Is new rig good enough?

[Vrackie81]

Well its been five years since I built my first gaming PC. Things have changed. A LOT!

Furious researching eventually led me to a Ryzen 5 3600 (Non-X), 16 GB of Corsair Vengeance 3000 RAM and an ASUS TUF gaming Plus B450 mobo. I also bought a 24" MSI Optix G24 curved gaming monitor with 75 GHz refresh, 1 ms response and AMD Freesync which I paired with a Powercolor Red Dragon V2 RX 580.

Having read SOOOOO many reviews it seemed clear the GPU and monitor specs were closely linked for optimal performance. In that I had a low mid-range GPU (but very capable CPU) so no point in investing in a 144 refresh or 4K monitor. I plan to game at 1080p as a very simple, yet effective, blog showed me that there was no point investing in 4K or 1440p based on the desk space and chair-to-screen distance. I'm glad I did as the monitor display is SUPERB and fits snugly into my gaming positioning.

To clarify. My old rig was a Xeon E3 1230 V2 (beast of a chip and quite rare in that it worked for gaming!) and HD 7850 gpu with 8gb 1600 RAM. So my new specs were in a different league! I'm not interested in overclocking or benchmarks. I just needed a decent 1080p rig.

Feeling quite overwhelmed (but excited) at all the developments in hardware! The PC hardware landscape has changed beyond recognition and decisions seem harder to make?

HOWEVER....Is my spec good for 2020 and beyond, or, have a hobbled myself in someway already!?!

 

[Vrackie81]

Well its been five years since I built my first gaming PC. Things have changed. A LOT!

I had a Xeon E3 1230 V2 with HD 7850 2gb gpu and 8gb 1600 RAM. It was past time for an upgrade!

Furious researching eventually led me to a Ryzen 5 3600 (Non-X), 16 GB of Corsair Vengeance 3000 RAM and an ASUS TUF gaming Plus B450 mobo. I also bought a 24" MSI Optix G24 curved gaming monitor with 75 GHz refresh, 1 ms response and AMD Freesync which I paired with a Powercolor Red Dragon V2 RX 580.

Having read SOOOOO many reviews it seemed clear the GPU and monitor specs were closely linked for optimal performance. In that I had a low mid-range GPU (but very capable CPU) so no point in investing in a 144 refresh or 4K monitor. I plan to game at 1080p as a very simple, yet effective, blog showed me that there was no point investing in 4K or 1440p based on the desk space and chair-to-screen distance. I'm glad I did as the monitor display is SUPERB and fits snugly into my gaming positioning.

Feeling quite overwhelmed (but excited) at all the developments in hardware! The PC hardware landscape has changed beyond recognition and decisions seem harder to make?

HOWEVER....Is my spec good for 2020 and beyond, or, have a hobbled myself in someway already!?!

 

[JR88]

Yeah its ok, should run some stuff in 1080p...its only a 580...and i wouldnt of gotten a B board, you should of gotten x470 or new x570. They got some better power delivery/vrms.

 

[Lutfij]

In a span of 24 hours you've made 3 threads on the same topic. Please refrain from multiple posting and stick to one thread. On top of that, be patient for responses.

 

[Vrackie81]

In a span of 24 hours you've made 3 threads on the same topic. Please refrain from multiple posting and stick to one thread. On top of that, be patient for responses.

First time on PC Gamer. When I posted it didn't look like it had taken and I've had problems with broadband (downloading Epic which took a few attempts) so I tried different, yet related forums.

However now I know this one has saved I'll delete others.

 

[Lutfij]

Just a quick tip when posting for advice with your build's specs and it's longevity, best list your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:

That way people can understand what can and cannot be upgraded. Every part in a system plays a role in bringing out a platform's potential.

 

[Vrackie81]

In a span of 24 hours you've made 3 threads on the same topic. Please refrain from multiple posting and stick to one thread. On top of that, be patient for responses.

Forum searches still only show ONE thread on General Hardware and nothing on Gaming. Is there a way to locate these? I can't see them.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

I've merged all three threads into one. You should be seeing another post just after the one you've deleted in this very thread.

 

[JC_Denton]

Welcome to the forums Vrackie81 🍻

Not a bad little set up your running. What storage and case did you go for?

 

[Rensje]

i wouldnt of gotten a B board, you should of gotten x470 or new x570. They got some better power delivery/vrms.

