Ryzen 5 1500x or Ryzen 5 2400G?

[jmarin]

Hi Guys,
New to the forum, but not new to building PCs. Currently trying to spec out a mini-ITX build for the near future (once I part with some other PCs) and am debating between the 1500x and the 2400G. In your opinion, would getting the 1500x make any sense if I am not over-clocking? Would getting the 2400G make any sense if I am going to have discrete graphics? I like the idea of having on-board graphics in case the graphics card has an issue, but I also have a laptop so I wouldn't be completely out a computer if something were to happen. The PC would mainly be used for some light to moderate gaming (Civilization is my main thing), perusing the web, word processing, videos, i.e. normal stuff. The price difference between the two is minimal, so that isn't the issue. Just curious what others thought in regards to these two processors. Thanks

 

[TheHig]

Welcome!

To me the Ryzen X processors ONLY make sense if you are not overclocking. Fastest out of the box performance-- hook and book. Sure there is some evidence that the X procs will get a better OC or are binned a bit higher but we know 4.0 is about the wall for most of the first round of Ryzen cpus.

In this case the 2400G is a hair faster out of the box in Mhz and if you aren't concerned about the slight differences such as less L3 cache and pcie 8x support if you go dGPU then get that one. I doubt one would notice any of these differences with a mid to mid-high range GPU added.

The integrated GPU in the 2400G is a 'nice to have' before you add a GPU. Also the option to retire it to lighter duties down the road sans dGPU makes it a solid investment in the long run.

TDLR: 2400G gets my vote as a better all around part for similar cost.

 

[jmarin]

Thanks for the reply. The idea of using it later for light duty is one I didn't think of and a good one at that. Does the difference in L3 cache matter much? The 1500X has a lot more. I doubt it makes a difference but just wanted to ask. It's been awhile since I looked this in depth at parts.

 

[TheHig]

I haven't seen anything out there yet to indicate that the lower cache and pcie x8 limit on the 2400G will be that big of a difference maker. What GPU are you looking to pair with it?

Here is a video that shows the 1600, 2400G and a 1080ti added to compare. I would say that both CPUs hold the 1080ti back some. Perhaps an unrealistic pairing since most go bigger on the CPU for an 800+ dollar GPU. It does provide an interesting comparison. Also I have no idea if this youtube channel is any good!

 

[jmarin]

I was planning on something in the range of the RX 560/1050/1050ti. Leaning towards the RX560 since it's similar in price to the 1050 but has 4GB versus 2GB and both are cheaper than the 1050ti, so I don't think the processor will be a huge bottleneck in that case. If I was going with something like a 1080ti, I definitely would be looking at Ryzen 7/Core i7 processors. I also must have missed the 8x PCIe limit since I saw on motherboards the Ryzen 16x part and missed Raven Ridge 8x so thanks for pointing that out. Like you said though, that probably won't effect me in my use case.