Build Complete First new desktop build in 9, maybe 10 years, lost count!

[MadScientist]

Don't post here much anymore. I've been running an oc'ed to 4.6 Ghz Intel i5-2500K cpu on an Asrock Z68 Extreme 4 MB for 9-10 years, back when Intel was king. Decided it was time to upgrade. Picked up one of the new Asrock B550 Phantom Gaming 4 ATX MB for $80. AR from Newegg, an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU for $155. from Amazon, and 32GB ram - 2 CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600 (PC4 28800) for $120. on sale. I replaced the AMD wraith stealth cooler with a be quiet Pure Rock 2 cooler for $39. and another Pure Wings 2 120mm PWM fan for $10.90 from Newegg for a push-pull config. In this price range there is a lot of competition out there. This cooler is not the best with 1 fan for thermal performance but with 2 fans it's not bad and it's quiet. For now I have the oc set to auto in the bios. Under stress, Intel Burn test V2.54, ~4.1 Ghz, with the AMD cooler the temp hit 88C, fan ran 2550 RPM, noisy. With the be quiet cooler under stress the max temp was 72C, fans ran 1450 and 1490 RPM. They are speced for 1500 RPM max.

I may have went overboard on the ram speed. This board is supposed to handle 3600 Mhz ram but getting it to except the XMP profile was a bitch. Two sticks are manufactured by Hynix, the other two by Samsung. I could set the bios with either 2 sticks in slots 1 and 2 to except the XMP profile at 3600 Mhz but with 4 sticks only with the Samsung ram in slots 1 and 2 or it would default to 2133 Mhz. Go figure??
I've been running a few days with ram at 3600 Mhz and have been getting a few BSODs so may have to crank it down a bit. I'll play with it and do some more stress testing, and learn how to oc an AMD CPU.
I reused my old Corsair Carbide 110R case, and over the years upgraded to a Seasonic PS and an EGA Geforce GTX 1660.

 

[VirtualLarry]

This board is supposed to handle 3600 Mhz ram but getting it to except the XMP profile was a bitch. Two sticks are manufactured by Hynix, the other two by Samsung. I could set the bios with either 2 sticks in slots 1 and 2 to except the XMP profile at 3600 Mhz but with 4 sticks only with the Samsung ram in slots 1 and 2 or it would default to 2133 Mhz. Go figure??

I wouldn't advise mixing two Samsung and two Hynix sticks of DDR4, if you want to achieve 4x8GB DDR4-3600 XMP speeds. Get both kits the same, and you'll have a fighting chance. I just don't believe that the sub-timings for both of those mfgs of DRAM chips are compatible.

 

[MadScientist]

It's the luck of the draw when you purchase the Corsair ram on who the manufacturer is. I purchased both kits from Newegg. According to CPU-Z they all have the same timings. Compatible?, they should be if you use the pairs (kit) in the right slots.
Over on the Asrock forum there has been complaints about not being able to set 3600 Mhz ram, not just Corsair ram, to their XMP profile on their B550 mbs, defaulting back to 2133 Mhz with only 2 chips.

I checked each chip 4 passes at 3600 Mhz with the latest version of Memtest86, no errors. Then in pairs (kit) by manufacturer at 3600 Mhz, no errors. Then all 4 at 3600 Mhz, no errors, but still kept getting different error message BSODs in Windows. https://www.memtest86.com/
I set the ram to 3533 Mhz and checked it with Memtest86, no errors. So far no BSODs.

I have to confess, and after all these years, I should no better, I did not check the memory compatibility list for this MB. I saw the sale price on this ram on Slickdeals, $60., free shipping for a 2x8 GB kit and ordered 2. https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/B550 Phantom Gaming 4/#MemoryMS

Hopefully in the near future Asrock will fix this with a bios update.

 

[bigpow]

I had a similar build (4.6 Ghz Intel i5-2500K ) - I want to do one last build before I'm 404 and I'm also looking/waiting for 3600/X

So, how much better is your new build compared to the old one?
Help me jump on the 3600 OC bandwagon ;-)

 

[MadScientist]

@bigpow Wow and I thought I was an oldtimer here, almost 20 years.

I was perfectly happy with my old system. It still ran flawlessly. But I got the itch to build a new system and what better to spend my stimulus money on.
I haven't had time to run any games on it yet, still messing with the ram. It does feel quicker. Boots faster and programs open up quicker. So yeah when you find a good deal on a 3600X go for it. If you pick an Asrock AMD MB, especially the B550s, I would stick with compatible 3200 Mhz ram.
For now until I learn this bios I have it on Auto OC. Here's a screen shot of AMD's Ryzen Master utility compared to CPU-Z and CoreTemp. The CPU voltage reported by AMD's utility is higher. https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/ryzen-master

 

[UsandThem]

@bigpow
I was perfectly happy with my old system. It still ran flawlessly. But I got the inch to build a new system and what better to spend my stimulus money on.