This is false. In actuality, the difference between B450 and X470 boards is that X470 supports SLI where B450 does not. It also has more SATA 6 and USB 3.0 connections, which you may or may not need. The quality of the VRMs is independent of the chipset, you can buy a B450 board with great VRMs just as easily as you can buy an X470 board with poor VRMs. If you're aiming for a lower price range, B450 is usually the way to go because cheaper X470 boards actually skimp on VRM quality and additional features to hit the price target.

@Vrackie81
Congrats on the new build, man! I am here to put your mind at ease and tell you that you should be all set for the year 2020 and beyond. The Asus TUF B450M-Plus Gaming is a decent and aesthetically pleasing board that should have no trouble powering your Ryzen 5 3600 chip. ASUS boards have a good BIOS and they tend to support their products well. Might I suggest you download their AI Suite software? This will allow you to, among other things, let your system figure out its own optimal fan profile for quieter operation.

Assuming you have a decent CPU cooler, you should turn on Precision Boost Overdrive and automatic overclocking either through the BIOS or using AMD's Ryzen Master software. This will let your processor perform to the best of its ability and it's both quicker and more efficient than doing a manual all-core overclock.

The RX 580 is still a great card in 2020, mainly because its 8GB of VRAM allows it to punch above its weight. Because of this, it can still compete with the GTX 1660 Super and 1660 Ti. The 1660 Super is the best value of the two and will perform anywhere from 5-25% faster than the RX 580 on average, but it's also anywhere from $50-100 more expensive than the RX 580. You might not be hitting 1080p60 on Ultra in all games with your card, but it's still a good deal.

I quite like your selection of monitor as well, but I think this is the one part where you could have done a little better in 2020. Please note that if you are hitting upwards of 75 FPS in games, your monitor's FreeSync functionality will no longer be engaged. Rather than turning on Vsync, I suggest using an FPS limiter to lock your max FPS in-game to 74 or 75. This way, your GPU won't needlessly render any frames your monitor can't display, and you will always be in FreeSync range for that sweet stutter-free experience.

Now, if you'll indulge the ol' hardware enthusiast in me, here's a few potential upgrade paths you could pursue in the future to keep your rig up to date. I'll list them in the order that I think makes the most sense.

1. A year or two from now, you will likely want to look at getting a better graphics card. AMD is just now launching its new RX 5600 (XT) line, which is aimed at 1080p60 gaming on Ultra settings. I don't know what the future holds, but either that or Nvidia's follow-up to the GTX 1660 Super could be great places to start. You could also look at the used market and go a little bigger, think RX 5700 XT or RTX 2070 Super.
2. Once you have a new graphics card, you might want to upgrade that monitor. The one I linked to would be a great upgrade and provide you with buttery smooth 100+ FPS goodness. Alternatively, you could look at bumping that resolution up a bit to 1440p for some added detail in games. This depends on the kinds of games that you like to play.
3. If you decide to pursue higher framerates, your processor will need to be able to keep up. 3rd gen Ryzen likes fast RAM and the sweet spot is about 3600Mhz. Consider upgrading your memory to 3600Mhz sticks next, preferably 16GB at CL16 or CL18 speeds. This will help your processor push out more frames. This is less important if you are going the resolution rather than FPS route.
4. Finally, waaaay down the line you could look at upgrading the processor to one with a higher core and thread count. Starting with the launch of the new gaming consoles at the tail end of 2020, it's likely that multiplatform games will get better at using every core of your CPU evenly, and scaling across all cores will improve dramatically. This change isn't going to happen overnight, though. The Ryzen 5 3600 should serve your needs for a few years to come. The beauty of the AM4 platform is that you probably won't need to buy a new motherboard in the future; a BIOS update should suffice to guarantee compatibility with newer Ryzen chips.

Enjoy that rig man, it's going to serve you well! Could we get some pictures of it over in the Setup topic?

 

[Zoid]

@Rensje made a super thorough post that covers most of what you need to know. I will just chime in to give you some extra peace of mind.

This is false. In actuality, the difference between B450 and X470 boards is that X470 supports SLI where B450 does not. It also has more SATA 6 and USB 3.0 connections, which you may or may not need. The quality of the VRMs is independent of the chipset, you can buy a B450 board with great VRMs just as easily as you can buy an X470 board with poor VRMs. If you're aiming for a lower price range, B450 is usually the way to go because cheaper X470 boards actually skimp on VRM quality and additional features to hit the price target.

