery" chances. I am still undecided in between the 1700x or just going ham and getting an 1800x because I can. I also am wanting to move to a 3440x1440p monitor, but I'm waiting on Vega before I bother. I've also heard rumors of LG having a 3440x1440p IPS running at 144hz with Freesync coming out this year. I kind of want to see if that is a bunch of Mumbo jumbo or if I can keep my 144hz goodness, move to 3440x1440p, and gain freesync.

 

I just realized that I'm waiting for a good many stars to align lol.

[Sarex]

Yeah, I have the money, and I have been dragging my feet at filing my taxes and have another $2k coming back on top of what I have. I always drag my feet on new CPUs to increase the overclocking "silicon lottery" chances. I am still undecided in between the 1700x or just going ham and getting an 1800x because I can. I also am wanting to move to a 3440x1440p monitor, but I'm waiting on Vega before I bother. I've also heard rumors of LG having a 3440x1440p IPS running at 144hz with Freesync coming out this year. I kind of want to see if that is a bunch of Mumbo jumbo or if I can keep my 144hz goodness, move to 3440x1440p, and gain freesync.

 

I just realized that I'm waiting for a good many stars to align lol.

 

The LG panels are coming end of this year, but more likely next year.

[mkreku]

Apparently the 1700 is the Ryzen to go for, according to Digital Foundry:

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-amd-ryzen-7-1700-1700x-vs-1800x-review

[Gorgon]

So one could actually go AMD on a new build. Last time was like 10 or 20 years ago. 

[Sarex]

Not just could, but should. Especially if they fix the "bugs".

[Zoraptor]

Even with the teething troubles it's a compelling option for some uses and extremely competitive on price performance with Intel options. The current weaknesses are with very top end gaming where price performance isn't really a factor, the general teething troubles- which are rather less serious than some Intel has suffered- and not having any budget chips for the next two weeks. The last one is definitely being fixed in the next two weeks though.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Zoraptor

[teknoman2]

latest tests show that the gaming performance of ryzen was due to the bad nvidia drivers, especially in dx12 games... and since EVERYONE used a gtx1080 for the tests, they all found it under-performing because the 1080 was not cooperating with the CPU

pairing ryzen with a 480 in dx12 games, raises fps up to 70%.

in rise of the tomb rider dx12, 2 480 got 40-50fps gain over a 1070 with 1800X and about 10fps with 7700K, closing the gap from over 40% to just 7%, with dx11 performance ratio being almost identical

another test put the 470 vs the 1060 with R7 1700 in the division dx11 and 12. the 470 got an average of 128 fps in dx11 and 190fps in dx12, while the 1060 got 144 in dx12 and 160 in dx11

so it seems the "let's use the most powerful GPU to avoid bottlenecks" philosophy backfired because the nvidia drivers were creating a much bigger bottleneck than they knew.

[Bartimaeus]

Source?

[teknoman2]

 

[Zoraptor]

It is only in dx12 though, because nVidia are comparatively rubbish at dx12. There are also very few dx12 games to this point. DX12 is far more parallelised than dx11, and the nVidia drivers- and to an extent the cards themselves, fundamentally, for things like async compute where they don't support the feature properly- are rubbish at that while AMD is far better.

 

Should be noted though that the big benchmarking increases of the last few days- RoTR and Division, also Ashes of the Singularity via a patch- have all been for games where the Ryzen was performing unexpectedly poorly. The up to 30% increases look great but they are generally bringing performance to expectation and still just behind the 7700k.

[teknoman2]

it's true that it is still behind, but lets not forget that 7700K is the latest in a long line of gaming monopolizing CPUs in the last 7 years so games are made by default to use its features fully, while Ryzen is completely new and any performance it gets, it gets it by brute force since no existing game "knows" how to use it.

[Ganrich]

R5 1600x info has started surfacing, and if the trend holds it is beating the 6600k handily while trading blows with the 7700k.  A 6 core that has this solid IPC at a $250 price tag it might be a steal.  I definitely think AMD is heading the right direction.  I'm still going to hold out and see if some of the bios changes and scheduling fixes do anything with the R7s, but the 1600x is pretty tempting. 

[Zoraptor]

As someone who doesn't have a cooler I'd be looking at the 1600, but I'm still pretty certain to go 1700. 1600 is same price as a 7600 non k ($350 in NZ to be specific) yet if it follows the pattern with the 1700 can be overclocked almost as high as the X model even on the 'free' stock cooler. Definitely not the obvious price performance win of the 1700 vs 1800x though, and at this point I think I'd prefer to spend the extra $150 for the future proofing of 8 cores.

 

There are also meant to be a shed load of new motherboards being released over the next few weeks, and the 'new' video cards.

