MOBO+CPU+(RAM) - 20K upgrade

Want to upgrade a PC which had upgrades earlier, so now want to upgrade mobo+CPU, don't want to spend more now on it as have primary powerful work pc (but never game on it)

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.' Vague answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work.)
Ans: Occasional Gaming and entertainment

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then please mention.
Ans: 20K + ~5K (if RAM can be done)

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: No

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Win 10

5. How much hard drive / solid-state drive space is needed?
Ans: None, will use existing

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention the screen size and resolution you prefer. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, then do mention the screen size and resolution of the monitor you have.
Ans: No

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy? i.e. which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: MOBO+CPU (already have 16GB DDR4 stick, corsair cxm750 PSU, 256SSD + 1TG HDD, GPU 3060ti)

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: This week, no hurry though

9. Have you ever built a desktop before? Or, will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Self

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Online is preferred

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: Want this config to be flexible so that can add things later like NVMe storage, more RAM .
Was looking into Ryzen 5600 (12K) and a decent motherboard with multiple m2 expansion slots, 4xDIMM slots however, any suggestions are fine as long as are in current budget. May add 16G RAM stick if need to extend budget.

5600 for 12k is an insane price. For mobo, consider this -
MSI B550 PRO VDH-10.5k
There was the Asus A520 TUF for about 7k, with 4 DIMM slots. But it's out of stock in most of the websites. Consider checking it in offline stores as well.

If you're PC already has 16GB of ram in dual channel, there's no need for an upgrade IMO.

Or consider this Intel combo-
i3 12100F-9k
Any H610 mobo- 7k
If gaming is your main priority and unless you plan on gaming at 1440p or max settings/ray tracing, i wouldn't recommend this.

Also, what's your current mobo+CPU?

C

Ricky said:
Want to upgrade a PC which had upgrades earlier, so now want to upgrade mobo+CPU, don't want to spend more now on it as have primary powerful work pc (but never game on it)

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Be exact. Which games? Which applications? Avoid the word 'et cetera.' Vague answers like 'gaming' or 'office work' will not work.)
Ans: Occasional Gaming and entertainment

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then please mention.
Ans: 20K + ~5K (if RAM can be done)

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: No

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Win 10

5. How much hard drive / solid-state drive space is needed?
Ans: None, will use existing

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention the screen size and resolution you prefer. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, then do mention the screen size and resolution of the monitor you have.
Ans: No

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy? i.e. which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans: MOBO+CPU (already have 16GB DDR4 stick, corsair cxm750 PSU, 256SSD + 1TG HDD, GPU 3060ti)

8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: This week, no hurry though

9. Have you ever built a desktop before? Or, will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: Self

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Online is preferred

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: Want this config to be flexible so that can add things later like NVMe storage, more RAM .
Was looking into Ryzen 5600 (12K) and a decent motherboard with multiple m2 expansion slots, 4xDIMM slots however, any suggestions are fine as long as are in current budget. May add 16G RAM stick if need to extend budget.

12k for 5600x..used or new,. If new then where.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

DestGod said:
5600 for 12k is an insane price.

Is that so, oh mine, I can't find it anymore, should have already ordered.

chetansha said:
12k for 5600x..used or new,. If new then where.

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

They are talking about non X variant. Don't remember when was the last time I saw it in the listing.

Ricky said:
Is that so, oh mine, I can't find it anymore, should have already ordered.

It's alright, it usually retails around 15k normally. Again, if gaming isn't a main priority, then the i3 12100F or even the Ryzen 5 5500 is a good option. There is no difference between these 3 CPUs in simple and everyday tasks. Even in gaming, the i3 and Ryzen 5 5500 are still formidable.
In the Intel side, a con with H610 motherboards is that they only come with 2 DIMM slots (this isn't a big deal for few). A B660 motherboard (Gigabyte B660 DS3H) will add another 3-4k to the cost.

From AMD, the Ryzen 5 5500 is on par with the i3 12100F in gaming. The upper hand it has over the i3 12100F is it's 2 extra cores. But the Ryzen 5 5600 comfortably beats all three. So prioritize your usage and make a pick.