This is correct. X-series boards are not categorically better than B-series boards, they just have the more feature-rich (and expensive) X-series chipsets. The only additional difference from what Rensje said is that X-series boards support PCIe 4.0, but unless you are chasing super fast SSD transfer speeds or wanting to use the next generation of top-end enthusiast GPUs then you won't need that bandwidth during the life of your computer.

I am running a B450 board and it is perfectly capable of driving my 3800X to its full potential.

Assuming you have a decent CPU cooler, you should turn on Precision Boost Overdrive and automatic overclocking either through the BIOS or using AMD's Ryzen Master software.

The boxed cooler that comes with your R5 3600 should be adequate for running PBO, provided your case has decent airflow. Just monitor your temps and upgrade the cooler later if needed.

The RX 580 is still a great card in 2020, mainly because its 8GB of VRAM allows it to punch above its weight. Because of this, it can still compete with the GTX 1660 Super and 1660 Ti.

I agree, the 580 is a capable card at 1080p. Depending on your location and the local used parts market, you can always consider going used for your GPU. There's always a certain amount of risk involved, but if you're willing to search the used market then you can sometimes make your way into the next teir of GPUs for the same price.

If you decide to pursue higher framerates, your processor will need to be able to keep up. 3rd gen Ryzen likes fast RAM and the sweet spot is about 3600Mhz. Consider upgrading your memory to 3600Mhz sticks next, preferably 16GB at CL16 or CL18 speeds. This will help your processor push out more frames. This is less important if you are going the resolution rather than FPS route.

Check out this RAM, which is solid 3600MHz memory and very affordable. If you aren't scared of some tweaking in the BIOS then you can use this Ryzen DRAM Calculator to gain some extra performance. On my system I was able to gain about an 8% CPU performance boost from tweaking memory timing, which is a lot considering it's absolutely free.


Best of luck with your build!

 

[JR88]

This is false. In actuality, the difference between B450 and X470 boards is that X470 supports SLI where B450 does not. It also has more SATA 6 and USB 3.0 connections, which you may or may not need. The quality of the VRMs is independent of the chipset, you can buy a B450 board with great VRMs just as easily as you can buy an X470 board with poor VRMs. If you're aiming for a lower price range, B450 is usually the way to go because cheaper X470 boards actually skimp on VRM quality and additional features to hit the price target.

@Vrackie81
Congrats on the new build, man! I am here to put your mind at ease and tell you that you should be all set for the year 2020 and beyond. The Asus TUF B450M-Plus Gaming is a decent and aesthetically pleasing board that should have no trouble powering your Ryzen 5 3600 chip. ASUS boards have a good BIOS and they tend to support their products well. Might I suggest you download their AI Suite software? This will allow you to, among other things, let your system figure out its own optimal fan profile for quieter operation.

Assuming you have a decent CPU cooler, you should turn on Precision Boost Overdrive and automatic overclocking either through the BIOS or using AMD's Ryzen Master software. This will let your processor perform to the best of its ability and it's both quicker and more efficient than doing a manual all-core overclock.

The RX 580 is still a great card in 2020, mainly because its 8GB of VRAM allows it to punch above its weight. Because of this, it can still compete with the GTX 1660 Super and 1660 Ti. The 1660 Super is the best value of the two and will perform anywhere from 5-25% faster than the RX 580 on average, but it's also anywhere from $50-100 more expensive than the RX 580. You might not be hitting 1080p60 on Ultra in all games with your card, but it's still a good deal.

I quite like your selection of monitor as well, but I think this is the one part where you could have done a little better in 2020. Please note that if you are hitting upwards of 75 FPS in games, your monitor's FreeSync functionality will no longer be engaged. Rather than turning on Vsync, I suggest using an FPS limiter to lock your max FPS in-game to 74 or 75. This way, your GPU won't needlessly render any frames your monitor can't display, and you will always be in FreeSync range for that sweet stutter-free experience.

Now, if you'll indulge the ol' hardware enthusiast in me, here's a few potential upgrade paths you could pursue in the future to keep your rig up to date. I'll list them in the order that I think makes the most sense.

