Ryzen 5 1600AF and MSI a320m pro max

[Siv8]

Hi all

I'm currently running a ryzen 5 1600AF, Rx 6600XT and 16Gbs of ram on an msi a320m pro max motherboard. I wanted to know what a quick an cheap CPU upgrade would be and is it necessary. I feel like I'm leaving some performance on the table by using a faster gpu with an older CPU. Any advice would be welcome thanks. I also have a superflower leadex platinum 550W PSU powering the system. I only play at 1080p 60fps with no plans to jump to 1440p.

 

[P4-630]

I only play at 1080p 60fps

Do you have issues even reach 60fps @ 1080p?
If not, no upgrades needed then.

 

[Siv8]

Do you have issues even reach 60fps @ 1080p?
If not, no upgrades needed then.

No issues at all. I was just thinking about the IPC improvements that the newer generations bring.

 

[The King]

No issues at all. I was just thinking about the IPC improvements that the newer generations bring.

A cheap upgrade depending on price at your location would be the 5600 or 5600X.

Sell your current CPU to cover some of the upgrade cost. There should be a noticeable change in IPC not to mention ZEN 3 is more power efficient than ZEN 1 and 2.

I upgraded from a 1700X to 5600 and there is very noticeable increase in IPC performance. It also uses a fraction of the power that my 1700X used under load so I dont think your
PSU would be a problem or need to be upgraded.

I can run my 5600 in ECO mode (45W) and still get locked 60 FPS in the majority of the games that I play.

SuperFlower PSU's are among the best.

 

[Siv8]

A cheap upgrade depending on price at your location would be the 5600 or 5600X.

Sell your current CPU to cover some of the upgrade cost. There should be a noticeable change in IPC not to mention ZEN 3 is more power efficient than ZEN 1 and 2.

I upgraded from a 1700X to 5600 and there is very noticeable increase in IPC performance. It also uses a fraction of the power that my 1700X used under load so I dont think your
PSU would be a problem or need to be upgraded.

I can run my 5600 in ECO mode (45W) and still get locked 60 FPS in the majority of the games that I play.

SuperFlower PSU's are among the best.

My concern is the motherboard. Im looking for any newer ryzen CPU that'll work without a bios update. Buy and pop in kinda thing.

 

[The King]

My concern is the motherboard. Im looking for any newer ryzen CPU that'll work without a bios update. Buy and pop in kinda thing.

With an updated BIOS your motherboard can support even a 5950X although I wont recomend that but a 5600/5600X should run just fine after you upgrade the BIOS.

A320M-A PRO | Motherboard | MSI Global

Best AMD AM4 A320 Micro ATX motherboard, USB 3.2 Gen 1, MSI PRO

www.msi.com

Check what version BIOS you have installed and see if it already supports ZEN 3 CPUs. Some PC shops will do the BIOS upgrade for free if you ask nicely.

 

[Siv8]

With an updated BIOS your motherboard can support even a 5950X although I wont recomend that but a 5600/5600X should run just fine after you upgrade the BIOS.

A320M-A PRO | Motherboard | MSI Global

Best AMD AM4 A320 Micro ATX motherboard, USB 3.2 Gen 1, MSI PRO

www.msi.com

Check what version BIOS you have installed and see if it already supports ZEN 3 CPUs. Some PC shops will do the BIOS upgrade for free if you ask nicely.

Cheapest new CPU in my country is the ryzen 5 5500 for 152$.

 

[tabascosauz]

My concern is the motherboard. Im looking for any newer ryzen CPU that'll work without a bios update. Buy and pop in kinda thing.

There isn't anything worth the upgrade that probably won't need a BIOS update on A320.

You already have a CPU, so make the update with the 1600AF before you pop the new one in. I don't see the problem here. Flashing while inside BIOS is a trivial task.

The A320 PRO MAX is a little short on Vcore phases (3 phases with doubled lo-side), but in typical MSI fashion it uses decent mosfets (Sinopowers but the SM4503). Should be fine for a 65W CPU.

Besides, isn't the 1600AF a 65W CPU with 88W PPT? The 5600 and 5600X retain the same TDP but have an even lower PPT at 76W. No problems there.