Gaming is priority here as already have work pc. I heard that for gaming, single core rating should be high, here i3 12100F has 3518 while Ryzen 5600x has 3355 and price difference is almost half. On the other hand R5 5500 has 6 cores but single core is only 3045.
Sadly instead of buying R5 5600, its better to buy R5600x as both are priced almost similar online.

Basically decent thing like R5 5600x+ Mobo like MSI B550 PRO VDH will cost around 28K, above my budget. But if I decide go for it, where to buy?
Elitehub is giving R5 5600 for about 14800, are they reliable ? Have used Vedantcomputers, itdepot, mdcomputers, primeabgb, ezpz but never heard of elitehub, any other reliable source ?

Also, any thought about TPStech, they are selling Asus A520 TUF

Ricky said:
Gaming is priority here as already have work pc. I heard that for gaming, single core rating should be high, here i3 12100F has 3518 while Ryzen 5600x has 3355 and price difference is almost half. On the other hand R5 5500 has 6 cores but single core is only 3045.
Sadly instead of buying R5 5600, its better to buy R5600x as both are priced almost similar online.

Basically decent thing like R5 5600x+ Mobo like MSI B550 PRO VDH will cost around 28K, above my budget. But if I decide go for it, where to buy?
Elitehub is giving R5 5600 for about 14800, are they reliable ? Have used Vedantcomputers, itdepot, mdcomputers, primeabgb, ezpz but never heard of elitehub, any other reliable source ?

Also, any thought about TPStech, they are selling Asus A520 TUF

Don't bother looking at the single thread performance, they rarely tell anything. Instead, look up for benchmarks with your GPU and to be CPU.

This will give an idea of how it performs. As mentioned earlier, 5500 trades blows with the 12100f in gaming.

Ok, what about Elitehubs, is that reliable to shop from? and also tpstech.in ?

Ricky said:
Ok, what about Elitehubs, is that reliable to shop from? and also tpstech.in ?

I've personally never used these websites. From what I've heard, elitehubs is better for buying peripherals. Be careful, these websites do not have the best return policy.
@whitestar_999 , @TheSloth , @Zangetsu ,@omega44-xt , @SaiyanGoku , have any of you used these websites?

W

DestGod said:
From what I've heard, elitehubs is better for buying peripherals. Be careful, these websites do not have the best return policy.

I have also heard good things about elitehubs & as for return policy I think unless you are extremely unlucky(in which case ordering from amazon/flipkart won't help either) & ordering as per correct system specs(many ppl on amazon/fk order technically incompatible products because of poor knowledge/misleading product description) then there shouldn't be any issue. In worst case scenario you should still get a brand new replacement from authorized service centre for mobo/processor/ram/ssd/psu.

W

Ricky said:
Ok, what about Elitehubs, is that reliable to shop from? and also tpstech.in ?

Just fyi, tpstech is one of the biggest sellers of pc components on amazon outside of amazon own seller appario retail.

*www.amazon.in/s?i=merchant-items&me=AJRK4JF48YXA

Ricky said:
Ok, what about Elitehubs, is that reliable to shop from? and also tpstech.in ?

Elitehubs seems quite popular now because of their recent sales. It is good and reliable as per feedback on IndianGaming subreddit and discord channel. I think Omega also bought few components from there. Just make sure you record your unboxing of each component without any cut of video or taking the product out of frame even once. These things help a lot for replacements. Refund from these sites wont be smooth like Amazon. Same story is for every major online retailer.

DestGod said:
I've personally never used these websites. From what I've heard, elitehubs is better for buying peripherals. Be careful, these websites do not have the best return policy.
@whitestar_999 , @TheSloth , @Zangetsu ,@omega44-xt , @SaiyanGoku , have any of you used these websites?

I had positive experience with Elitehubs a year ago. Heard TPS tech is reputed as well. All is well till you receive a problematic product, hence make unboxing video.

Alright, that was helpful, I also saw mostly positive things about tpstech and elitehub.
Will now get back to the original subject, so there is nothing decent for gaming unless I stretch budget for 25K only for mobo+cpu. :unsure:

Ricky said:
Alright, that was helpful, I also saw mostly positive things about tpstech and elitehub.
Will now get back to the original subject, so there is nothing decent for gaming unless I stretch budget for 25K only for mobo+cpu.