1. A year or two from now, you will likely want to look at getting a better graphics card. AMD is just now launching its new RX 5600 (XT) line, which is aimed at 1080p60 gaming on Ultra settings. I don't know what the future holds, but either that or Nvidia's follow-up to the GTX 1660 Super could be great places to start. You could also look at the used market and go a little bigger, think RX 5700 XT or RTX 2070 Super.
2. Once you have a new graphics card, you might want to upgrade that monitor. The one I linked to would be a great upgrade and provide you with buttery smooth 100+ FPS goodness. Alternatively, you could look at bumping that resolution up a bit to 1440p for some added detail in games. This depends on the kinds of games that you like to play.
3. If you decide to pursue higher framerates, your processor will need to be able to keep up. 3rd gen Ryzen likes fast RAM and the sweet spot is about 3600Mhz. Consider upgrading your memory to 3600Mhz sticks next, preferably 16GB at CL16 or CL18 speeds. This will help your processor push out more frames. This is less important if you are going the resolution rather than FPS route.
4. Finally, waaaay down the line you could look at upgrading the processor to one with a higher core and thread count. Starting with the launch of the new gaming consoles at the tail end of 2020, it's likely that multiplatform games will get better at using every core of your CPU evenly, and scaling across all cores will improve dramatically. This change isn't going to happen overnight, though. The Ryzen 5 3600 should serve your needs for a few years to come. The beauty of the AM4 platform is that you probably won't need to buy a new motherboard in the future; a BIOS update should suffice to guarantee compatibility with newer Ryzen chips.

Enjoy that rig man, it's going to serve you well! Could we get some pictures of it over in the Setup topic?

Well yeah its got more features but yeah itd kinda just a revision...but even Asus and like Asrock said there could be some Quirky vrm stuff on the B boards...the msi is suppose to be good tho...I've had no problems with it. But x570 supports the new pcie 4.0...x470 dosent...

 

[Vrackie81]

Welcome to the forums Vrackie81 🍻

Not a bad little set up your running. What storage and case did you go for?

I was too impatient to wait for a new case! Found a really nice Corsair one on Amazon but there were production delays so just gutted out my old one! 😂

My SSD is and old Samsung Evo 60gb (back in the day that stuff was expensive!) so it’s now just Boot drive. Got a newer WD 256 for game files though. Still rocking it on the cheap!

 

[Vrackie81]

This is false. In actuality, the difference between B450 and X470 boards is that X470 supports SLI where B450 does not. It also has more SATA 6 and USB 3.0 connections, which you may or may not need. The quality of the VRMs is independent of the chipset, you can buy a B450 board with great VRMs just as easily as you can buy an X470 board with poor VRMs. If you're aiming for a lower price range, B450 is usually the way to go because cheaper X470 boards actually skimp on VRM quality and additional features to hit the price target.

@Vrackie81
Congrats on the new build, man! I am here to put your mind at ease and tell you that you should be all set for the year 2020 and beyond. The Asus TUF B450M-Plus Gaming is a decent and aesthetically pleasing board that should have no trouble powering your Ryzen 5 3600 chip. ASUS boards have a good BIOS and they tend to support their products well. Might I suggest you download their AI Suite software? This will allow you to, among other things, let your system figure out its own optimal fan profile for quieter operation.

Assuming you have a decent CPU cooler, you should turn on Precision Boost Overdrive and automatic overclocking either through the BIOS or using AMD's Ryzen Master software. This will let your processor perform to the best of its ability and it's both quicker and more efficient than doing a manual all-core overclock.

The RX 580 is still a great card in 2020, mainly because its 8GB of VRAM allows it to punch above its weight. Because of this, it can still compete with the GTX 1660 Super and 1660 Ti. The 1660 Super is the best value of the two and will perform anywhere from 5-25% faster than the RX 580 on average, but it's also anywhere from $50-100 more expensive than the RX 580. You might not be hitting 1080p60 on Ultra in all games with your card, but it's still a good deal.

I quite like your selection of monitor as well, but I think this is the one part where you could have done a little better in 2020. Please note that if you are hitting upwards of 75 FPS in games, your monitor's FreeSync functionality will no longer be engaged. Rather than turning on Vsync, I suggest using an FPS limiter to lock your max FPS in-game to 74 or 75. This way, your GPU won't needlessly render any frames your monitor can't display, and you will always be in FreeSync range for that sweet stutter-free experience.

