Considering your 6-year-old I7-6700K, weigh the options between Intel and AMD to decide what's best for your needs.
Considering your 6-year-old I7-6700K, weigh the options between Intel and AMD to decide what's best for your needs.
To maintain your DDR4 memory, the best choice is an Intel 13th generation processor such as the i5 13600K combined with a B660 DDR4 motherboard.
Inspect the thaiphoon burner for ICE, share a screen if you need confirmation on the model. Generally it should meet at least 3200. Which country? What’s the purpose? In certain regions b660 might not be worth it because z690 is nearly priced similarly, and your RAM is at least dual-channel so there’s a free 20% boost in bandwidth that helps offset some DDR5 speed gains. However, you invest in DDR5 mainly for future-proofing—aim for at least 7200 to ensure stability and performance. The extra speed from 7200 comes mainly as a bonus, not the main goal.
You can't safely lower the voltage too much on a b660 board—only a tiny 0.05mV is sufficient, or you risk losing performance and hitting power limits. A more reliable option would be a Z690 Msi Pro board, giving you complete voltage control since most 360A units require that.
I’d suggest sticking with the latest DDR5 modules if available, as they offer improved performance and efficiency.
Very open to DDR5 if it really improves performance. From what I see, the CPU is clocked at 3200, but it's currently showing 2400. I'm in the US and would expect a budget around $400-500. It's meant for gaming, video editing, and streaming.
If the clock is 3200 but you're avoiding XMP for that setting, you'd stick with the RAM and apply XMP instead. DDR5 remains costly, and a 32GB DDR4 3200 still doesn't limit performance. Within the 400-500 budget, it's wiser to allocate everything to the CPU and MBOX rather than spending a large portion (150-200) on DDR5 while opting for a less powerful processor.
Thanks for the details! At the moment, the 13600k is really catching my attention. Should I save a bit to get it (without onboard graphics) or could it impact my overall experience? Also, regarding the MOBO, do any 12th Gen boards require BIOS updates, or are they already compatible with the 13th Gen? I’m considering this model here: [link](https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-B660-PLUS-D4...C95&sr=8-4).
You'll decide what to do with your old setup—it's still functional enough. If not, you can sell it. Doing either of those steps means keeping the DDR4 module, which is worth noting because if you've used it on newer systems, 2400 MHz is quite slow and might require manual overclocking that can be tricky. Regardless of whether you're working with a 13th generation chip or an AMD platform, moving to DDR5 is recommended at this stage.