I'm getting a new build suggestion system, and it's my turn to pick one from the line up.
I'm getting a new build suggestion system, and it's my turn to pick one from the line up.
I came here this morning looking for upgrade guidance and clearly see that I am not alone. My current base system is a 2013 build and does not meet the requirements for Windows 11. Despite reasonable performance, given the age of its components, occasional stability issues, and the Windows restriction, I figure it is time to upgrade. I haven't kept up on the latest tech. I worked in IT security until 2020 when I retired (yup, gray haired dude here). Here is my present setup: Antec Sonata Solo II ATX case (two case fans with a third fan bay available) Corsair AX850 Gold PSU MSI Z77A-G45 motherboard Intel I7-2700K processor 16 GB G.SKILL Ripjaws Series DDR 3 memory (4 x 4GB) MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB GDRR5 (Duke 8G) GPU PNY CS1311 240 GB SSD SATA III (C: drive) SanDisk SSD 1GB SATA III Drive (Games) Western Digital WD Green WD7500AARX 750GB SATA 6.0Gb/s hard disk (document files) HITACHI HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA 300 hard disk (RAW image files and videos) I'd like to keep the case, PSU, and GPU for now if reasonable. Keeping the PSU assumes the MB power connectors haven't changed or I can order a new connector cable. My objective is to create a similar machine that has similar longevity/future proofing regarding performance specs. Not top end, but good. I play World of Warships regularly and want to install one of the new flight sims, possibly Microsoft Flight Sim. I do a fair amount of amateur photography editing and am starting to play with video editing. Finally, I'm not stuck on Intel. I'd be willing to flip to AMD if it would better serve my needs, be more cost effective, or provide a significant improvement in power usage. Thanks.
I think you should fill out this form to the best of your power and send the results over there at this link: https://forums. Cost is what matters most when picking parts for you. And sure, you can keep your old PC case, GPU and PSU. But be careful with the PSU because it's a bit old now. If you need some tips on how to fill out that form I linked, check my post from last month when I was in exactly the same spot as you are today. Link: https://forums. Use that like a template for formatting. But my topic is finished now.
I'm using an AMD processor on my computer for photo editing because it uses less power than an Intel one. This saves money when you're looking at electricity costs around $0.34 per kilowatt-hour. I prefer an NVIDIA graphics card over an AMD one since video editing programs work better with them. When I run heavy tasks like upgrading 4K images to full HD, the whole setup used 400 watts. Now that I've bought a new GPU, I haven't checked the power usage yet. My old power supply from 2013 is probably too weak for an AX series upgrade even if it costs more. I think Corsair won't give better than a 12-year warranty and those capacitors in older models might slowly dry out, leading to an explosion sooner or later. If you want to play around with tech first, buy a fast hard drive, unplug all your current drives, install Windows 11 using Rufus, and get used to the new look of the computer interface.
Is this CPU too powerful for the job? Probably yes, but I think it's better value than cheaper ones with fewer cores, especially if you plan on using it for a long time. The computer part list shows an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X processor with 12 cores ($342.00 from Amazon). It comes with a thermalright peerless assassin 140 cooler that makes 77.8 CFM of airflow ($47.90 from Amazon). You also get an Asus tuf gaming b650-plus wifi motherboard for $169.99. Inside is G.Skill flare x5 memory with 64 GB (2 times 32 GB) running at 6000 MHz CL30 ($179.99 from Newegg). The storage is an acer predator gm7000 with 2 TB of m.2-2280 pcie 4.0 x4 nvme ssd ($125.99 from Amazon). Adding everything up, the total cost comes to $865.87. These prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. Generated by PCPartPicker in 2025-04-07 08:50 EDT.