A520 + Ryzen 5 5600 is still an option. It has only 1 M.2 slot for storage, so that might be a problem for you. But if you've got a 144hz 1080p/1440p monitor, the i3 12100F + H610 is also viable. 3060 ti can easily pull upto 144 fps (even beyond this as well) on 1080p and clears any CPU bottleneck at 1440p. Since you mentioned that your PC was solely for gaming, I would suggest the i3 combo, or the 5600 combo if you're willing to spend extra.

An insight of what games you plan on playing would be good.

W

DestGod said:
A520 + Ryzen 5 5600 is still an option.

It is generally not recommended to pair an entry tier mobo with a mid tier processor especially because of inferior VRMs on mobo which won't be able to support max performance of processor resulting in not getting your money's worth.

DestGod said:
A520

No, just no.

whitestar_999 said:
inferior VRMs

Wrong. The 5600 is only a 70w TDP chip, and any motherboard with a decent heatsink is capable of running it without any VRM throttling. Besides, VRMs are capable of withstanding upto 100 deg C loads (125w chips). Not that it will ever happen with this motherboard anyway. I've seen people pair 5900xs with this mobo.

whitestar_999 said:
max performance of processor

.

SaiyanGoku said:
No, just no.

Let me guess, after seeing the word A520, you pictured the crappiest motherboard you could, that came with 2 DIMM slots, no VRM heatsink and no proper IO. Lmao. Why not call B550 motherboards trash as well? They have their own share of these motherboards.

If you had even bothered to read earlier posts in this thread, you'll notice that I mentioned the Asus TUF A520-Plus. Go look it up.

Ricky said:
Alright, that was helpful, I also saw mostly positive things about tpstech and elitehub.
Will now get back to the original subject, so there is nothing decent for gaming unless I stretch budget for 25K only for mobo+cpu.

Considering you have an excellent GPU, just get R5 5600 (15k) + MSI B550M Pro VDH WiFi (10k) + 16GB RAM (5k). It is nice to have extra RAM & M.2 slots + other ports.

Ok, some were saying that should go for mid-level mobo, what about this one :

*elitehubs.com/msi-x570-a-pro-motherboard/?variant=15125

Also, the link I shared for Asus is now sold out, ASUS TUF Gaming A520M-Plus AMD AM4 Micro-ATX Motherboard with DDR4 4800MHz and USB 3.2 Gen 2
Probably like 5600 deal at about 12K, I missed this also

Ricky said:
Ok, some were saying that should go for mid-level mobo, what about this one :

*elitehubs.com/msi-x570-a-pro-motherboard/?variant=15125

Also, the link I shared for Asus is now sold out, ASUS TUF Gaming A520M-Plus AMD AM4 Micro-ATX Motherboard with DDR4 4800MHz and USB 3.2 Gen 2
Probably like 5600 deal at about 12K, I missed this also

Overkill motherboard. Really, you do not need much features for a gaming build. Also, won't it go way beyond your budget?

IMO, if you feel that budget is holding you back, leave the memory upgrade for another day.
Consider the Asrock B550 Phantom Gaming as well. It costs 8k, so 2k less than the B550 Pro vdh. For that 2k, you do lose a BIOS flashback button and Wifi.

What about brand preference, people say that Asus is better than MSI than its Asrock then Gigabyte, if I buy ASrock, is it bad ?

DestGod said:
Overkill motherboard. Really, you do not need much features for a gaming build. Also, won't it go way beyond your budget?

IMO, if you feel that budget is holding you back, leave the memory upgrade for another day.
Consider the Asrock B550 Phantom Gaming as well. It costs 8k, so 2k less than the B550 Pro vdh. For that 2k, you do lose a BIOS flashback button and Wifi.

+1
R5 5600/X + MSI B550M Pro VDH WiFi is more than enough, can even handle 5700X in a good cabinet w/o OC. Add RAM later.

Ricky said:
What about brand preference, people say that Asus is better than MSI than its Asrock then Gigabyte, if I buy ASrock, is it bad ?