[Ganrich]

Yeah, I need a new video card asap. So, my plan is to wait for Vega, buy one, and put them in my current rig for a while. I will likely wait for more updates on Ryzen. I'd also prefer the future proofing of the 8 cores. However, I will be doing mostly gaming and if they don't get the scheduling stuff sorted I'll settle for the 1600x as a last resort. Still, it's good to see R5s showing more spunk in gaming on launch as the R7s. It gives me hopes for the R7s being much more capable in the future.

 

I'm definitely waiting on new mobos though. That I'm sure will fix a fair few issues in and of itself. Particularly hoping some high end RAM compatibility fixes. Then I might just go all in on the PC the moment my Vega cards are installed.

Edited April 11, 2017 by Ganrich

[Zoraptor]

New MBs and them working consistently at the RAM's rated frequency are what I want most- we also have a dearth of mid range boards available here as they're almost all less than $200 or more than $350.

 

I might be able to hold off for Vega to see what they offer, but most estimates have that a month away still (and expensive due to HBM) and at some point I have to stop waiting and actually buy. Since I'm currently on a 1920x1200 monitor a 580 type ought to be more than enough as well.

[teknoman2]

the conclusion of the reviews is that he 1600 is the best value among all R5s. 6 cores, 12 threads, and can be overclocked to the same speed as a 1600X with the stock cooler (while the 1600X has no cooler). way ahead on the similarly priced 4c4t 7600K in everything but games where they get similar results, with the 1600 being future proof

[Ganrich]

So, I'm about to bite the bullet and adopt Ryzen. I'm just waiting for the Asrock x370 Taichi to be in stock somewhere at a reasonable price. Currently you can only find it online when you don't have a micro center or frys within driving distance (they only have in store pick up for them). EBay's listings are almost double the list price. Newegg has been out of stock since the 12th. TigerDirect hasn't carried it. Etc.

 

I ordered my case, and all the other parts (sans motherboard) are in my Newegg cart. I'm excited. Ready to ditch this 2500k rig for gaming/work stuff, and convert it into a home server. Already have it loaded up with 6TB of HDD ready for my DVDs/Blurays in order to get them boxed up and out of the living room. I've been ripping one or two a day or DLing my digital copies for a permanent home.

 

Still debating if this new rig will get the crossfire treatment when vega launches. That Ryzen of the Tomb Raider video from AdoredTV makes it incredibly tempting. I am also eyeballing 2k 144hz freesync monitors. I'd rather buy the Acer, but no VESA mounts is a no no for me as it would require me buying another desk (mine is too shallow ATM), and that is a bit much right now. So, I may settle on the Asus. It's pricey, though.

 

First world problems.

[Azdeus]

Well, when it comes to Vega there is this;

 

I'm going for a b350 chipset myself, if Vega does come underpowered I'll have to go for some other card, I'm really not keen on crossfire since I doubt the games will be optimized for it.

[Zoraptor]

Probably going B350 as well. Easy decision when there are still almost no mid priced boards available here a month+ after launch. Guess it at least shows there is demand.

 

Funnily enough I bought a PSU and case on Friday in preparation and to split payments across 2 months. Appropriately if coincidentally ended up buying a Corsair Obsidian case, windowless so I don't have to bother matching LEDs and the other weird stuff kids these days get up to and since it will sit under my desk anyway.

 

Since we still have dreadful motherboard availability and have very few 4/580s as well so there's not much prospect of buying the rest of the stuff until May when supply will have hopefully picked up. Prospective build is R1700, 16GB RAM (only Samsung B die here is $100 over the odds though, $340 vs $240 for other 3200MHz RAM), GB Gaming 3, Intel 600p and a 580. Should come to just under $2000 (~1200US) including the case and PSU.

[Ganrich]

I snagged myself an XFX 580 Black edition on launch day to replace the 960 in my system.  That way I can put the 960 back into my Steam Machine, and get it going again.  When I can snag that motherboard I will then use the 580 in the new system until Vega.   It's a really good GPU, btw (the RX 580).  The few games I've thrown at it have been smooth as butter. 

 

The thing with Crossfire is I plan on that 2k 144hz monitor, and when I build a new rig I like cranking settings.  I just want to ensure I'm hitting those high frames without much sacrifice.   Also, the GPU memory pooling possibilities of Vulkan and DX12 may make multiGPU a more viable solution in the future, but given how long these things take to come about I realize I could be jumping the gun.  There are a handful of AAA games I have on the back burner that I would like to give a go when the new system is built, and I am ready to be liberal with my budget to achieve that.   I usually go wild when I build a new system, but only build a new system once every 4-5 years.  I may replace a GPU here and there but I keep the core system for a long time. 

[Azdeus]

Probably going B350 as well. Easy decision when there are still almost no mid priced boards available here a month+ after launch. Guess it at least shows there is demand.