AMD and Intel chips are pretty similar when it comes to cost and how well they perform. I think you should check out the new Intel Ultra line, maybe the $300 Ultra 245K model. Those chips use a lot less power than usual. As a game processor, they didn't work as well as the AMD X3D chips did in the past. But new reviews from actual gamers say they are very happy with them. Your power supply is a great deal and has a seven-year warranty. Power supplies do get older over time, but I would stick with reusing one if it still feels right to use it. The wattage is more than enough for your needs. You can reuse the computer case, though there isn't much room for air flow if you put a very hot processor or graphics card in there. Putting stronger intake fans in front of those parts might make up for that lack of airflow. I'd just go ahead and reuse it for now. If you need to add a DVD drive, most new cases don't have them built-in so you'll have to buy one separately. But you can definitely use your old drives. I plan on upgrading the C drive with an m.2 pcie SSD instead of buying a whole new drive.
That Asus TUF gaming B650 board is a solid choice. That's what I'm currently using. I have a Ryzen 7 7700 non-X processor. I'd recommend swapping out the power supply soon, even though it was made in good quality back then. It has been too long. If you want to save money, you could look at CPUs like the Ryzen 7 7700 or 9700X now and plan on upgrading later. Your current i7 is probably only four cores and eight threads, so an 8-core 16-thread setup would seem a lot of extra power right now. Also, technology has changed a lot with IPC. Definitely get an NVMe SSD for your main drive.
Thanks to everyone who helped out. That means a lot to me. Here are the details you asked about, plus my answers: When I bought it, I thought April 25nd was the last day. My budget for the computer parts is between $400 and $600 before buying memory and a new hard drive. How much do I use my stuff? Most of what I need is photos and games, then just browsing the web. Are you looking for a screen now? No, I already have two big 24 inch screens that work fine with me right now. What parts am I adding or keeping? I'm upgrading the CPU and memory but sticking with my current hard drive. The new parts are: a Z77A-G45 motherboard, an Intel processor called i7-2700K, 16 gigabytes of RAM from G.SKILL, a SSD that holds 240 gigabytes for fast games, and a Blu-Ray player. What else do I keep? I'm keeping my power supply and some old hard drives just in case, along with two game discs. Do you need new software? No, I have enough programs running already. Where can I get parts online? I check Newegg, Best Buy, and Amazon because they have good prices. This whole setup is near the town of Hampden, Massachusetts. It's about 35 minutes away from a big store and 90 minutes from downtown Boston. What are my favorite things to do? I like simple stuff without too many lights or fans making noise. I also want to save money on electricity bills by keeping power usage low. My main programs are MS Office, Adobe Photoshop (GIMP), Corel Paint Shop, World of Warships, and Microsoft Flight Simulator (just starting). Why am I doing this upgrade? Because my old Windows 10 version is ending and the new system won't work with it anymore. Hope that helps explain things better!
X3D CPUs are really good for games and will most likely continue to be 5-10 years from now. They are expensive because of demand, and also rarely go on sale because of that. The 7800X3D or a 9800X3D are the obvious options. The non X3D CPUs are also great for gaming, just not best in class, but you can get more cores than a similar X3D for less. The 7900x/9900x or the 7950x/9950x are the obvious choices in a perfect world, though I am not sure the budget for the latter two is possible. Here are my recommendations: PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($409.00 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon) Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard ($172.93 @ Amazon) Memory: Patriot Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon) Total: $892.81 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-08 01:12 EDT-0400 or PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 4.5 GHz 16-Core Processor ($480.00 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon) Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard ($172.93 @ Amazon) Memory: Patriot Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Amazon) Total: $963.81 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-08 01:13 EDT-0400 Can substitute in a 9900x if you are uncomfortable going a bit over budget for the 16 core 7950x CPU.
