I have been putting together an upgrade for my gaming rig and have been kinda stuck on deciding the CPU and motherboard.

The main upgrade is the GPU as I plan on getting the AMD RX 6950 XT, but when it comes to cpu and motherboard I have been stuck between:

Intel i5-13600k + MSI MAG Z690 Tomahawk DDR4 (allows me to reuse my existing RAM)

and

Ryzen 5 7600x + MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk (it does require me to buy new RAM, but that’s not a huge deal since I can then reuse my existing RAM to upgrade my home server)

Price wise there isn’t all that much difference, and the little difference it has will get evened out with other upgrades and adjustments based on the cpu/motherboard choice.

Any feedback on pros and cons of either option is greatly appreciated!

For added context this rig is mainly gaming and some light software development. Nothing heavy in terms of video, 3D, streaming, or AI

  • BoB
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    41 year ago

    Go ryzen 7 5800X3D and fast good DDR4-3600

    • @kamadOP
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      31 year ago

      Had not considered that option! Thanks for the tip!

      • BoB
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        31 year ago

        if you already have the ram memory then you can use that and save money.

        As for the motherboard, that’s worth spending a little more. Make sure it has pcie-4. GG!

        • @Dougtron007
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          21 year ago

          I agree, why not reuse the ram and use some of the savings for a more robust motherboard. Also wouldn’t hurt to take a look at your PSU. These new flagship cards can peak really high.

          • @kamadOP
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            31 year ago

            PSU is also on the list of components I’m upgrading. I think my current PSU is close to a decade old now. It’s just one of those components that don’t get a lot of love when upgrading over the years compared to the big spends like cpu and gpu

            • @Dougtron007
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              21 year ago

              If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of PSU do you have in mind?

              • @kamadOP
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                21 year ago

                What I plan on getting is the Corsair RM850x Shift. 6950 xt requires a 850w PSU and I fancied the sideways oriented PSU as that makes things lot easier I my chassis. Might change it up (based on stock and prices) before I ultimately commit to the purchase

                • @Dougtron007
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                  21 year ago

                  That’s a pretty great choice, I’m not sure how I personally feel about the shift version. Do you have a bigger case with a lot of space in between the side panel and motherboard tray?

          • BoB
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            11 year ago

            exactly, as for the PSU in my experience Corsair is good hardware. I have two of them RM850 and CM750 that literally have been working for more than 10 years.