Let’s talk about improving my computer setup for playing games.
Let’s talk about improving my computer setup for playing games.
I assembled my initial personal computer in January of this year, and it’s mainly designed for playing games. I selected a Ryzen 5 3600 processor, an ASUS X570 TUF motherboard (chosen for future expansion), an RTX 2060 Super graphics card, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance 3200MHz RAM with CL16 timings, a 650-watt Seasonic 80 Plus Gold power supply unit, a Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB CPU air cooler, and a 1TB Kingston SATA3 SSD. I typically play games at 1080p resolution with a high refresh rate display. I own an HP Omen 240Hz monitor. Considering the release of next-generation consoles utilizing newer CPU architectures by the end of 2020, would it be worthwhile to upgrade my system? Many online videos and articles suggest that these new consoles may surpass PC gaming in terms of hardware performance. If an upgrade were necessary, what component would offer the greatest advantage for me to consider when planning and allocating a budget?
Regarding processor performance, both the Ryzen 5 3600 and the newest gaming consoles utilize the Zen 2 architecture; the primary distinction lies in their core counts – the consoles boast 8 cores and 16 threads compared to the 3600’s 6 cores and 12 threads. Currently, upgrading your CPU isn't necessary. Concerning graphics cards, the consoles are anticipated to feature processors similar to a 5700XT or slightly improved versions. Although your 2060 Super is slower than this new generation, its performance remains reasonably comparable and provides sufficient capability. However, you will experience a noticeable slowdown with solid-state drive speeds. The Xbox and PlayStation both employ NVMe SSDs capable of transferring data at approximately 2GB per second – significantly faster than your SATA3’s maximum speed of 550MB/sec. In reality, this substantial improvement in storage performance will greatly benefit console and PC gaming alike. Games are traditionally designed to operate on hard disk drives because they represent the most widely accessible technology. With consoles adopting NVMe SSDs, developers can now concentrate their efforts on optimizing this faster storage. Presently, sluggish HDDs necessitate multiple copies of game assets to expedite loading times. Utilizing NVMe SSDs will eliminate these redundant copies, essentially creating a single master file with linked data, due to the vastly increased speed.
Thankfully, those who selected the X570 platform now possess this precise functionality utilizing PCIe 4.0.
Previously, many argued that 4.0 wasn’t necessary in the near future, as gaming consoles were already performing ahead of desktop computers.
Any user equipped with an X570 motherboard – such as the Asus TUF series – benefits from PCIe 4.0; simply requiring a compatible NVMe storage device.
I recently conducted a 3DMark PCIe Bandwidth Test, achieving a score of 13.9 GB/Second.
[http://www.3dmark.com/pcie/84616](http://www.3dmark.com/pcie/84616)