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Should I consider X3D/x870?

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Mar 31, 2012
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System Name SIGSEGV
Processor AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
Motherboard MSI MEG ACE X670E
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Benchmark Scores i dont care about scores
It's an exciting time to upgrade. I want to upgrade my 2700X and pick a non-X3D version of the 9950X with 870X.
Is it worth waiting for 9950X3D rumoured to be seen early next year? I mostly use it for AI modelling/working and light gaming.
Or pick 7950X3D? Do I also have to wait for the x870 motherboard? or pick x670 right away.

Thanks.
 
There's always a risk when early adopting stuff, especially since you mainly use your PC for work so stability is crucial here.

If you need something RN, 7950X3D is the way to go.

If you can hold on to what you've got, there will be ARL in Q4 so read/watch reviews and see what's best for you.

ARL vs Z5X3D, exciting times for sure.
 
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The only major update is more boards supporting usb4 but some X670E boards already have it so I'd say probably not worth waiting unless you are waiting for a 9950X3D.

The 7950X3D if you can get it for 475 usd ish is fantastic but you will need to use process lasso to get the most out of it for gaming this may be fixed with the 9950X3D but that's probably a long wait to know for sure.

In the majority of stuff with the latest bios/chipset drivers it's great out of the box.

7950X vs 9950X is probably worth waiting out. Assuming a 200 ish usd price difference the extra MT/ST could be worth it especially if you are going to make money or are doing time sensitive task with it.

I'd wait for 9950X benchmarks regardless pricing on older parts should be similar or possibly cheaper when it launches.

Until amd announces launch pricing it's hard to make any recommendations till all the information is on the table.
 
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I want to upgrade my 2700X
You can also get a 5950X with just a BIOS update.

And when 9950X3D becomes available, compare that to the Arrow Lake Core Ultra 9 285K (not official naming) to see which platform provides the best value for you.
 
If you want a platform swap, go for a 9950X non-3D. X3D is gimmicky on Ryzen 9 segment, unless AMD releases a dual-CCD X3D instead of the gimped crap we got with Zen 4. Otherwise buy yourself a 5900XT or 5950X (both are 16-core) Zen 3's for your existing motherboard.
 
If you want a platform swap, go for a 9950X non-3D. X3D is gimmicky on Ryzen 9 segment, unless AMD releases a dual-CCD X3D instead of the gimped crap we got with Zen 4. Otherwise buy yourself a 5900XT or 5950X (both are 16-core) Zen 3's for your existing motherboard.
Meanwhile in the real world
 
You can also get a 5950X with just a BIOS update.

And when 9950X3D becomes available, compare that to the Arrow Lake Core Ultra 9 285K (not official naming) to see which platform provides the best value for you.
The downside of getting a 5950X is it makes it harder to justify splurging later on 7950X or 9950X if 5950X already meets all your needs and makes you happy. I think this might be part of the reason for the price reduction with these newer chips as older 16 core users need a more compelling reason to upgrade and lower prices are the bait.
 
if 5950X meets all your needs.
I'd say, all the better.

Why spend more if the drop-in 5950X is able to meet all your needs?

That way, you can wait and see how the situation (ARL vs Z5X3D) unfolds.

Maybe the Arrow Lake platform proves to be the better investment or the Z5X3D top SKU provides the best overall experience.

We're close to the new HW launches by both teams so it's best to wait it out, if possible that is.
 
It's an exciting time to upgrade. I want to upgrade my 2700X and pick a non-X3D version of the 9950X with 870X.
Is it worth waiting for 9950X3D rumoured to be seen early next year? I mostly use it for AI modelling/working and light gaming.
Or pick 7950X3D? Do I also have to wait for the x870 motherboard? or pick x670 right away.

Thanks.
Just a thought. Get a good current AM5 platform motherboard now (if USB4 isn't important to you) with a 7600x which will already be something like 40% uplift over what you have now and enjoy interim happiness. Then wait it out for 9950x/9950X3D (and eventual bug fixes) and you will have a CPU in hand to do the supporting UEFI/BIOS update, swap CPU's, then sell off the 7600x to recoup some of the cost.

Quick comparison
 
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Just a thought. Get a good current AM5 platform motherboard now (if USB4 isn't important to you) with a 7600x which will already be something like 40% uplift over what you have now and enjoy interim happiness. Then wait it out for 9950x/9950X3D (and eventual bug fixes) and you will have a CPU in hand to do the supporting UEFI/BIOS update, swap CPU's, then sell off the 7600x to recoup some of the cost.

There are am5 boards with usb 4 the B650E Taichi lite is awesome and includes it.... I wish I'd gotten it for free instead of my Aorus Pro X lol.
 
There are am5 boards with usb 4 the B650E Taichi lite is awesome and includes it.... I wish I'd gotten it for free instead of my Aorus Pro X lol.
Here is great example of why X670E is better than the new boards.

