Question My upgrade route from an i7-7700K to ensure compatibility with Windows 11?
Question My upgrade route from an i7-7700K to ensure compatibility with Windows 11?
I've spent about a week going over hardware and exploring options to choose the best components that fit my needs, its been a bit of an adventure exploring all of the different options out there and stumbling over many roadblocks, and reassessing requirements to find the right solution. I think I've found it and I hope the contents of this might also help someone else who is or will go through the same process soon.
TLDR:
Settled on a Ryzen 7 5700x on a ASUS PRO WS X570-ACE.
I7-7700k and Asus Strix Z270-E Gaming will become a Linux based NAS using TrueNAS. I’ve been looking at buying a dedicated NAS anyway, likely something from Synology so this kills that bird and saves me around $1000AUD, and it will be technically interesting and challenging to implement which I'm happy to deal with. Finally it reduces e-waste.
All quoted prices in $AUD
The goal of this upgrade is to replace the existing I7-7700k with a CPU that is compatible with Windows 11 at the cheapest possible price while also having the best quality. But evolved slightly into a mild upgrade that will stave off the need for another upgrade for at least another 5 - 10 years with a newer is better approach and meeting in the middle between cost, quality and newness.
I have begun this upgrade in December 2024 to counter the anticipated hardware price hikes that will occur as we get closer to Microsoft's deadline in October 2025.
Replace just the CPU
LGA 1151 8th and 9th generation “Coffee Lake” and “Coffee Lake Refresh” processors are incompatible with the Z270 chipset on the motherboard.
I7 7700k is the best cpu you can put on this motherboard.
So this option is a no go, and leads to the next option of having to replace both the cpu and the motherboard as a minimum.
Replace both the CPU and the Motherboard
Considerations
I’ve been using a Corsair H80i v2 AIO cooler for years. It has a nice spot in my case where it lives that can only fit 120mm. My case is a Silverstone RV-02 Raven, it can easily support a larger AOI cooler that sits above its 3 180mm fans with brackets. but it looks janky and I question its effectiveness at cooling. I’ve also lost those brackets years ago. There's an official picture of this online somewhere.
The RV-02 is a unique case and I’ll keep on using it for good, I do plan on customising it later and installing a custom water loop that uses a 180mm x 540mm radiator above the fans, and an additional 120mm thick radiator in the spot I currently have my H80i v2. But that's a challenge for another time.
The I7 7700k has a 91W TDP and the H80i v2 has been handling it with no problems at all, though I do get temps in the high 80s sometimes if I’m pushing it. So I wouldn’t want to get a cpu with a higher value, I could probably go up to 95W but no more without thermally throttling the cpu.
I have 32GB of Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 RAM that can run up to 3000MHz. These can be overclocked to accommodate a higher bus speed.
I currently have an EVGA Geforce GTX 1080 FTW Gaming graphics card installed and another that I've had mostly acting as a paperweight while I eventually get around to ordering new fans for it. Once that’s done I’ll run them in SLI. I know that SLI has been phased out almost entirely but for this upgrade, I’d like to retain the ability to use SLI as I still play games that support it. I’ll also be splurging and getting a curved 4k monitor sometime within the next year to replace my aging but still perfectly working 1080p monitors.
I'm not too interested in overclocking the CPU, I like things running from the factory, but I do like using intel K (unlocked) CPU’s where possible as they have higher clock rates. But locked CPUs are completely fine as well.
Also have no interest in RGB. Bland and black is better, more interested in having robust and well made hardware that performs well enough out the factory as is. I’ll eventually order a spare panel to replace the one with the small acrylic window on it.
Constraints
Use existing 120mm AIO cooler, supports many different sockets but best to stick with LGA 1151, LGA 1200, AM4 and AM5.
< 95W TDP
Has the ability to support DDR4 Ram > 3000MHz, overclocking to 3000MHz is ok.
Supports 2 way SLI
Intel 9th Gen Upgrade (LGA 1151)
Core i9 9900K - 95W
Similarly priced to i7 9700k, the i9 is slightly more expensive but not much, both around $300. However while both have 8 cores, the i7 only has 8 threads while the i9 has 16.
Asus WS Z390 PRO - $800 to $1100
ROG STRIX Z390-E Gaming - $300 to $600
Both options are PCIe 3.0
Intel 11th Gen Upgrade (LGA 1200)
Core i7 11700 - 65W - $500
It is basically identical to the Core i9 11900. The both are 65W, the base clock is the same and the turbo clock rates are only marginally better for the i9.
