Checking if you can upgrade to a Ryzen 5 1600 on an Asrock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4
Checking if you can upgrade to a Ryzen 5 1600 on an Asrock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4
Hey all,
I've already posted on
Asrock subreddit
, but I was hoping for more concrete advise for my
specific
situation and
specific
mobo (especially from people who've already done it, but anyone else too of course). You can check out the above link if you are interested, but I'll recap here too (I apologize in advance for the very long post, I just want to make sure I give you guys as much info as I can, to help you with any advice you may have for me).
Current Rig
---------------
HWiNFO Summary:
https://imgur.com/a/rY4UHe5
View: https://imgur.com/a/rY4UHe5
Case:
Aerocool Aero-500 Window
MoBo:
Asrock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4
(BIOS: 2.40)
CPU: Ryzen 5 1600 (stock fan, stock speed)
GPU:
GIGABYTE GTX 1050 Ti D5 4Gb/DDR5 PCIe 3.0
(stoc fan, stock speed)
RAM: 32Gb (4 x
GSkill AEGIS 8Gb DDR4
)
not
listed in Memory QVL and it runs at 1000Mhz instead of default 2133MHz)
SSD:
WD Blue SN570 1Tb NVMe (PCIe 3.0 x4)
PSU:
EVGA 650W BQ 80+ Bronze
Monitor: 1080@60Hz
I'm
not
a gamer, please let me repeat that: I'm
not
a gamer (LOL). I'm also clueless when it comes to OC, since I've never OCed anything and frankly I don't intend to.
In general, I keep my rigs as long as possible (usually 10 years more or less) with some upgrades on the way. This rig for example, I have only upgraded the disk to an SSD and increased its RAM to 32Gb since its initial purchase. It serves me well for like 7+ years now, and to be honest I'm not in a big rush or anything, I'm just exploring my options for a CPU upgrade, because Win11 does not support Zen and because relatively recently I discovered that all Zen3 Ryzen 5xxx CPUs became available to B350 based MoBos by updating the BIOS.
Since I'm gonna upgrade the CPU sooner or later, I'm also exploring my options for upgrading the GPU and probably the RAM too (more on the latter later). I'd really like to keep my current box/mobo/psu combo, and I'm pretty sure I'll stick with AM4 for as long as I can, spending the minimum amount of money for my near future needs,. For the same reason, I'm not gonna upgrade everything at 1 go, I want to get done with the CPU first, then at a later point upgrade the GPU too, hoping to extend the life of this rig for 2-3 more years or so.
Regarding my
needs
, as I mentioned I'm barely gaming, and when I do is mostly older city building games, the sims 4, etc. Not interested in anything more than 1080p@60Hz (even 720p or less if I can't help it), not obsessed about FPS either (I'm perfectly happy with 40-60fps).
What I care about is
multitasking, 3d rendering, Video editing/rendering, Substance Painter baking, Blender/Marvelous Designer cloth simulations, Photoshop, etc.
After spending a few days trying to educate myself about the current landscape, I think an
R7 5700X with an RTX 4060Ti/8Gb
sounds good for my situation, without needing to change my Case/MobO/PSU, but I have no clue if I'm right (please feel free to advice otherwise, but please remember I'm way more interested in productivity, especially 3D content and video editing, NOT gaming). Even if I am right about that combo, I still have questions and doubts:
1. Should I go for R5-5600X instead to save some bucks since it also comes with a cooler? Is it a more suitable CPU for my case?
2. I read EVERYWHERE that B350 mobo's VRMs and other components are too weak for anything above 5600X (I think) to run reliable without extra cooling, cause these CPUs run very hot, even the TDP65W R7-5700X. Is that actually true? I can't find reports for my particular mobo (I'd really love to hear from people who have done it on this mobo), but I've found many reports for other B350 mobos, even B450 ones. What kind of cooler I would need for an R7-5700X and how much will I need to pay for it? Right now I have just the stock cooler of the R5-1600 and 1 more fan attached to the back of the midi-tower.
3. If I'm to spend extra for cooling the R7-5700X, should I bite the bullet and go for a TDP105W R7-5800X instead? My midi-tower says it can host AIO-240mm water coolers, but should I really go that route? (most horror stories I've read so far about crazy temps refer to 5800x or x3d on B350 mobos, even with good water coolers). In my country an R7-5800X costs right now around 200 euros, while an R7-5700X around 20-30 euros less. But if I'm to believe what I read about the R7-5800X, specifically for B350 mobos, I will probably need to pay 100+ euros more for water-cooling (plus its installation cost since I have no idea or confidence to do that by myslef). Is it worth it, given my mobo? If it is, will the system run reliable in the long term?
4. Regarding the 4060Ti/8Gb, I already figured everybody hates it, or so it seems. But as I said already, i'm not really inetrested in gaming, and it really looks to me like a good GPU for 3d productivity, with reasonable power consumption and modern feature set. I'm still not fond of its current price (around 400 euros here right now) so most likely I'll search for a clearance sale, or wait a few months till its price drops, even if I have to wait until Black Friday. My question is if it will pair well with a 5700X (or a 5800X) for my needs, on my mobo. If you think otherwise, please feel free to suggest more suitable GPUs, but please not AMD.
