Looking for ideas to upgrade MBO and CPU
Looking for ideas to upgrade MBO and CPU
I built this system six years ago. It functions as my office desktop and also acts as a network server, mainly playing music to Sonos and displaying photos on a large screen via jriver.
NZXT S340 Elite ATX Mid Tower Computer Case – should work for upgrading.
MSI Z270 SLI Plus motherboard
I7-70007K CPU
RTX 2080 GPU
16 Gig DDR4 3000 C15
Samsung 860 500 gig SSD – operating system and programs
Samsung 970 500 gig SSD – data, music, and photos mostly
WD2003FZEX-00Z4SA0 2T hard drive – purchased in 2015 for backup
I think the CPU needs replacing because it can't run Windows 11.
Upgrading to a newer CPU would be necessary.
Upgrading from DDR4 to DDR5 might be worth considering, but if staying on DDR4 I’ll need to locate the right MBO.
My 500 gig SSD for media is running low – I’d like to upgrade it to 1.5 or 2 TB.
My backup hard drive is becoming outdated – I’m thinking about replacing it.
I’m seeking recommendations for a motherboard or CPU, maybe one that supports DDR4 if upgrading to DDR5 isn’t worth it?
Also, consider swapping the old hard drive for a newer model for backup purposes.
Thanks for your feedback and suggestions.
When you opt for DDR5, you're accessing the newest and most advanced systems from Intel and AMD. If you prefer sticking to DDR4, you can select older boards or processors based on Intel's AM4 platform. Actually, a B550 chipset paired with a Ryzen 7 58003D/9 5900x should suffice—why upgrade then?!
Based on your usage, everything should work just fine.
She replied "Yes!" using a raised fist when I shared the posts.
Probably I should upgrade to a bigger SSD, and maybe swap out the old hard drive too.
Thanks.
Looks like your board has two M.2 slots so whatever SSD is most economical shouldn't be a problem for your system. A new HDD would be a pretty good idea given the age of your existing one.
Unless there's a specific reason for Win11 it's probably best to wait and see how things shake out when Intel has ARL on the market and AMD brings Zen 5. Depending on your PSU you might need to update that as well if you were moving on to a new platform.
Yeah, most SSDs should work fine. Just remember their speed will be restricted to PCIe 3.0. They’re hard to find outside North America, though, and my existing drives are from SK Hynix/Solidigm. It seems Solidigm’s Solidigm brand might not be available anymore since they’re now part of the company. They’ve been doing some cool software stuff, so if you’re on Windows, their drives could have an advantage.
Other good brands include Crucial, Samsung, Kingston, Western Digital and Seagate. Prices are expected to rise, so the best deals might be limited to the holiday season.