👍 Now we know what we're dealing with and can give you accurate suggestions. Core i7 back then was top-end. So.... 🤔 Besides the two builds by helper800, here's 3rd option as well; PCPartPicker Part List CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($479.00 @ Newegg) CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon) Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard ($172.93 @ Amazon) Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($168.90 @ Amazon) Total: $931.72 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-08 01:40 EDT-0400 Few words; CPU - The best gaming CPU currently out there. Review: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d/ R7 7800X3D is 2nd best gaming CPU out there, while R7 9800X3D is current king. And it would hold up for the future very well. R7 7800X3D is still solid gaming CPU, but depending on a game you play on 1080p, FPS diff could be up to 30 FPS in favor of R7 9800X3D. Testing results: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-r...3d/18.html CPU cooler - King of air coolers. None are better, especially at that price point. So, it is essentially the only option (unless you want to pay far more money for negligible difference if you go with e.g Noctua or any AIO water cooler). MoBo - Currently solid value option. Though, most AM5 socket MoBos are easily 200+ bucks, so, it is hard to find sub-200 MoBo. It is B850 chipset, so, almost the best you could currently pick for AMD (AM5) MoBo. The best would be X870/X870E chipset, but those cost far more money. As of what you'd be giving up; some PCI-E lanes, few USB ports and a bit slower wi-fi (6E vs 7). AM5 chipset comparison: https://www.amd.com/en/products/processo...html#specs RAM - For AM5 platform, current sweet spot in terms of frequency is 6000 MT/s. 6400 MT/s tops. So, put in 2x 16GB (32GB) 6400 MT/s RAM, with CL32 (1st word latency 10ns). It is double the amount of RAM what you currently have, so, i think it would suffice. But if you do need more RAM at future date, buying new RAM and replacing it is far easier than e.g replacing CPU. So, to keep current costs down, i didn't include 2x 32GB (64GB) RAM. SSD - Samsung 990 Pro 2TB. IMO, the most reliable and durable SSD out there. (All Samsung SSDs are actually known for their reliability and durability). Sure, the Crucial T500 does outperform 990 Pro a tiny bit, review: But i, personally, am not that confident in Crucial reliability. I'm using Samsung drives myself (both 2.5" SATA SSD and M.2 PCI-E 3.0 SSDs) and they all have hold up for many years thus far. The oldest M.2 Samsung drive i have (960 Evo) is now 7 years old. While the oldest Samsung 2.5" SATA SSD i have (850 Evo) is 8 years old now. And they still work fine. Overall, your call on which M.2 SSD to go for. 990 Pro review: Since i'm in the same boat as you currently are (need to upgrade my systems as well), i'm planning to go with the very same CPU, CPU cooler and M.2 SSD as well. Though, i'm looking towards more feature rich (and expensive) MoBo myself, while going with cheaper 2x 8GB (16GB) RAM, which i plan to upgrade at later date. Do note that with new build (new MoBo), you need to make a new, clean Win installation. And depending on which version of OS you currently have (retail or OEM), you may or may not buy a new license. Since my builds are using OEM licenses, i have to buy new Win licenses as well. Here's a guide on how to activate Win11 license, link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...e-...windows_11 Now, if your current Win10 license is retail, then you can link it to your Micro$oft account and use the same license key again, by 1st deactivating license on your current build. But if you have OEM version of Win, then new license is only option. Unless you want to use Win11 without activation (which you can, but you then can't use any personalization options and Win will annoy you on daily basis to activate it.) I suggest that you look into new PSU as well. Preferably during this upgrade but ideally when you go with new GPU. AX850 was one of the best PSUs money could buy, back in 2010, when it launched. It uses Seasonic X-series platform (the 1st ATX PSU in the world to achieve 80+ Gold efficiency). And it has 7 years of warranty. As of today, your PSU is 15 years old. Twice the warranty period (that's the Seasonic reliability for you). Still, no PSU lasts for forever and i suggest that you look towards new PSU sooner than later. (My 3x PCs are also powered by Seasonic. I have 2x PRIME TX-650 units and one Focus PX-550 unit. Full specs with pics in my sig.) As of which PSU to go for, that depends on which GPU you go for. On Nvidia side; E.g RTX 5090/4090 needs 1200W PSU, preferably one with ATX 3.0 standard. 