Now, if you'll indulge the ol' hardware enthusiast in me, here's a few potential upgrade paths you could pursue in the future to keep your rig up to date. I'll list them in the order that I think makes the most sense.

1. A year or two from now, you will likely want to look at getting a better graphics card. AMD is just now launching its new RX 5600 (XT) line, which is aimed at 1080p60 gaming on Ultra settings. I don't know what the future holds, but either that or Nvidia's follow-up to the GTX 1660 Super could be great places to start. You could also look at the used market and go a little bigger, think RX 5700 XT or RTX 2070 Super.
2. Once you have a new graphics card, you might want to upgrade that monitor. The one I linked to would be a great upgrade and provide you with buttery smooth 100+ FPS goodness. Alternatively, you could look at bumping that resolution up a bit to 1440p for some added detail in games. This depends on the kinds of games that you like to play.
3. If you decide to pursue higher framerates, your processor will need to be able to keep up. 3rd gen Ryzen likes fast RAM and the sweet spot is about 3600Mhz. Consider upgrading your memory to 3600Mhz sticks next, preferably 16GB at CL16 or CL18 speeds. This will help your processor push out more frames. This is less important if you are going the resolution rather than FPS route.
4. Finally, waaaay down the line you could look at upgrading the processor to one with a higher core and thread count. Starting with the launch of the new gaming consoles at the tail end of 2020, it's likely that multiplatform games will get better at using every core of your CPU evenly, and scaling across all cores will improve dramatically. This change isn't going to happen overnight, though. The Ryzen 5 3600 should serve your needs for a few years to come. The beauty of the AM4 platform is that you probably won't need to buy a new motherboard in the future; a BIOS update should suffice to guarantee compatibility with newer Ryzen chips.

Enjoy that rig man, it's going to serve you well! Could we get some pictures of it over in the Setup topic?

THAT was an amazing read!

This is false. In actuality, the difference between B450 and X470 boards is that X470 supports SLI where B450 does not. It also has more SATA 6 and USB 3.0 connections, which you may or may not need. The quality of the VRMs is independent of the chipset, you can buy a B450 board with great VRMs just as easily as you can buy an X470 board with poor VRMs. If you're aiming for a lower price range, B450 is usually the way to go because cheaper X470 boards actually skimp on VRM quality and additional features to hit the price target.

@Vrackie81
Congrats on the new build, man! I am here to put your mind at ease and tell you that you should be all set for the year 2020 and beyond. The Asus TUF B450M-Plus Gaming is a decent and aesthetically pleasing board that should have no trouble powering your Ryzen 5 3600 chip. ASUS boards have a good BIOS and they tend to support their products well. Might I suggest you download their AI Suite software? This will allow you to, among other things, let your system figure out its own optimal fan profile for quieter operation.

Assuming you have a decent CPU cooler, you should turn on Precision Boost Overdrive and automatic overclocking either through the BIOS or using AMD's Ryzen Master software. This will let your processor perform to the best of its ability and it's both quicker and more efficient than doing a manual all-core overclock.

The RX 580 is still a great card in 2020, mainly because its 8GB of VRAM allows it to punch above its weight. Because of this, it can still compete with the GTX 1660 Super and 1660 Ti. The 1660 Super is the best value of the two and will perform anywhere from 5-25% faster than the RX 580 on average, but it's also anywhere from $50-100 more expensive than the RX 580. You might not be hitting 1080p60 on Ultra in all games with your card, but it's still a good deal.

I quite like your selection of monitor as well, but I think this is the one part where you could have done a little better in 2020. Please note that if you are hitting upwards of 75 FPS in games, your monitor's FreeSync functionality will no longer be engaged. Rather than turning on Vsync, I suggest using an FPS limiter to lock your max FPS in-game to 74 or 75. This way, your GPU won't needlessly render any frames your monitor can't display, and you will always be in FreeSync range for that sweet stutter-free experience.

Now, if you'll indulge the ol' hardware enthusiast in me, here's a few potential upgrade paths you could pursue in the future to keep your rig up to date. I'll list them in the order that I think makes the most sense.