 

Funnily enough I bought a PSU and case on Friday in preparation and to split payments across 2 months. Appropriately if coincidentally ended up buying a Corsair Obsidian case, windowless so I don't have to bother matching LEDs and the other weird stuff kids these days get up to and since it will sit under my desk anyway.

 

Since we still have dreadful motherboard availability and have very few 4/580s as well so there's not much prospect of buying the rest of the stuff until May when supply will have hopefully picked up. Prospective build is R1700, 16GB RAM (only Samsung B die here is $100 over the odds though, $340 vs $240 for other 3200MHz RAM), GB Gaming 3, Intel 600p and a 580. Should come to just under $2000 (~1200US) including the case and PSU.

 

I'm good with my old case, an old Corsair Carbide 400r, I don't find leds and glass windows particularly useful either, I'm looking at my screen not the computers insides! I wouldn't mind an Obsidian case though.

I don't have any real need for a second machine so I'll be putting the parts back in their boxes.

 

Going for a R1700 myself, but the scaling with superfast memories isn't worth the crazy price hike unless you're running a monster GPU. You get a small bump from going from 2133 to 2400 though for a handfull of dollars more so I'm probably getting 2x8 Kingston 2400's, a Gigabyte GA AB350 gaming. This'll cost me about 700$ wich already is going to be a strain for me. Might pick up a 580 or a Vega when it shows up though, provided it isn't crap.

 

I snagged myself an XFX 580 Black edition on launch day to replace the 960 in my system.  That way I can put the 960 back into my Steam Machine, and get it going again.  When I can snag that motherboard I will then use the 580 in the new system until Vega.   It's a really good GPU, btw (the RX 580).  The few games I've thrown at it have been smooth as butter. 

 

The thing with Crossfire is I plan on that 2k 144hz monitor, and when I build a new rig I like cranking settings.  I just want to ensure I'm hitting those high frames without much sacrifice.   Also, the GPU memory pooling possibilities of Vulkan and DX12 may make multiGPU a more viable solution in the future, but given how long these things take to come about I realize I could be jumping the gun.  There are a handful of AAA games I have on the back burner that I would like to give a go when the new system is built, and I am ready to be liberal with my budget to achieve that.   I usually go wild when I build a new system, but only build a new system once every 4-5 years.  I may replace a GPU here and there but I keep the core system for a long time. 

 

I favor framerate much more than I favour resolution, and I'd rather have highframerate at 1440p and High/Ultra settings than medium framerate at 4k and medium/high settings. The market that is using 4k is so small that there never really is any optimization for it and I think I'd have to use 1080's to get the performance I want at 4k. Still too soon for dual GPU's I think.

 

Buuuut, it'd be awesome to play Dirt Rally with 3 monitors.

[Ganrich]

Yeah, I am not a huge racing guy, but I have a friend that is. 3 monitors is an unforgettable experience even for a baddie like me. At least he got a laugh. I do like Elite Dangerous, and hope Star Citizen is good when it is done... and those I'll possibly get a Vive to play eventually. I have a full CH products Hotus + rudder pedals, and those games in VR with the Hotus sounds like a similar experience to triple monitor racing for us space sim nerds.

 

Frame rates are definitely more important than pixels to me. I usually let monitor tech (and GPU tech) evolve enough to make the jump worthwhile. I feel GPUs are close enough now that it is a safe investment for a good many years to move to 2k. 4K... not so much as I refuse to relinquish my higher framerates. I'm dragging my feet on VR for the same reason (waiting for the screen door effect to be alleviated some and prices to come down). I was going to wait on LGs Ultrawide 2k 144hz, but I decided I would prefer using a more universal aspect ratio for simplicity. So, simple 2560x1440p.

 

Also, if Vega is a dud, and I don't think it will be, I can always snag another of these XFX 580s and crossfire it. I'll see framerates high enough in demanding games that I will survive. I am rarely a day one game purchaser. Waiting for those games to get their sli/crossfire updates out won't be an issue.

[Azdeus]

I tried triple screen, racing seat and all the snazz at a entertainment hall in gothenburg a couple of years ago. It was epic. Well, except that it was a one man race with 7 nutters that don't know what a wheel does.

I'm hoping for Star Citizen whenever they deign grace us with a full release, by that time I will have upgraded the graphics card though, but a proper HOTAS setup will probably be out of my league.

 

Sorry, for some reason I read 4k, don't know why. :S

 

Problem with waiting for updates and crossfire profiles, if they're needed by that point, is that the developers might ditch them if the game doesn't run well enough at all and they have to focus on single gpu users. They probably won't put down too much effort for the 1% of their users that use dual gpu's.

 

On memory and gaming;

Edited April 23, 2017 by Azdeus