1500/1600W PSU would be preferred. RTX 5080/ 4080/4080 Super/3090/3090 Ti needs 1000W PSU. RTX 5070 Ti/3070/3080/3080 Ti needs 850W PSU. RTX 4070 Ti/4070 Ti Super needs 750W PSU. RTX 4070/4070 Super/4060 Ti/3060/3060 Ti needs 650W PSU. RTX 4060 needs 550W PSU. RTX 5060 is still upcoming and we don't know it's actual power draw. So, when you have new GPU in mind and know it's power consumption, then you can buy yourself a proper wattage PSU as well. I suggest getting the ATX 3.x version PSU. Further reading: https://hwbusters.com/best_picks/best-at...e-busters/ But ATX 2.2 and ATX 2.5 PSUs also work. But with those, you need to over-provision wattage wise, to create enough buffer for GPU transient power spikes. Almost all AM5 socket MoBos support CPU OC (except A620 and B840 chipsets). With Intel CPUs, you need to have CPU that supports OC. Namely the K-suffix. But with AMD and the latest AM5 socket CPUs, as long as MoBo supports CPU OC - you can OC your CPU. Regardless the chip you use. In that sense, AMD is more flexible with CPU OC. Usually when CPU OC is done, it is all core OC, negating the effects of different Turbo Boost ratios on different core amounts. But on the flip side, the latest CPUs are so fine tuned that they have little, if any OC headroom (frequencies over max turbo ratio). Back in the day, with older CPUs, CPU OC was worthwhile. E.g i have i5-6600K with 3.5 GHz base and 3.9 Ghz boost. With CPU OC, i could get it 4.5 Ghz all core (increase of 600 Mhz over boost), or with delid, ~4.7 Ghz all core (800 Mhz over boost). And there have been some delidded i5-6600K CPUs, that can hold 5 Ghz all core. Essentially from Intel 12th gen and onwards, most chips out there can only hold all core stable 100-300 Mhz over max boost. That gain is so little, that CPU OC with current, highly efficient chips, isn't worthwhile. There won't be any meaningful performance increase. If the headroom would be bigger, like it is with my 6th gen CPU, where on minimum, i look towards 600 Mhz increase over boost clocks (or up to 1.1 Ghz over boost, if very lucky with delidded chip), then CPU OC makes sense. All-in-all, CPU OC is dying niche and outside of record breaking, isn't worth the effort anymore. Better to run stock clocks and let CPU to decide when to turbo up. Less energy waste and less heat production this way also. Not to mention CPU lifespan, since when running stock clocks, CPU lifespan is easy 10+ years. Running all core OC 24/7 will reduce CPU lifespan considerably. E.g if i were to run 4.5 Ghz on my i5-6600K, i could cut the CPU lifespan in half. And when running CPU at high OC levels, the absolute maximum CPU is able to run at (e.g ~4.7 Ghz on my i5-6600K), you can burn out the chip in 1-2 years. Nvidia SLI and AMD Crossfire is dead. When it did work, there wasn't double the performance with two GPUs. At most, you could get 50% performance boost, but double the power consumption and double the heat production. In current era, having one single powerful GPU is the way. Though, there are multiple GPU setups, but those exist only in workstation builds (e.g several Quadro GPUs for increasing GPU compute power for number crunching). For that, you can look towards more efficient PSU. Back in 2010, 80+ Gold was the most efficient PSU out there. Today, we also have 80+ Platinum and 80+ Titanium PSUs (latter being the most efficient). Here are 80+ standards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_Plus#Ef...ifications And also the new, Cybenetics standards: https://www.cybenetics.com/index.php?option=eta_9-51-40 E.g the Seasonic PRIME TX-650 PSUs i have in use, have the highest efficiency there is; 80+ Titanium (in 80+ standard) ETA Titanium (in Cybenetics standard), certification: https://www.cybenetics.com/evaluations/psus/44/ That should be it for now. If you have more questions, ask.