5. My RAM is a big pain in my butt right now, becasue I cannot make it tun faster than 1000, despite its specs defining 2133 as default speed, and 3000/2993 as OCed speed. Granted I have not a clue when it comes to OCing, but every time I try to enable XMP in the BIOS my rig doesn't even post, it keeps rebooting before even giving me the chance to enter the BIOS and disable XMP. The GSkill website states that OC'ed 3000 is not available for Ryzen CPUs, but I never expected their speed o drop down to 934.0 with XMP disabled. From what I have gathered, this will get probably solved after I update my BIOS, since its current version is pretty much ancient (I've never updated it). If not, I guess I'll go get a Memory QVL compliant DDR4 kit, since this one is not listed there, unless someone advice otherwise and help me make these God damn DIMMS work at least at 2133 LOL
Once again, I apologize for the long post, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible. I'm really looking forward to hear your suggestions/advice.
Thanks in advance.
The BIOS version is outdated; upgrade to v7.4 then to v10.08 should resolve memory compatibility issues and allow running at 3200mhz. If problems persist, consider replacing the RAM module. Upgrading the stock cooler is recommended. The SSD will function in PCIe 3.0 mode, which shouldn’t cause problems. Having two SSDs is beneficial for tasks requiring heavy read/write operations.
The PCIe bandwidth of 3.0 x 8 meets the requirements for the 4060ti. As mentioned before, GamerNexus shared a video discussing 4090 performance on PCIe 3.0 versus 4.0 in an X16 slot. The drop in performance was between 2 to 3%. The 4090 offers around 1008 GB/s compared to the 4060Ti's 288 GB/s. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti specifications include 8 GB, 2535 MHz, 4352 cores, 136 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 8192 MB GDDR6, and 2250 MHz with 128 bit. More info can be found at www.techpowerup.com.
Thank you for your feedback!
@Lucky_SLS
Your list of components looks solid, and I agree that pairing a 5700X with a 4060Ti/8Gb drive is a practical and well-considered choice, especially considering the constraints. It seems you don’t need to replace the tower or power supply.
I noticed I may have confused Mb/s and MT/s earlier; my default speed is 2133 MT/s, which aligns closely with the current DIMMS frequency of 931.7Mhz. I might adjust them later if performance remains limited after a BIOS update.
@badoma
Starting fresh isn’t ideal, but I’d rather upgrade to something more capable than sticking with what I have. My current setup is hobbyist-level, and I’m happy with it.
I’ve been struggling for about a week trying to use Win11 with the R5-1600—it really frustrated me. That experience made me seriously consider switching to Linux, but then I found out Zen3 5xxx was available for my motherboard.
Could you clarify your thoughts on these points?
Also, could you expand a bit on the CPU upgrade situation? If you’ve had any issues, please share them. What additional risks should I be mindful of?
But you're proposing altering the MBOO on a subject about CPU upgrades on a particular motherboard—are you really on the right track? Did you actually read the original message before responding? And if you're open to donating a few coins, I'm happy to take them.
Thanks for your feedback.
8-core CPU requirements for 3D and video work. 4060 or above needed for visual AI (Adobe neural filters), 8GB VRAM required for 4K editing, 20GB VRAM for 8K editing.
Refer to previous notes.
Hardware Unboxed includes a VRM comparison on B350/450/550 mobos in their collection. Models below B450 tend to overheat. For B350, a 65W TDP is optimal; higher than that may work but not efficiently.
Preferred Nvidia/CUDA support is recommended for certain production tools (such as Blender). The earlier note about VRAM needs for video editing applies here too.
RAM speed plays a minor role in production. Puget Systems reported around a 5% performance difference between 2133 and 3600 MHz in this context. Consistent stability is prioritized over speed for critical tasks. RAM size matters more.
I’m checking if the RAM details are being misinterpreted—depending on the method, it could be running at 1066MHz while handling 2133 MT/s. For more insights, check the Puget Systems benchmarking blog.
Thank you! That was precisely my initial reaction, but after further investigation I understood that for productivity, having 8 cores is better than 6. Then I began encountering stories about 8-core systems on B350 mobos.
Many factors need to be thought about when upgrading just a CPU, and I’m not sure how you all keep up with everything!
Thank you for your feedback! Yes, you're correct about choosing a 5700X (TDP65W) with a solid air cooler. Regarding the GPU, it should be fine since it can wait—especially given the current pricing and my limited ability to edit at 8K. I also think a 4060Ti with 8GB is acceptable, as I won't be doing heavy 8K video editing.
Your observation on the RAM is spot on too. I had misunderstood their specifications earlier, confusing MT/s with Mb/s. The actual speed is around 932Mhz, which equals about 1864 MT/s. After updating the BIOS, they should reach 1066 or 2133.
It depends on your preferences, but an air cooler seems preferable over a water cooler when dealing with hot VRMs, as there’s still airflow around them. Models at 5800X and above should work, though you might miss some boost frequencies. A user recently asked about the 4060 and AI filter performance, noting that benchmark tests in Germany showed it could be up to 75% faster for neural filters. You might want to look into the Puget Blender GPU benchmarks to confirm if it’s suitable for your setup. Remember, blender also uses a lot of VRAM, so a 16GB 4060Ti could be a better choice.