The K versions for both are 125W.
https://versus.com/en/intel-core-i7-1170...e-i9-11900
The differences are not worth the extra cost of the i9, and they are way harder to find.
Doesn't seem to be a workstation for the Z490 or Z590
ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING $500 to $800
PCIe 4.0
AM4 Upgrade
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X - 65W - $239
5800X and 5900X run at 105W TDP, are more expensive (5900X is double the price), with only slightly better performance. 5700X is more than enough for what I need to do.
The AMD X570 chipset is the only one that supports 2 way SLI
ASUS Pro WS X570-ACE - $350 to $800
ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING - $250 to $500
Both options are PCIe 4.0
AM5 Upgrade
Not possible as AM5 uses DDR5 memory and isn't backwards compatible with DDR4, so I would need to buy more memory adding to the cost ruling this option out.
AM4 is the cheaper option by far, so I settled on that, bought the Ryzen 7 5700X for $239 and am looking at spending a bit extra ($350 to $400) to get the X570-ACE direct from China, over choosing the Strix X570 for around the same price. Moderately cheaper than compared to the prices for motherboards on the Intel side.
Is there something I've overlooked or could have chosen better?
Thank you for taking the time to read and hope you've had a very merry Christmas, and will have a happy new yearXD
The cost of the 5700X appears elevated when compared to the $180 price of the 5700X3D at Microcenter and Aliexpress, though this varies by location. If your system relies on RAM for a NAS setup, how will that affect the availability of the 5700X? The most affordable option is a used 6-core or higher Skylake-X processor paired with an LGA 2066 board (such as i7 7800X, 7820X, or i9 7900X-7980XE), though it's uncertain if Windows 13 will remove those from compatibility.
Ahh yeah I live in Australia so all of the prices are in $AUD. I'll make a note at the top. Think I should change all the prices in the post to $USD to avoid confusion?
I looked at the 5700X3D but didn't pick it because 105W TDP.
I'll keep the ram in the 5700X system and buy some cheaper stick for the nas later, it will be built around the old mobo and 7700k. That will be another interesting challenge for later on.
I didn't consider the LGA 2066 as the chips in that socket are all run between 112 to 165W.
without the constraints I placed on my selection, the ones you've mentioned would be excellent choices. Maybe I should do some more digging and come up with acouple of good combos that assumes that a machine has an i7700K and a Z270 something board and makes afew lowest price recommendations based on use cases.
Don't even consider Intel 9th generation, it's too outdated and a dead end. The 5700x3d can still function in Eco mode at 65W TDP with minimal performance drop, though it offers an edge in 3D cache compared to 5700x for gaming. For models from 5700x up to 5950x, you don't need costly or high VRM power with x570. The 5800x works well on Asus Prime X470 Pro and similar boards with plenty of cooling capacity. It's better to opt for a more modest memory size and invest in a stronger CPU rather than upgrading the cooler. You mention wanting the Corsair H80i v2, but it doesn't significantly outperform mid-range air coolers—possibly even underpriced in the 30 to 50 dollar range for cooling 250+ TDP. Plus, the H80i v2 is nearing its lifespan, with an average use of 3-5 years, so prioritizing CPU performance is wise.
I wasn't familiar with the Eco mode, but it's worth knowing. It appears minimal on the surface but offers triple the L3 cache, L3 Core values, and double the transistor count. However, based on what I've heard, it should boost FPS by about 10%. Probably wouldn't even notice it, especially since intense gaming isn't a priority for the slight extra cost. I stuck with the 5700 because of its balanced performance. I kept looking at the 5950x for a while before deciding to move on.
This is excellent guidance—I hadn't considered it until I focused on compatibility with the H80i v2. It's as good now as it was when I bought it in 2017, though it hasn't changed much. I'll get an air cooler for now.
You might find DDR5 RAM isn't that costly. The goal here is to upgrade only essential components and reuse my current RAM. It feels like a task or a test. Aiming for the best performance at the lowest price, excluding the AIO cooler, which will be removed soon.
I’d suggest using an AM4 motherboard with a solid X570 chipset—this is the last option that supports 2-way SLI before it was phased out. I have two cards, so why not?
But without the limitations I set for myself, there would be more affordable and up-to-date choices. I plan to look into those later and discuss them.
I abandoned the concept of keeping SLI features since 4080s were far more capable than any SLI setup at that time. After that, I upgraded the X570 to a B550, installed an MSI B550-A Pro and a high-performance air cooler handling 210 TDP, which is impressive! Dark Rock 5. The overall result was a quieter system with better performance. The total cost was about US$400.