Can this CPU be upgraded?

[VirtualLarry]

Should be fine for your R5 3600. No POST codes/debug LED, which is potentially bad but not really. Near as I can tell, ASUS hasn't introduced any showstopper bugs into their UEFI in the process of updating to 1.0.0.3ABBA. 1.0.0.3ABBA - which you want - was available for those board as of Sept 25th. And yes, there are still other options in case you want a debug LED.

I'm still waiting for an "ABBA" BIOS for my B450-F ROG STRIX Gaming ATX board. Other that that, it's been running... mostly OK. I did a week-long (almost) PrimeGrid race, and it ran that just fine, under heavy load, but now back to mining, it has shut down, not hung or restarted, twice in the last two days. Hope I'm not hacked, or MS is now shutting down PCs that haven't bothered to Activate. Guess I need to pull out my license keys and punch them in.

Edit: Hmm, it's here! The 1.0.0.3ABBA for my mobo as mentioned above. Seems like it released last week. I must have gotten tired of checking for it every day.

Got it flashed and installed, hopefully the unexpected shutdowns stop.

Edit: Here's my board. Notice that it says "Ryzen 3000 Desktop Ready".

ASUS USA

ASUS is a leading company driven by innovation and commitment to quality for products that include notebooks, netbooks, motherboards, graphics cards, displays, desktop PCs, servers, wireless solutions, mobile phones and networking devices. ASUS ranks among BusinessWeek’s InfoTech 100 for 12...

www.asus.com

 

[tinpanalley]

...aaaand just like that I'm back down to getting a B450. But perhaps I can get one that's better quality while still being flashable.
The thing is I have no computer stores near me. And I'm not going to buy a CPU just to flash the bios. Do I really handicap my future upgrade options by going with a B450? In practical terms, is a B450 something that will end up harming my move to a 4th gen CPU?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Honestly, I don't think that there's any way to say for certain, at this point in time, if B450 will support 4th-gen Ryzen CPUs, but ... I have a good feeling about that. If they can support 3rd-gen, why not 4th-Gen? PCI-E 5.0 probably will be introduced to the platform, at the same time that DDR5 is, which means, likely, a new AM5 socket, so at that point, you would need a new board. But up until that point? Given the (high) prices of X570 boards, unless you plan on buying a higher-end 3000-series CPU, like a 3900X or 3950X, I would probably save my money and stick with a decent B450 board for around $100-130.

I mean, the X570 boards are niiice, but they have that darn chipset fan, and ... the ones that are really any good, start at around $300, which is more than twice the price of a really high-rated B450 board, like my Asus ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming ATX, or a Gigabyte AORUS PRO WIFI ATX, or an MSI Tomahawk B450 (get the "Max" version, to avoid the gimped BIOS UI, if you can find it, I haven't seen them yet for sale).

An X370 board that's still supported, or an X470 (former high-end AM4 board), might be a decent compromise too. The X470 certainly would have the VRM "chops" to handle the 3900X or 3950X, slightly OCed maybe even, and would continue to get updates, probably until 4th-Gen, if we're lucky.

 

[tinpanalley]

An X370 board that's still supported, or an X470 (former high-end AM4 board), might be a decent compromise too. The X470 certainly would have the VRM "chops" to handle the 3900X or 3950X, slightly OCed maybe even, and would continue to get updates, probably until 4th-Gen, if we're lucky.

Yeah, only problem is finding an X470 that has bios flashback and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Because at a higher cost, from what I'm learning, it starts not being worth the jump from a b450.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Yeah, only problem is finding an X470 that has bios flashback and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Because at a higher cost, from what I'm learning, it starts not being worth the jump from a b450.

If you are buying from NewEgg, you can probably ask a rep what UEFI revision is flashed to the board. Open box is probably not flashed to the latest version. That's one of the advantages of X570 boards - they're guaranteed to have support for Matisse. They're also the first in line for UEFI updates these days.

fwiw x470 was introduced last year for the Pinnacle Ridge series of CPUS (R7 2700x, etc). It's an older chipset. Still very good for Matisse, though.

 

[tinpanalley]

If you are buying from NewEgg, you can probably ask a rep what UEFI revision is flashed to the board.

Newegg had no idea. They said they wouldn't have that kind of info and that I should contact the manufacturer.
Which revision am I looking for though and where would I download it from when the time comes?

 

[scannall]

Newegg had no idea. They said they wouldn't have that kind of info and that I should contact the manufacturer.
Which revision am I looking for though and where would I download it from when the time comes?

This one supports Ryzen 3000 series, from Newegg Canada. MSI Pro B450M PRO-M2 V2

Note the V2, important.

 

[Markfw]

This one supports Ryzen 3000 series, from Newegg Canada. MSI Pro B450M PRO-M2 V2

Note the V2, important.

And a good price !!!

 

[tinpanalley]

This one supports Ryzen 3000 series, from Newegg Canada. MSI Pro B450M PRO-M2 V2

Note the V2, important.

Ok, I'll look up what makes V2 important. Looking stuff up is how I've learned from you all.

 

[scannall]

Ok, I'll look up what makes V2 important. Looking stuff up is how I've learned from you all.

Just means Version 2 is all. Version 1 was for the series 1000 and 2000 from the factory. Though they can be flashed.

 

[tinpanalley]

Nevermind - ignore. (We can't delete posts here?)

So supporting Ryzen 3000 series means no need to use bios flashback. Correct?

 

[scannall]

Nevermind - ignore. (We can't delete posts here?)