1. A year or two from now, you will likely want to look at getting a better graphics card. AMD is just now launching its new RX 5600 (XT) line, which is aimed at 1080p60 gaming on Ultra settings. I don't know what the future holds, but either that or Nvidia's follow-up to the GTX 1660 Super could be great places to start. You could also look at the used market and go a little bigger, think RX 5700 XT or RTX 2070 Super.
2. Once you have a new graphics card, you might want to upgrade that monitor. The one I linked to would be a great upgrade and provide you with buttery smooth 100+ FPS goodness. Alternatively, you could look at bumping that resolution up a bit to 1440p for some added detail in games. This depends on the kinds of games that you like to play.
3. If you decide to pursue higher framerates, your processor will need to be able to keep up. 3rd gen Ryzen likes fast RAM and the sweet spot is about 3600Mhz. Consider upgrading your memory to 3600Mhz sticks next, preferably 16GB at CL16 or CL18 speeds. This will help your processor push out more frames. This is less important if you are going the resolution rather than FPS route.
4. Finally, waaaay down the line you could look at upgrading the processor to one with a higher core and thread count. Starting with the launch of the new gaming consoles at the tail end of 2020, it's likely that multiplatform games will get better at using every core of your CPU evenly, and scaling across all cores will improve dramatically. This change isn't going to happen overnight, though. The Ryzen 5 3600 should serve your needs for a few years to come. The beauty of the AM4 platform is that you probably won't need to buy a new motherboard in the future; a BIOS update should suffice to guarantee compatibility with newer Ryzen chips.

Enjoy that rig man, it's going to serve you well! Could we get some pictures of it over in the Setup topic?

THAT was an amazing read! Thanks Rensje!

I was confident enough B450 was adequate for my needs and the board seems well-built. Im now in that difficult phase of trying not to look at gear thinking “could’ve got THAT instead”. Very much enjoying watching AMD bounce back to offer some real consumer choice. Don’t remember having it so good with tech!?

Im afraid my build would probably have you all in despair 🤣 I don’t need to inflict the visual pain on the Setup folks! It ain’t pretty inside and there’s definitely nothing fancy there to look at. Maybe a new window case might change my mind next month...

 

[Vrackie81]

@Rensje made a super thorough post that covers most of what you need to know. I will just chime in to give you some extra peace of mind.

This is correct. X-series boards are not categorically better than B-series boards, they just have the more feature-rich (and expensive) X-series chipsets. The only additional difference from what Rensje said is that X-series boards support PCIe 4.0, but unless you are chasing super fast SSD transfer speeds or wanting to use the next generation of top-end enthusiast GPUs then you won't need that bandwidth during the life of your computer.

I am running a B450 board and it is perfectly capable of driving my 3800X to its full potential.

The boxed cooler that comes with your R5 3600 should be adequate for running PBO, provided your case has decent airflow. Just monitor your temps and upgrade the cooler later if needed.

I agree, the 580 is a capable card at 1080p. Depending on your location and the local used parts market, you can always consider going used for your GPU. There's always a certain amount of risk involved, but if you're willing to search the used market then you can sometimes make your way into the next teir of GPUs for the same price.

Check out this RAM, which is solid 3600MHz memory and very affordable. If you aren't scared of some tweaking in the BIOS then you can use this Ryzen DRAM Calculator to gain some extra performance. On my system I was able to gain about an 8% CPU performance boost from tweaking memory timing, which is a lot considering it's absolutely free.


Best of luck with your build!

Thanks Zoid!

I got the Ryzen Master software and definitely hearing card fan now I’m playing. Chip doesn’t go about 47 degrees C though so I think that’s ok?

lots of great advice and I’ll be sure to pop back to review those suggestions again when the time comes 👍

 

[Zoid]

Thanks Zoid!

I got the Ryzen Master software and definitely hearing card fan now I’m playing. Chip doesn’t go about 47 degrees C though so I think that’s ok?

lots of great advice and I’ll be sure to pop back to review those suggestions again when the time comes 👍

47 C is definitely a fine temperature. Was that under load? I would expect to see temps fluctuating somewhere between 30 - 50 degrees C during light use. These Ryzen chips often have fairly wide temperature swings at idle and light loads, so don't worry if you see this. It's normal behavior.

As long as your chip stays below 80 C you're fine. During benchmarks at 100% load I would expect to see maybe 75 - 78 C. Above 80 C it's time to find a better cooling solution, and at 95 C it's emergency shutdown time.

