Mojo dilemma. Things are going off track. Looking for advice.
Mojo dilemma. Things are going off track. Looking for advice.
I've never really assembled a PC myself. I assist many friends and act as their tech support, but somehow I only own a prebuilt unit bought over seven years ago for around $100. The components aren’t built to last, and the power supply is making a lot of noise. I’ve cleaned it, opened it up, and somehow kept it running just by not touching it—just vacuuming it. Now I’m looking for a new build from scratch. I’m considering a 3070, which fits the mid-range range. My local vendor is offering it at only 10% above its MSRP. Why such a steep discount? In my country, I can tell you how many GPUs I’ve seen—most of them here. But now there’s fierce competition among scalpers. Some are selling below MSRP, claiming bulk orders. I’m not going to believe that. The Ryzen 5600 looks great, but I’ll wait until the Zen 4 launch to grab it at better prices. But here’s the deal: I don’t plan to future-proof this system beyond the GPU and PSU. (I need DDR5, Zen 4, PCIe Gen 5 and AM5 right away.) The motherboard is a concern. I don’t want to invest in a Ryzen 3000 and fall behind by two generations. I’m determined to get a Ryzen 5000—I’m okay with an older chipset if it means saving money. (Don’t worry about IO or PCIe Gen 4, I’ll sell this soon for something better.) But those older chipsets need a BIOS update. Only the ones without flashback are worth the premium, and even then, the B550 boards are too expensive. I’m fine with buying a B550 if it works, but an AM5 won’t cut it because of compatibility issues. So here’s my choice: should I opt for an older chipset board with a flashback upgrade (even if it costs a bit more), or should I go for a newer B550 board and accept that it’ll become outdated in a few years?
In my opinion, it depends on how much time you intend to use it before upgrading or changing it. Personally, I rarely upgrade hardware except for the GPU. I recently purchased a newer chipset and got the MSI B550m Mortar, which offers a BIOS flash button and fits well in the motherboard tier list. If PCIe 4.0 becomes essential for significant performance improvements soon—similar to what happened with the 6500X—I’m already in a strong position and it might be easier to sell it within a year. This should be a factor if you plan to sell it soon.
You should verify the costs for Intel. The 12400F appears to be a great offer, and B660 boards are becoming more affordable in your area.