So supporting Ryzen 3000 series means no need to use bios flashback. Correct?

Correct

 

[tinpanalley]

With this plan, I can do the 3600, get a B450 motherboard, some good fast RAM and still get myself a decent power supply, maybe even more like a 750W for all my different drives without having to constantly plug/unplug SATA cables.

Now, is it only the "max" models of MSI that come ready for 3000 series CPUs? Or is that some other branding thing that has nothing to do with being 3000 ready? Also, is it that a 3600 ready motherboard CAN'T be flashed to a future bios? Or is it just that it supports bios flashback and also happens to come 3600-ready already? Also, I'm guessing there are junk PSUs out there, so it's probably more than just brand to look at there.

Just wanted to say that after a brief moment yesterday where I was going to go for an x470 and studying the specs and details, I realised that at the cost difference and inability to have bios flashback unless I spent lots and lots more in addition to the fact that I don't really need StoreMI or built in wifi, sticking with b450 is a better option for me because with bios flashback I can just update the board myself with a flash drive. Anyway, I wanted to say that I was able to understand all that because of the help you guys gave me. So thank you all for spending the time so far explaining everything. I know genuine appreciation is like spotting a white tiger in the wild in forums these days but what is the internet good for if not for sharing of useful information and growing our collective knowledge. And that deserves thanks.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just because the BIOS on a board comes "Ryzen 3000 Ready", doesn't mean that you can't update it from there. You should be good to go.

 

[tinpanalley]

Just because the BIOS on a board comes "Ryzen 3000 Ready", doesn't mean that you can't update it from there. You should be good to go.

Ok, I figured.
So, I need to find a B450 that has MAX in the name to avoid any future flashing problems with BIOS of a certain size, and if it says 3000 ready in some form I'll be able to just pop the 3600 in there and go.
Anything that can definitively tell me that a board is 3000 ready?

 

[Markfw]

Ok, I figured.
So, I need to find a B450 that has MAX in the name to avoid any future flashing problems with BIOS of a certain size, and if it says 3000 ready in some form I'll be able to just pop the 3600 in there and go.
Anything that can definitively tell me that a board is 3000 ready?

It just has to say so somewhere in the ad or on the MFG website. Not even "Max" in the description will work. That $103 MSI 450 board sure looked like a good deal.

 

[tinpanalley]

It just has to say so somewhere in the ad or on the MFG website. Not even "Max" in the description will work. That $103 MSI 450 board sure looked like a good deal.

Ok. Just not loving that there are only 2 RAM slots and only 4 SATA ports.
Any thoughts on this Tomahawk?
And I'm looking at this Corsair PSU.

 

[Thunder 57]

Ok. Just not loving that there are only 2 RAM slots and only 4 SATA ports.
Any thoughts on this Tomahawk?
And I'm looking at this Corsair PSU.

Those prices were way off until I realized it was Newegg Canada . Tomahawk is well regarded. I ordered it on Amazon put they kept messing with the ship date, so I went with the Asus B450-F instead.

 

[scannall]

Those prices were way off until I realized it was Newegg Canada . Tomahawk is well regarded. I ordered it on Amazon put they kept messing with the ship date, so I went with the Asus B450-F instead.

Or go a bit higher for an X570. This one has much better VRM's. Gigabyte X570
The power supply is overkill. Unless you're overclocking and running top end video cards, 550 watts should be fine. Corsair CX550

 

[Markfw]

The Tamahawk is fine. This: https://www.newegg.ca/seasonic-focus-750-gold-ssr-750fm-750w/p/N82E16817151201R is a better PSU IMO.

As for the motherboard, I would take this one (I have one of those) before the Gigabyte 570. But if you can stand Gigabyte, it is a newer chipset.

Open Box: ASUS Prime X470-Pro AM4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Newegg.com

Buy Open Box: ASUS Prime X470-Pro AM4 AMD X470 SATA 6Gb/s ATX AMD Motherboard with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.ca

 

[Thunder 57]

Or go a bit higher for an X570. This one has much better VRM's. Gigabyte X570
The power supply is overkill. Unless you're overclocking and running top end video cards, 550 watts should be fine. Corsair CX550

Agree on the PSU. And that looks to be a good bit more motherboard for $40.
As Mark said, the that line of Seasonic PSU's is great. I have the 650W version. They seem to be a bit pricey in Canada though.

Just saw this Seasonic 80+ Platinum 550W for $122 CAD. Looks like a good deal. The 650W platium is oddly the same cost as the 80+ gold at $154 CAD.

 

[tinpanalley]

The power supply is overkill. Unless you're overclocking and running top end video cards, 550 watts should be fine. Corsair CX550

I run an AMD Radeon R9 280. Yes, I know it's not exactly cutting edge, but for my purposes it really is enough for now and not really a priority among the other components. But it is a bit of a power hog.

 

[Markfw]

On the PSU, I am just not a "bronze" person. The quality is low, and the efficeincy is low. I will go no lower than gold. Most of mine are titanium, but those are spendy

 

[scannall]

I run an AMD Radeon R9 280. Yes, I know it's not exactly cutting edge, but for my purposes it really is enough for now and not really a priority among the other components. But it is a bit of a power hog.

Eh, it's a 200 watt card. No need to go crazy.

 

[Thunder 57]

On the PSU, I am just not a "bronze" person. The quality is low, and the efficeincy is low. I will go no lower than gold. Most of mine are titanium, but those are spendy

Agreed. Especially since I live in a warm environment. The less waste heat, the better.Yea, A/C is great, but if your thermostat is in another room... it can start to matter.