Question 1

Does this CPU have integrated graphics?

Accepted Answer

No it does not. Something like the AMD Ryzen™ 7 4700G is what you are looking for.

Question 2

Should I get this now or wait for the Zen 3 counterpart? My PTO is coming up and I just want to play my games on my down time instead of work days.

Accepted Answer

Mine is working fine with any game that I throw at it. While I am at work, it works for BOINC and does a good job for them. It's your call if you want all those cores for something... but you do not need them for any titles that are currently available.

Question 3

Why doesn't it have 4 channel memory? Seems foolish not to take advantage of the tech that exist

Accepted Answer

It doesn't support Quad Channel Memory mainly do to cost. Supporting Quad Channel on mainstream CPU's (eg. Ryzen 3, 5, 7, 9, or Intel i3, i5, i7) would raise the cost of the CPU and Motherboard to much to justify the little gain in CPU performance. This is mostly why Quad Channel Memory Support is reserved for HEDT CPU's (eg. Core i9 X-Series, Ryzen Threadripper). Anybody who can actually leverage the extra bandwidth provided by Quad Channel Support will probably go straight for HEDT anyway.

Question 4

Is a liquid cooler required?

Accepted Answer

Liquid cooling, as proven by Linus Tech Tips, is not something this chip is actually MADE to benefit from more than a traditional air cooling system. You can liquid cool it all you want, but the whole "made for liquid cooling" is just a marketing gimmick. I am liquid cooling mine, as I do all processors, because I like the aesthetics. I recommend going to YouTube and searching for temp benchmark tests to see results of air cooling versus water cooling. Its really all the same. I like liquid cooling better with hard tubes; pick your poison.

Question 5

Is a liquid cooler required?

Accepted Answer

Definitely not. noctua makes air coolers that do a superior job of cooling the processor IF you have the case space for them. Water coolers fail on average every three years and have to be replaced. Blow out an air cooler every two or three years and it will last as long as the system. That said, water coolers look, well cool, if you are showing off the system. Air coolers are UGLY! As a purely cost-to-benefit solution, air cool. If you plan on showing off the system, water cooling and lots of RGB is the way to go. Good quality air coolers leave plenty of room to overclock and are long term more reliable. Water coolers also allow overclocking but have long term maintenance issues. We build both ways for customers and have done lots of them. It is really your preference and what your purpose in building is.

Question 6

is this worth getting if you just bought the 3900x?

Accepted Answer

If you already have the 3900X, I would hold off on upgrading until the Ryzen 4000 series comes out next year in 2020, and perhaps upgrade to a possible 4950X 16-core, which will be based on the Zen 3 architecture and have substantial performance improvements.

Question 7

But is a water chiller necessary?

Accepted Answer

Water cooling is not necessary. You will see very similar temperatures from air cooling or water cooling. I am water cooling mine simply because I like the aesthetics more. (hard tubing).

Question 8

what kind of motherboard goes with this CPU? I am currently trying to save up money to make my dream pc to help make my YouTube videos and I have my parts selected but I want to make sure everything fits.
here is my build:
1: CORSAIR Carbide Series SPEC-DELTA RGB Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Gaming Case, Black - CC-9011166-WW

2: GIGABYTE X570 AORUS MASTER AMD Ryzen 3000 PCIe 4.0 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.2 AMD X570 ATX Motherboard
3:  AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16-Core 3.5 GHz Socket AM4 105W 100-100000051WOF Desktop Processor
4: WD Blue 3D NAND 2TB Internal SSD - SATA III 6Gb/s 2.5"/7mm Solid State Drive - WDS200T2B0A
5:  G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 128GB (4 x 32GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 4000 (PC4 32000) Intel XMP 2.0 Desktop Memory Model F4-4000C18Q-128GTZR
6: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB Close-Loop CPU Liquid Cooler, 240mm Radiator, Dual Chamber RGB Pump, Dual MF120R RGB Fans, RGB Lighting for AMD Ryzen/Intel LGA1200/1151
7:Windows 10 Home - 64-bit - OEM
8: MSI GeForce RTX 2060 DirectX 12 RTX 2060 GAMING Z 6G 6GB 192-Bit GDDR6 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

sorry for the long list. I just want to see if anyone can help me make sure that I have compatible parts.

Accepted Answer

Looks good, but you can head over to pcpartpicker to also check basic compatibility. The best thing you can do is check the qualified vendor list on the manufacturer website, for memory and CPU compatibility.

Question 9

Does the 3950x support ECC memory?

Accepted Answer

It is not about your CPU, but your motherboard that determines the support for ECC.

Question 10

Can this handle "placebo" in OBS for encoding at 1080p 60fps?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Although at that point you are just wasting space. I software encode at High 20MB/s for recording and at the same time stream at 9MB/s while playing the game and running the streaming software. CPU hasn't been over 30%

Questions & Answers