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Hello, all!

I'm building a new system for my main desktop for the first time in five years. The i5-3570K is going to a better place.

My plan is to replace it with a Ryzen 3700X config:
ASUS Prime X570-P
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-32GVK

The rest of the parts will be from my existing build. I'm mostly concerned with two things:
1) memory compatability.
2) Am I missing features I might need?

The memory I picked looks to be on the approved memory list and the reviews show people using it with an X570 board, so I'm reasonably confident that it'll work. But anything anyone has to add is welcome.

WRT features, this board does more than my existing board--and adds USB3.2 gen2 ports and PCI-E v4.0 and a couple of M.2 slots. I only have one PCI-E x16 card (RX580) and one PCI-E 1x card (four port SATA for a bunch of optical drives). I see myself using the M.2 slots (I already have one M.2 card in a PCI-E to M.2 adapter just to play with them. I won't need that adapter card any more.

There's RGB headers on the board and some extra USB as well. My case had a cable for some internal USB2 (four ports) and USB3 (two ports). So, it looks like I'll be able to make use of that. I may lose one of my USB2 ports as it looks like the MB only has three USB2 ports on internal headers. Meh. I gain 2 USB3 on the front, so that's no big loss. There are other ways to add more if I care--plenty of open 1x slots for that.

Any opinions? I'm not going for a flashy build--though there are several RGB headers including one for addressable LEDs. I might use that as a smart status indicator as I have plenty of WS2182B displays from other hobby work.

The only real remaining decision is will I just use the included air cooler or will I try to see if my existing water cooling setup can be adapted to this processor mount. But that's for another post.

willmore wrote:

$150 2x16 GiB PC4-25600 G.Skill Ripjaws V F4-3200C16D-32GVK (DDR4-3200, 16-18-18-38, 1.35V)

How about
$125 2x16 GiB PC4-25600 Crucial Ballistix Sport LT BLS2K16G4D32AESB (DDR4-3200, 16-18-18-??, 1.35V) or
$197 2x16 GiB PC4-25600 G.Skill Ripjaws V F4-3200C15D-32GVK (DDR4-3200, 15-15-15-35, 1.35V) ?
I would probably go with the Crucial Ballistix to save $25 vs. your original choice.

I did look at those Crucial DIMMs. Can't remember why I eliminated them. I think it was because I couldn't find anything like them on the memory compatability list of the MB and I thought I'd play it safe. My reason for not looking at the Ripjaws was because some of the reviews talk about them being a die prefered by Intel processors and not performing as well on AMD. I'm so out of the loop on knowing what die stepping from what manufacturers are good for what processors, that's it's painful.

I don't have a good reason to reject the Crucial DIMMS, though. Especially with that price difference. I guess if they don't end up working well on this, I may make a lower end AMD system later--when Ryzen 2 starts causing the older parts to really drop in price--and when X570 (and hopefully other chipsets) push down the price of the older 4xx series MBs.

Thanks for your input!

And now the memory is sold out.

I waited another day and the quad kit of that RipJaws memory came on sale for less than two of the dual kits, so, I sort of convinced myself to get 64GB. That'll be a nice step up from 16GB--which was already plenty. I hope I don't regret that decision. (someone make a note of this

I threw in an M.2 SSD because it's easier to do a clean install onto a new drive instead of trying to copy over from a different drive later. It's an HP EX920 256GB. They got pretty good reviews a year ago when they came out and it'll certainly be faster than the Crucial CX (something) 240 (something) GB SATA drive that's my boot drive currently.

willmore wrote:

And now the memory is sold out.

It was a good deal at 2x 16 GiB for $125. It's still in stock at 1x 16 GiB for $78.

Agreed. I didn't really need 64GB--though I plan on giving it a workout--but it was just such a good deal.

The MB and memory came today from the local warehouse, but the CPU is coming from their Edison, NJ facility and will likely be here next tuesday. No worries, I wasn't expecting any of it quickly--I chose the free shipping after all.

The Crucial 32GB RAM kit (3200, 2x16) from Funk's news post a couple weeks ago is the first kit I've had in two years that will run over 2400 on my two Ryzen 5 1600 systems. If going G.Skill, I would probably step up to Trident Z, or just go with the Crucial. I haven't had luck with 4 DIMMs over 2400 either. That's just my experience with Ryzen 1000 though. Also Windows is more forgiving on Ryzen and RAM than ESXi. And finally, I have no experience with Ryzen 2000 or 3000, so...yeah.

Everything but the M.2 SSD arrived by yesterday, so I assembled it and stuck it on the bench with a spare PSU.

Things I like about the MB: the BIOS mostly makes sense. It has an 'update over the internet' feature. This is wornderful as it allowed me to update the firmware without having to do any stupid windows stuff. My usual build order is:

Update BIOS
Set memory clocks
Set processor clocks (or later)
Burn in with memtest86+ (4-8 passes)
Install OS
Burn in with Prime95 (at least one full set of all FFT sizes -- normally 18 hours)
Crack open the bubbly and dedicate the new build!

So, having the MB help me out with that first set keeps me from having to install the OS on an underclocked or possibly unstable motherboard so that I can upate the BIOS and start the whole process over.

I don't care for the automatic LEDs on the MB which are under the chipset cooler. I haven't found controls to turn them off. There's two blue, one red, and one green. I guess they might be part of the Auro Sync RGB system and I'll look in the ASUS utiltiy for that once I get up to the OS level. The Wrath Prism (think that's the name) cooler that came with the 3700X also has RGB on it. It's the smarter addressable type, but it's a little too smart. Seems they include two cables--one hooks to a dumb RGB header and the other to USB for use with AMD lighting software. Or, if nothing is hooked up, it runs a pattern of its own choosing. FFS. So, I'll have to hook a cable up to it to shut that up. There goes another internal USB2 port. I'm already one low. My case has four front pannel USB2 ports and the MB only has 3 ports on it. So, I'm going to have dead USB ports on my case now unless I do something. Wonder if someone makes a hub board with headers on it instead of jacks?

So far so good. Been running a lot of Prime95 at different settings and haven't gotten any errors, so that's a very good sign. I haven't done anything to overclock the CPU--I'm about 5 years out of date WRT how to do that well. I may do that in the future if it seems like I'll need it.

I'm going to start swapping it with my current desktop on Friday if nothing goes wrong. I'll likely be ripping out the water cooling in that case and going with the in-box air cooler for now. If I end up wanting to overclock, I can always put it back in or use one of the AIO or other kits I have.

I could use tips on how to get Win10 to not be so much like Win10, though. But that's for another post.

willmore wrote:

I'll likely be ripping out the water cooling in that case and going with the in-box air cooler for now. If I end up wanting to overclock, I can always put it back in or use one of the AIO or other kits I have.

I did the same thing WRT to watercooling. It's not necessary these days to keep noise levels down, and there's plenty of decent AIOs around if you need one for one reason or another.

willmore wrote:

I could use tips on how to get Win10 to not be so much like Win10, though.

Powershell. Lots and lots of powershell.