I will rate it as Asus, MSI, Gigabyte & AsRock, in that order, but also depends on prices, specific model & deals. I'm myself using Gigabyte because of a great deal I got on the mobo. You can find an Asus mobo priced similar to MSI but performing inferior (just a scenario). Check mobo VRM testing by Hardware unboxed if you are curious, but the MSI B550M Pro VDH WiFi has almost everything that most people need.

Ricky said:
What about brand preference, people say that Asus is better than MSI than its Asrock then Gigabyte, if I buy ASrock, is it bad ?

It's not that Asrock is bad, it's just that they get overshadowed by the other brands. Additionally, Asrock has consistently managed to get in trouble each year, with the most recent being the DDR5 sticker controversy. But the B550 PG is still a decent board.

Btw, could you answer these questions?
1. What games do you plan on playing and on what resolution and settings?

2. List your entire system specs, with the model and name of every single part. Include fans, case, PSU, current CPU and motherboard, storage and everything inside. All play a big part in what you buy now.

3. What is your current monitor?

If you still haven't decided on what buy, then trust me when I say this, we could all be here for months unless you answer these questions.

DestGod said:
It's not that Asrock is bad, it's just that they get overshadowed by the other brands. Additionally, Asrock has consistently managed to get in trouble each year, with the most recent being the DDR5 sticker controversy. But the B550 PG is still a decent board.

Btw, could you answer these questions?
1. What games do you plan on playing and on what resolution and settings?

2. List your entire system specs, with the model and name of every single part. Include fans, case, PSU, current CPU and motherboard, storage and everything inside. All play a big part in what you buy now.

3. What is your current monitor?

If you still haven't decided on what buy, then trust me when I say this, we could all be here for months unless you answer these questions.

This is what I have currently :
PSU: Corsair 750 CXM
RAM : HyperX Fury 8GB CL15 2400Mhz (Just realized, its not 16GB)
GPU : Zotac 3060Ti
Case : Corsair spec 01 with its stock fan
SSD : Adata SP580 premier 240GB
Monitor : Acer ED242QR 23.6” Full HD VA Panel Curved

I may add ultrawide monitor somewhere later, 29inch or 34inch.

For games, I really don't know yet, will use steam and try few, but expecting that current or some future titles should run fine at decent settings if not max.

On the other hand MSI X570 A Pro would be wastage, just wondering what is target user of such boards if B550 boards are getting job done most of the time.

Ricky said:
This is what I have currently :
PSU: Corsair 750 CXM
RAM : HyperX Fury 8GB CL15 2400Mhz (Just realized, its not 16GB)
GPU : Zotac 3060Ti
Case : Corsair spec 01 with its stock fan
SSD : Adata SP580 premier 240GB
Monitor : Acer ED242QR 23.6” Full HD VA Panel Curved

I may add ultrawide monitor somewhere later, 29inch or 34inch.

For games, I really don't know yet, will use steam and try few, but expecting that current or some future titles should run fine at decent settings if not max.

On the other hand MSI X570 A Pro would be wastage, just wondering what is target user of such boards if B550 boards are getting job done most of the time.

You need to buy 2 new RAM sticks, 2400MHz is a huge bottleneck. IF you have financial constraints, do upgrade in parts.

New CPU + mobo is a must buy, as suggested earlier, R5 5600 + B550 or i5 12400 + B660.

RAM - 2x 8GB DDR4 3600MHz CL18 (2x 16GB RAM if you want, get rid of 2400MHz one when you make this upgrade)

Buy a few Arctic P12 fan for the case & monitor temps.

Monitor - Buy a 27" 1440p 144Hz monitor later after the previous upgrades are done. Current monitor isn't great colour or response time wise, so needs an upgrade.

3060Ti is a solid 1440p GPU.

X570 is for overclockers mainly, people who use Ryzen 9 CPUs. Even R7 users can save a bit by not opting for X570. X570S has 3x M.2 slots.

Ricky said:
This is what I have currently :
PSU: Corsair 750 CXM
RAM : HyperX Fury 8GB CL15 2400Mhz (Just realized, its not 16GB)
GPU : Zotac 3060Ti
Case : Corsair spec 01 with its stock fan
SSD : Adata SP580 premier 240GB
Monitor : Acer ED242QR 23.6” Full HD VA Panel Curved

I may add ultrawide monitor somewhere later, 29inch or 34inch.