Do you have to be a certain height to build a Ryzen computer where you live?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Do you have to be a certain height to build a Ryzen computer where you live?

Don't tell Shorty...

 

[MadScientist]

Need new glasses, n isn't even close to the t.

 

[bigpow]

@MadScientist There's always someone older out there ;-)
Thanks for the feedback.
2500K O/C-ed was the value king back then, probably as good as old Cely 300A.

I also got the itch, actually months ago I posted here (but I couldn't find it) - so when I saw your post, I chimed in because it has some good info.
Nudge me slightly (an inch? ) towards jumping on the 3600 build.

 

[MadScientist]

@bigpow Using pcpartpicker I found the lowest price on a 3600X from Amazon at $201.14. 3600X Compared to the 3600 now at $174.99 I would go with the X. I got my 3600 for $155. a few weeks ago so I had a few bucks to spend on a better cooler. Give pcpartpicker a try to build a system and check prices on components.
The Camelizer - Amazon's 3600X prices

 

[MadScientist]

My Corsair 3600 Mhz ram set to 3533 Mhz has also started giving me Windows BSODs. It also failed the Intel Burn Test set to Very High. It passes Memtest86 but it's not compatible with this Asrock B550 MB at 3600 Mhz. I cranked it down to 3200 Mhz and set the timings to 16-20-20-38-57 as per System Information Viewer. System Information Viewer
Handy little program I have been using for a while. It's been recently updated. Ok so far, passes Memtest86 and 30 runs of Intel Burn test set to Very High.
So until Asrock comes out with a new bios to run this ram at 3600 Mhz I'm stuck at 3200 Mhz. Lesson learned.


Here's a comparison of System Information Viewer and CoreTemp. Values are close and with SIV you have all the info on one page.

 

[bigpow]

That doesn't sound good.
Are you thinking of switching to another brand/model?

What's your GPU?
Have you had a chance to try some games?
I really want to do my build soon for MS FS 2020 & Cyberpunk.
FS 2020 is supposed to be very CPU heavy (can actually use n cores)

 

[MadScientist]

Sticking with this motherboard. It's running fine now that I've downclocked the memory. Like I said I should have checked the memory compatibility for this MB before purchasing the Corsair 3600 ram. I'm using a slightly oc'ed EVGA Geforce GTX 1660. I'll try out some games this weekend.
The Ryzen 4000s are rumored to be due out this fall so maybe by then the higher end 3000s will drop in price. https://www.techradar.com/news/amd-zen-3

 

[Steltek]

Ryzen has always been picky about memory, though each successive generation has improved on the last. It unfortunately remains as one area where AMD still lags Intel.

 

[MadScientist]

@ bigpow
Setting up the CPU OC manually I was able to get it stable at 4.2 Ghz at a bios vcore of 1.2875V, 1.256V load running OCCT and the Intel Burn Test on Very High. Temps were 34C idle and 68C load. I only have 2-120mm case fans. I have the Noctua NF-P12 redux on order. When I install it I'll try for 4.3 Ghz.
Ran Cinebench 20 and got 3823.
I played Doom Eternal on Ultra settings for ~1 hour. Everything looked good, except I keep getting killed.

Edit: Today I installed the Noctua NF-P12 redux fan in the back of the case right behind the be quiet Pure Rock 2 cooler, and moved the 120mm Corsair fan to the front below the other 120mm Corsair fan. Not much improvement, 1 maybe 2C, but could be due to a difference in ambient temp.
Tried for 4.3Ghz, stopped at 1.35Vcore, not stable. OCCT detected errors after just a few minutes.

Edit 8/25: Asrock released a new bios for my MB, V1.2, yesterday. Flashed it, but still no love for my Corsair 3600 ram.

 

[bigpow]

@MadScientist : Thanks for reporting. Appreciate the data. Doom Eternal (DE) is difficult, even for us FPS old-timers. I find myself playing Quake Champions more than DE, despite the eye candies of DE.

From what you described, it seems like you're not hitting thermal barrier there. It's more like stability of power supply (or mobo's VRM). Maybe check using a multimeter to see if the on-board A/D sensors are reporting correct voltage values?
If everything checks out, then it's probably just the luck of the draw (CPU chip barrier).

My build plan is still very open at this point. I'm not even sure I want to go to mini-ITX route anymore. The premium over mini or regular ATX is unacceptable, considering the biggest part of a system is now the GPU anyways.
I have 2 candidates for the case: desktop mini-ATX Silverstone (which will require a modification to fit the GPU) & an old Lian-Li PC60 (oh yeah!)
I'm actually leaning towards Intel now, spend a lot more than 3600X and just get 10600K. I have an old GTX-1080 that I'm planning to keep forever, so I want to squeeze every fps as possible from the CPU. It's still cheaper than getting a R5 or R7 & new RTX 2070 Super, at maybe 10% less fps?? I'm just speculating.