Question New Build: 2600x or 3600x? $80 difference...

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LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
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New Build: 2600x or 3600x? $80 difference...

Very straight forward question, looking to have an answer by tonight. I can get the 2600x for $80 or the 3600x for $160. I'll be pairing it with a Noctua D14, 16gb of 3200mhz ram, and Aorus B450 Wifi Pro mb, XFX RX 580 8gb.

Id like to be able to play CSGO @ 4k @ max settings.
 

lobz

Platinum Member
Feb 10, 2017
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:confused:so i just pooped in the 3600x and booted up with the stock cooler (its identical to the 2600x cooler btw).

My small problem is: i notice the CPU is ramping up and down almost every second, then i realize that the CPU tempuratures are jumping up and down with the fan speed. Then i realize from CPU-Z that the Core Speed/Multiplier is jumping up and down between 3.8ghz and 4.4ghz every single second causing this temperature and fan speed ripple effect. whats going on and how do i fix this? Normal? Broken?
Congrats on your purchase! :)

It's definitely not broken, something causing it to boost up. Can you check in the task manager, when you sort processes by CPU usage, what's using it?

If nothing, then someone with actual experience in everyday Zen 2 usage will (hopefully) help you, because then it should be a power management thing in BIOS, or a Ryzen Master setting etc.

The stock cooler will not have any problems during stock usage, so it will do absolutely fine until you'll be able to install your noctua.
 
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lobz

Platinum Member
Feb 10, 2017
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I know it's not completely on-topic, but seriously...

A 2600X for $79........ how does intel want to compete with that? :D
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
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:confused:so i just pooped in the 3600x and booted up with the stock cooler (its identical to the 2600x cooler btw).

My small problem is: i notice the CPU is ramping up and down almost every second, then i realize that the CPU tempuratures are jumping up and down with the fan speed. Then i realize from CPU-Z that the Core Speed/Multiplier is jumping up and down between 3.8ghz and 4.4ghz every single second causing this temperature and fan speed ripple effect. whats going on and how do i fix this? Normal? Broken?

Try setting the fan speed manually to stay at 100%. Then run your games/tests and see if it boosts properly and holds.
It may be bouncing off a "hidden" temperature limit, if so then you'd need to make a manual fan curve to keep it cool.
If the temps are under 60c 100% fan and the frequency is still bouncing around then it's probably a power setting somewhere.

Unfortunately I'm no expert with Ryzen, but I know the boost algorithm is very complex and most software can't report the data.

Here's a link to an article where they test boost vs temperature, Ryzen sees a big drop off above 55c:
 

Charlie98

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2011
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I was going to get a 3600 chip for my new build but went with a 2700x. But gaming was not my main reason for upgrading. So the 2000 series works great for me.

I had some brain dyslexia when I got to MicroCenter... I thought I was buying a 3700x, until I saw the price... That's why I went with the 2700x. I think what I went in to buy was the 3600...

Same-same... it's a work computer, not a gamer, so in the end it probably doesn't make that big of a difference.
 

alexruiz

Platinum Member
Sep 21, 2001
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:confused:so i just pooped in the 3600x and booted up with the stock cooler (its identical to the 2600x cooler btw).

My small problem is: i notice the CPU is ramping up and down almost every second, then i realize that the CPU tempuratures are jumping up and down with the fan speed. Then i realize from CPU-Z that the Core Speed/Multiplier is jumping up and down between 3.8ghz and 4.4ghz every single second causing this temperature and fan speed ripple effect. whats going on and how do i fix this? Normal? Broken?

What UEFI version did you get in the board?
If not F50 (AGESA ComboPi 1.0.0.4b) then upgrade to F50.

Also, for the fan speed, enter Q-fan at the UEFI and change to either "silent" or "performance". That will force the fan to stay more constant.
As others suggested also, you can try a customized fan curve.
 

LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
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I'm using the latest Bios for the Aorus B450 Pro Wifi - the F50. I flashed it the same day I installed the hardware.

I can deal with the fan noise, by getting my Noctua on when they send me the free AM4 bracket. But I really just wanted to make sure if its normal for my MB / CPU to ramp up from 36 multiplier (3.6ghz) to 42 multiplier (4.2ghz) every second, causing the ripple effect of temps jumping 7-10 degrees, causing the stock fan to jump 1000rpm, giving me nausea
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
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*snip*
But I really just wanted to make sure if its normal for my MB / CPU to ramp up from 36 multiplier (3.6ghz) to 42 multiplier (4.2ghz) every second, causing the ripple effect of temps jumping 7-10 degrees, causing the stock fan to jump 1000rpm, giving me nausea

If you read the last several responses, you'll have your answer.
I suppose if I'm going to reply I can give you a summary:

Very likely yes.
 

LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
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It's not, the 2600X's stock cooler has a copper vacuum chamber, the 3600X's one looks the same but is pure aluminium and makes up the loss with higher fan speed, thus it's louder.

don't care too much, about this since i'm still waiting on the noctua Am4 bracket, but .... wait.... the 3600x comes with an equal or worse cooler than the 2600x? mine was just a plain ole aluminum heatsink with no heatpipes and a small 90mm or 92mm fan or something.
 