Ryzen 5500 is not actually from the same family as the 5600/5600X - performance is only around the Ryzen 3600 and sometimes slower. Meaning, not much of an upgrade at all.

Tough to say if you'll see any improvement without knowing what you play with your PC. 1080p magnifies CPU performance differences, but you're also limited to 60fps. Though you'll be much better positioned to go to a higher refresh monitor in the future with a 5600(X).

 

[Siv8]

There isn't anything worth the upgrade that probably won't need a BIOS update on A320.

You already have a CPU, so make the update with the 1600AF before you pop the new one in. I don't see the problem here. Flashing while inside BIOS is a trivial task.

The A320 PRO MAX is a little short on Vcore phases (3 phases with doubled lo-side), but in typical MSI fashion it uses decent mosfets (Sinopowers but the SM4503). Should be fine for a 65W CPU.

Besides, isn't the 1600AF a 65W CPU with 88W PPT? The 5600 and 5600X retain the same TDP but have an even lower PPT at 76W. No problems there.

Ryzen 5500 is not actually from the same family as the 5600/5600X - performance is only around the Ryzen 3600 and sometimes slower. Meaning, not much of an upgrade at all.

Tough to say if you'll see any improvement without knowing what you play with your PC. 1080p magnifies CPU performance differences, but you're also limited to 60fps. Though you'll be much better positioned to go to a higher refresh monitor in the future with a 5600(X).

Great thanks man. Looks like no upgrade is needed.

 

[The King]

Cheapest new CPU in my country is the ryzen 5 5500 for 152$.

Reviews on the 5500 CPU are mixed some people who OC get really good results with 5500 most review sites were not so kind to the 5500.

What is the 5600 going for? If its within your budget I would recommend getting the 5600/5600X over the 5500.

Doesnt seem like the 5500 is a good upgrade IMO from your 1600.

The 5600/5600X would be worth the upgrade. Seems like the 1600 does bottleneck your 6600XT GPU

 

[damric]

I don't see the point in spending extra on 5600/5600x with an A320 board. 5500 will run much lighter and it's all gen 3 PCIE anyway. The cache loss can be mitigated by tuning your RAM.

I bought several Ryzen 1600AFs when they were $85. Hell of a chip, and they all overclocked nicely, with the worst one stable at 4.0GHz and the better ones around 4.2GHz. They gave my 4.2GHz all-core Ryzen 3600 a run for its money. I did update a couple of the 1600s to Cezannes. At stock my 5500 is about same as my overclocked 3600. But once I turned up the dial to +200 PBO, 104 base clock, and 1:1 4266 RAM the Cezanne takes over, on par with my 5800x in 4K gaming. If I really juice it, I can all-core to nearly 4900MHz and 4400 RAM 1:1.

 

[Siv8]

I don't see the point in spending extra on 5600/5600x with an A320 board. 5500 will run much lighter and it's all gen 3 PCIE anyway. The cache loss can be mitigated by tuning your RAM.

I bought several Ryzen 1600AFs when they were $85. Hell of a chip, and they all overclocked nicely, with the worst one stable at 4.0GHz and the better ones around 4.2GHz. They gave my 4.2GHz all-core Ryzen 3600 a run for its money. I did update a couple of the 1600s to Cezannes. At stock my 5500 is about same as my overclocked 3600. But once I turned up the dial to +200 PBO, 104 base clock, and 1:1 4266 RAM the Cezanne takes over, on par with my 5800x in 4K gaming. If I really juice it, I can all-core to nearly 4900MHz and 4400 RAM 1:1.

So buy the 5500 or stay with the 1600AF?

 

[damric]

So buy the 5500 or stay with the 1600AF?

If you feel like you are getting low frame drops, then you could use the upgrade. But shop around and look at prices. I've seen the 5500 as low as $130. If there is a hell if a deal on the 5600/x, they will be slightly faster. I have seen them here as low as $150 which would probably be worth the extra $20.

If you feel like the 1600AF is good enough and you can hold out longer, the next generation stuff with is going to be much, much faster, but you'll need to save money for a whole platform upgrade. Can you overclock at all with that A320? Some of them can, but most of them don't. The 1600AF was one of the few Ryzens that had some good frequency headroom.

 

[Siv8]

I actually never tried to overclock with this board is it even possible if so that would extend the gaming life of the CPU abit.