 

[Rensje]

Im afraid my build would probably have you all in despair 🤣 I don’t need to inflict the visual pain on the Setup folks! It ain’t pretty inside and there’s definitely nothing fancy there to look at. Maybe a new window case might change my mind next month...

There's a couple of decent choices for tempered glass cases in the budget-friendly $50-80 range. Personally, I am quite partial to the Fractal Design Meshify C, which I have previously built in and found to be practical and pleasing to look at. It's all mesh on the front too, so the case temperatures are fantastic for its size.

If I were to build a system today, I would probably go for the super sleek be quiet! Pure Base 500 Window. It's about the same size and price as the Meshify C, but is a little more geared towards quiet operation than max cooling performance. What's impressive is how effectively it cools regardless. It supports exhaust fans of up to 140mm as well, which is fantastic and very unusual.

I'll also shout out the NZXT H510 (non-i version) for sheer minimalism and fantastic cable management possibilities. It's also one of the only cases in this price range to have a USB type-C connector on the front I/O, something more case manufacturers need to start doing yesterday. The case might be a bit 'plain Jane' on the outside, but it will show off the internals in style.

 

[Vrackie81]

47 C is definitely a fine temperature. Was that under load? I would expect to see temps fluctuating somewhere between 30 - 50 degrees C during light use. These Ryzen chips often have fairly wide temperature swings at idle and light loads, so don't worry if you see this. It's normal behavior.

As long as your chip stays below 80 C you're fine. During benchmarks at 100% load I would expect to see maybe 75 - 78 C. Above 80 C it's time to find a better cooling solution, and at 95 C it's emergency shutdown time.

Update: Was trying out Borderlands 3 and first run the card fan was going full throttle. There was a game message saying Direct X would update on next restart but carried on as advised.

Downloaded MSI Afterburner to view temps but game crashed three times after trying to ‘Optimize Shaders’. Closed Afterburner and reset game to defaults.I did see 77 degrees C at one point but only jumping on right after closing game.

Seemed to run fine after that with minimal fan. Bit weird but couldn’t seem to have Afterburner open and game running at same time without crashes.

 

[Zoid]

Update: Was trying out Borderlands 3 and first run the card fan was going full throttle. There was a game message saying Direct X would update on next restart but carried on as advised.

Downloaded MSI Afterburner to view temps but game crashed three times after trying to ‘Optimize Shaders’. Closed Afterburner and reset game to defaults.I did see 77 degrees C at one point but only jumping on right after closing game.

Seemed to run fine after that with minimal fan. Bit weird but couldn’t seem to have Afterburner open and game running at same time without crashes.

MSI Afterburner is a great tool but does not play nicely with all games. I have a few games that are not friendly with it. You say you heard the card fan spinning up - do you mean your GPU? I would not expect Borderlands 3 to have high CPU usage but I could be wrong. The default MSI afterburner interface only monitors your GPU, but you can set up the in-game overlay to display CPU temps as well.

If you want to check your CPU temps, Cinebench R15 or R20 are good benchmarks to run. They're easy to download and use. Prime95 is also a good benchmark for CPU stress tests. These will peg your CPU at 100% so you can monitor cooling performance under load.

 

[Vrackie81]

MSI Afterburner is a great tool but does not play nicely with all games. I have a few games that are not friendly with it. You say you heard the card fan spinning up - do you mean your GPU? I would not expect Borderlands 3 to have high CPU usage but I could be wrong. The default MSI afterburner interface only monitors your GPU, but you can set up the in-game overlay to display CPU temps as well.

If you want to check your CPU temps, Cinebench R15 or R20 are good benchmarks to run. They're easy to download and use. Prime95 is also a good benchmark for CPU stress tests. These will peg your CPU at 100% so you can monitor cooling performance under load.

I think it was gpu. Didn’t think cpu cooler would make THAT much noise 😬 Also Ryzen Master showed cpu at 53 degrees. So maybe I’m assuming but thought it was the 580 fans?

 

[Zoid]

I think it was gpu. Didn’t think cpu cooler would make THAT much noise 😬 Also Ryzen Master showed cpu at 53 degrees. So maybe I’m assuming but thought it was the 580 fans?

CPU at 53 C during Borderlands 3 sounds exactly right. If the GPU fans are annoyingly loud you can always try setting a less aggressive fan curve using MSI Afterburner, as long as it still cools decently when you're done.