For games, I really don't know yet, will use steam and try few, but expecting that current or some future titles should run fine at decent settings if not max.

On the other hand MSI X570 A Pro would be wastage, just wondering what is target user of such boards if B550 boards are getting job done most of the time.

Yikes, as mentioned above, you really might want to upgrade most of your other parts as well. Performance can be severely impacted with your current build.

My suggestions would be these 2-
1. i3 12100F+Gigabyte B660 DS3H+2x8GB DDR4 Memory
2. Ryzen 5 5600 + Asrock B550 Phantom/MSI B550 PRO VDH

Both of these come within your current budget. At 1440p with the 3060 Ti, there won't be any noticeable performance difference between these 2, maybe 5-10 fps max. So take your pick.

Also, additional tip, don't try to pair any new memory/RAM kits with your existing Hyperx stick. It would be better to sell the Hyperx stick after getting new RAM.

DestGod said:
Yikes, as mentioned above, you really might want to upgrade most of your other parts as well. Performance can be severely impacted with your current build.

My suggestions would be these 2-
1. i3 12100F+Gigabyte B660 DS3H+2x8GB DDR4 Memory
2. Ryzen 5 5600 + Asrock B550 Phantom/MSI B550 PRO VDH

Both of these come within your current budget. At 1440p with the 3060 Ti, there won't be any noticeable performance difference between these 2, maybe 5-10 fps max. So take your pick.

Also, additional tip, don't try to pair any new memory/RAM kits with your existing Hyperx stick. It would be better to sell the Hyperx stick after getting new RAM.

Ya, I understand that existing RAM is useless hence will get 16G stick now and will add another 16G later.
Others I guess are fine for now, aren't they ?

May be it can have its own dedicated discussion ie. TDP and VRM thing.

For now I have finalized 5600x, that would mean that my spending would be 50% more than initial budget (about ~30K now including RAM stick). Now mobo has to be decided, I think will go for 15K board alone (since budget is already fucked up), what would be suggestions now ?

W

Ricky said:
May be it can have its own dedicated discussion ie. TDP and VRM thing.

For now I have finalized 5600x, that would mean that my spending would be 50% more than initial budget (about ~30K now including RAM stick). Now mobo has to be decided, I think will go for 15K board alone (since budget is already fucked up), what would be suggestions now ?

Check the google spreadsheet link in below reddit thread, you will find lots of options & info based on solid research & testing to help you decide.

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/syu5tp

This was long read but guy from that reddit post, he is going against his own suggestions about features and then later suggesting don't buy things you don't need.
Here thing is that there are lots of perks but I am more interested in reliability part. Already ordered R5 5600x, and going by this read, should go for more feature like more x16 slots, more m2 slots etc. you then use them in future. How are B550 plus boards ?

Ricky said:
This was long read but guy from that reddit post, he is going against his own suggestions about features and then later suggesting don't buy things you don't need.
Here thing is that there are lots of perks but I am more interested in reliability part. Already ordered R5 5600x, and going by this read, should go for more feature like more x16 slots, more m2 slots etc. you then use them in future. How are B550 plus boards ?

Leave that post aside. There are more reputable YouTube channels that provide far better content, like Hardware unboxed and Gamers nexus. They explain what features you need and what you dont. If you're curious about the feature set of a motherboard, type in its name and watch reviews of it on YT.
Ex: Hardware unboxed does a quick overview of the MSI B550 PRO VDH here-

Ricky said:
This was long read but guy from that reddit post, he is going against his own suggestions about features and then later suggesting don't buy things you don't need.
Here thing is that there are lots of perks but I am more interested in reliability part. Already ordered R5 5600x, and going by this read, should go for more feature like more x16 slots, more m2 slots etc. you then use them in future. How are B550 plus boards ?

IMO MSI B550M Pro VDH WiFi is enough for most people for CPU upto 5800X3D & 5700X (w/o OC). Can save a decent money that can be put towards say an additional RAM or maybe purchasing 32GB instead of 16GB. Just get a tower style cooler & you can even OC 5600X on that mobo.