Markfw

Moderator Emeritus, Elite Member
May 16, 2002
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don't care too much, about this since i'm still waiting on the noctua Am4 bracket, but .... wait.... the 3600x comes with an equal or worse cooler than the 2600x? mine was just a plain ole aluminum heatsink with no heatpipes and a small 90mm or 92mm fan or something.
If you were to pay the shipping (no idea the cost USPS) I would GIVE you at 3900x heatpipe cooler. If you want to PM me. Guessing its a medium flat rate at $15.05 conus
 
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LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
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The stock fan ramping up every few seconds is normal at stock settings. Just adjust your fan profile to min rpm@60c and max rpm@85-90c.
Yea I did that via gigabyte SIV with fixed fan settings. Low speeds till 60, max after that.

But what's the purpose of the multiplier and hence the cpu speed jumping all over the place at 99% idle?
 

EliteRetard

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2006
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Yea I did that via gigabyte SIV with fixed fan settings. Low speeds till 60, max after that.

But what's the purpose of the multiplier and hence the cpu speed jumping all over the place at 99% idle?

Ryzen can switch speeds incredibly fast. It's efficient to ramp up speeds even for small background tasks, to get them done and over with. Instead of dragging them along at a couple hundred MHz
 

thor23

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Jul 13, 2019
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Yea I did that via gigabyte SIV with fixed fan settings. Low speeds till 60, max after that.

But what's the purpose of the multiplier and hence the cpu speed jumping all over the place at 99% idle?


It reduces cpu frequency under idle leaving more headroom under stock pbo limits to run high frequency/high voltage, and max frequency@1.5v can spike the cpu temperature really fast even for small background loads.
 

LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
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The 3600x comes with a cooler that looks the same from the outside but is actually worse than the one with 2600x. See eg.
yea i threw my stock cooler from the 3600x straight in the trash.

it didn't cool the 3600x sufficiently (the 3600x is kinda hot), it didn't work well with the Smart Fan features, and ramped up and down with the constant speed changes of the ryzen cpu, and when ramped up, got really loud.

The noctua D14 does a decently good job @ 35C idle in a 73F room. Max temps during cinebench get top about 60-65C. Gaming gets to 45-50
 

LOUISSSSS

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Dec 5, 2005
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Off topic, but I hope you recycled the heat-sink vs actually trashing it.
There's a lot of good aluminum in those things.
YES!!! i'm personally huge on recycling. it went straight into the blue bin.

Super stupid that they put a WORSE cooler with the 3600x vs the 2600x. WTF, who does that?

Thank god i had a D14 and Noctua was great enough to mail me an AM4 install kit from Austria for free. Will DEF buy from Noctua again.
 

eek2121

Platinum Member
Aug 2, 2005
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Both the 3600 and the 3600X are firmly in "shut up and take my money" territory. Holy crap. It took everything in me to avoid buying one just now. I currently have a 1950X, so it wouldn't be an upgrade, per say, but it's tempting to get a node 202 or DanPC case and shove one in there...
 

LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
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You'd be right in 99,5% of the time here. The odd case of CS:GO is a special one, somehow it beats the crap out of Intel in clock for clock, and even at a lower freq it's faster on Zen 2. The large L3, I mean... the large g4m3 <A<h3 does wonders in Source :D Not to mention, that this game can get quite competitive even if you're trying to play it for fun... :) There's no fun in being at a disadvantage and thinking you can do it better if your machine lets it :D
OK I admit it, I'm degenerately competitive in that game. :D
Yes, do you know how mad i'd be if i had to drop below 100fps and died everytime someone threw a smoke, a fire, or multiple people shooting on the screen?

If you are lucky enough to live near a microcenter, maybe wait a bit longer? They just cut the price on the 3700x to $260. I know that's $100 more but I'm holding out for it to drop even more. I currently have a 1700@4 GHz.
I actually live 20 mins from one. Thats where i got the 2600x (returned it for $80,) then got the 3600X for $160. How much in gaming benefit would the 3700x have gotten me?

Can't you buy that Noctua bracket for $5?
Noctua actually sent me a free one from Austria. Thats amazing. I've now used my D14 for 3 builds over 10 years. Its actually my best investment for a computer so far. To my knowledge, the 10+ year old D14 is still a top performer and it performs about 90% of the D15.


Actually guys the 3600x + RX580 combo has been working out great for me. The CPU/MB/Ram i got at MC has been great, the mb's onboard sound is pretty good, except lacking some customization. and the rx580 i got for $135 on a super sale in 2019 is serving me well!
I've also got a new case: the Lian Li Lancool 2. Works great! Idle temps 37C CPU/ 45C GPU. Load Temps 50-65C CPU / 65-75C GPU

My big upgrade also was getting 2x NVME drives (WD SN750 1TB + a free Toshiba XG4 512gb) Its great that my mb has 2x NVME slots. I do with the mb had an onboard USB C header though since my case has a Front Panel USB C connector .
 

CHADBOGA

Platinum Member
Mar 31, 2009
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Noctua actually sent me a free one from Austria. Thats amazing. I've now used my D14 for 3 builds over 10 years. Its actually my best investment for a computer so far. To my knowledge, the 10+ year old D14 is still a top performer and it performs about 90% of the D15.
I also have a D14 and it will be used for a friend's next build, but you had to wait 4+ months for your free bracket.

I'd rather spend the $5 and get the bracket from a store, straight away.
 
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LOUISSSSS

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2005
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I also have a D14 and it will be used for a friend's next build, but you had to wait 4+ months for your free bracket.

I'd rather spend the $5 and get the bracket from a store, straight away.
I'm gunna assume you paid, which is why you worded your post like this. absolutely not true. I waited 1.5 weeks. And with that planned, i had all the rest of my parts at the end of 1.5 weeks for the build.
But i bet you didn't get yours for free and paid someone money for it.