Screenshot 2024-07-31 195124.png
 
Here is great example of why X670E is better than the new boards.

View attachment 357138
It's so dreamy. Finally wifi antennas that have some decent distance between them for antenna positioning yet sadly no dual display port. Always 1 HDMI + 1DP - why? Asus WHY? :banghead:
 
Meanwhile in the real world

Are you going to make this yet another thread where you embellish your unique, supremely performant 7900X3D?

I'd say, all the better.

Why spend more if the drop-in 5950X is able to meet all your needs?

That way, you can wait and see how the situation (ARL vs Z5X3D) unfolds.

Maybe the Arrow Lake platform proves to be the better investment or the Z5X3D top SKU provides the best overall experience.

We're close to the new HW launches by both teams so it's best to wait it out, if possible that is.

Agreed. The Zen 3 chip is affordable and will buy OP a considerable amount of time, as well as leave them with a very nice backup system for future usage. I'd buy the CPU for this board regardless, if budget allows.
 
Coming from a 2700X you could probably make the jump to a 5900X at a good price and call it done.
I'm still on a 3600 and X570 pairing but don't feel any real pressure to upgrade at any point.
If future games and apps start behaving like Mothergunship then I'll have a problem but for now it's a non-starter.
If I needed to jump to AM5 then I would look at all the entry level 7000 and 9000 series chips. They're all good.
No idea what board features would go best with them though. I'm not really the type that needs lots of cards, just tons of PCI-E lanes.
 
GamerNexus has a recent video of comparing Zen+/Zen2 to the latest. Some games (1080/1440p) and multitasking.

I’d say that going from 2700X to 5950X the gain is +50% at games and way more than double on multi.

A 7600X has more performance on games than 5950X but less on multi. Still though way better than 2700X.

The X3D versions on any series is really for gaming and if it’s the primary tasking of the PC then it’s worth waiting and/or upgrading to one.

 
The 5900X (12C24T) is a great choice, for sure. It has got ~80% of the 5950X's MT performance and it's around 80 EUR cheaper.

The 5800X and the 5700X are good options as well, if you're on a budget.
 
Thanks for your valuable input.
I will take this route: buy a decent x670 and wait for 9950X.
The question is, what motherboard is classified as decent?
Gigabyte Extreme? Asus Crosshair Hero? Asrock?
 
Thanks for your valuable input.
I will take this route: buy a decent x670 and wait for 9950X.
The question is, what motherboard is classified as decent?
Gigabyte Extreme? Asus Crosshair Hero? Asrock?
The one that suit your needs and that it doesn't have crappy components like weak VRMs and such.
I would say that most 650s are suitable for 99% of users
 
The one that suit your needs and that it doesn't have crappy components like weak VRMs and such.
I would say that most 650s are suitable for 99% of users
How do we know such motherboards have crappy components?
Of course, I would avoid motherboards with weak VRMs at all costs.
 
Look at the Features offered by the Asrock B650E Taichi light I doubt anything more expensive offers anything meaningful it also has a better vrm than the majority of boards.

As far as high end X670E boards just buy one that offers all the features you need none of them will have bad VRMs so it really just comes down to what else you are looking at. USB count/type, wifi standard, ethernet speed.

I've worked with mostly Gigabyte and Asus Am5 boards both are fine haven't had any major issues with either other than memory needing to be manually set back in the early bios days most are fine out of the box now.

Asrock seems to have the best boot times of any of the boards I've worked with if that matters. I'd pick the X670E Tachi over either of the ones you have listed but really the B650E variant already offers a ton for the money with the Lite version the regular version is too expensive might as well go with the X670E variant but really the only major difference is RGB/aesthetics

Msi has some solid options starting around the X670E Carbon.

Your really going to need to split hairs to put one board over the other at around 400 usd or more its why I like the Taichi lite so much it really looks like a 400 usd board with all the BS RGB striped from it.
 
Thank you.
I do apologise. I won't consider using Intel at all despite their performance being 100% better than AMD.
I am not an AMD fanboy but I just have personal views on this matter.

If you don't mind me asking, what are your reasons for not considering Intel?

Also you probably meant "even if" instead of "despite". Right now they're pretty even, just that the 13/14th gen aren't stable.

I would recommend getting a used 5950X to tide you over till the end of the year when X670E motherboards become cheaper and X870's are out too so you'll have more options. Prior gens should become cheaper after 9xxx launch, but I doubt 5950X will change much in price so you won't incur much depreciation either. Just my 2c
 
How do we know such motherboards have crappy components?
Of course, I would avoid motherboards with weak VRMs at all costs.
Techspot has a recent roundup of most b650 motherboards. Anything that stayed below 90c and had no throttling should be fine from a VRM standpoint.
 
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