Stormtrooper
Been waiting to build my new rig for quite some time and this was the missing piece.
New build:
Corsair Icue 7000X Full Tower RGB
Ryzen 9 7900X CPU
32GB DDR5 5600 Corsair Dominator RAM
1 TB Crucial M.2 Gen 4
XFX Merc 319 Radeon 6950XT 16GB Graphics Card
Corsair 1000w PSU
Gigabyte X670 Elite AX AM5 Motherboard
Corsair iCUE H150i Elite LCD XT Liquid CPU Cooler (360 AIO mounted to top as Exhaust
6 Corsair ML140's Fans (10 total fans including those with the case/aio with 6 as intake and 4 for exhaust).
Lian Li Strimer V2 RGB Cables for the GPU and Motherboard (they look very nice and controllable via the L Connect 3 software)
As I needed additional powered USB headers I also added a Corsair Internal 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub - 4X 9-Pin USB 2.0 Ports for the Commander Core XT and Lian Li Controllers to function.
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Thermal Paste (removed the stock paste with AIO using TG cleaner wipes as well for better contact).
ThermalRight AMD5 CPU Shield - This allows the AIO or Waterblock (if doing a custom loop) to make WAY better contact with the CPU HS. It can be a little nerve wracking as your removing the cpu mount and installing this one but its worth it. As the AM5 CPU has no pins (the mobo now has the pins), its imperative you are gentle on the placement. Best way I found to install this shield was to place the CPU into the socket, then remove the cpu holder so this way you can't damage the cpu or pins as they are socketed. Installing the shield from that point is easy, just don't overtighten it. Theres a bunch of youtube videos on this process. Definitely recommend reviewing them before attempting this step.
I upgraded from my old Ryzen 5 2600X system with a GTX 960 SSC 4GB card and a 512gb M.2 Gen 2 drive.
Needless to say this was quite the upgrade from my old system.
Cinebench scores on my 2600X even with a mild overclock was only around 7200.
After getting everything configured/setup and Windows 11 Pro installed with all updates and enabling EXPO1 (RAM OC) and enabling SAM in the BIOS I started my benchmarking.
Cinebench score with just EXPO1 enabled baseline was 28745. What a jump!
CPU temp on the multi-core threading with the 360 AIO only went as high as 82c (AMD rates these to run at 95c as normal operating temp so it was well below even that).
Haven't done any OC'ing other than enabling EXPO1 yet since I really don't need to as the CPU and GPU run everything maxed out.
Tested on a few games on max/ultra settings and below are what I got FPS wise:
The Division 2 (All settings maxed and on DX12) - Avg 125fps on 3440 x 1440 165hz resolution
Aliens: Fireteam Elite - Avg 160fps on 3440 x 1440 165hz resolution
Borderlands 2 (older game I know but love to play it with max settings) - Avg 476fps on 3440 x 1440 165hz resolution
Forza Horizon 5 - Ultra Settings (max) including Ray Tracing - Avg 155fps on 3440 x 1440 165hz resolution
Aliens: Colonial Marines (older game) - Avg 190FPS on 3440 x 1440 165hz resolution
Warframe - Avg 155fps on 3440 x 1440 165hz resolution
Pairing this CPU and GPU together worked great and the CPU itself is a beast. It does get hot when it turbo's up into the 5ghz range which is why you need a really good cooler (either AIO or custom loop) to keep the temps in check.
If you do that, this CPU will be everything you need and then some.
One thing I always tell people is to take your time, plan out your PC parts you want for what you want the system to do (video editing, gaming, streaming, etc). Don't be afraid to look around for good deals. I scored the AIO Cooler off Newegg for a much cheaper price than Amazon had it and it works beautifully and the LCD screen is just a nice "geek" factor to put JPG's or GIF's there.
Once you have everything, take your time when building it. You may run into an issue here or there which is normal. First boot on AM5 systems is sometimes slow (Memory has to train) and you may see it cycle on/off for up to 1 minute. Mine did this and on the 4th power cycle it posted and I could get into the BIOS and everything showed up correctly.
Good luck enthusiasts and hope this review helped with anyone looking at this CPU for their system!
Its worth it!
| Processor | 4.7 GHz ryzen_9 |
|---|
Ari Hershkowitz