New Motherboard Advise.

NC1

NC1

NC1

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UK
I am after replacement Mother Board advise having built my existing PC some years ago and now overwhelmed with all the choices of boards and CPUs and what fits what.

I'm way behind with PC tech and speak, I haven't a clue where to start but trying to avoid any choice based on a wild stab.

I'm wishing to upgrade from Win 10 Pro to Win 11 Pro but unable to do so due to limiting factors with my existing bios/CPU and motherboard an ASUS M3A78-EM, AMD Athlon 2 core 5050E CPU and 4 gigs of ram.

My intention is to make do with existing Cooler Master PC case, Corsair PSU 400w, ( at the bottom of PC case ), and my existing SSD x 2.

I'm on a tight budget, would like to spend no more then £200 to include MB, CPU and Fan, Ram, onboard audio and graphics and for the first time, for me, Wi-Fi capability and as many USB 3 type slots at the back and either build as separate components or purchase as a bundle as new.

My existing MB/CPU is old, was built to be a low powered, allround home/business rig with few bells and whistles, any replacement will be a huge advance on what I have and am indifferent in using a AMD or Intel CPU but once I have chosen CPU, I will not upgrade it unless needs must.

My PC case came with two front USB 2 ports, I added a front 2 port PCIe to USB3 but my efforts were never successful, ports either work of don't but would like to keep them and make a better job of it this time around.

My existing rig/MB has been rock solid in reliability, I rarely power PC down, it's on 24/7, so looking to replace existing MB with a reliable/quality MB that incorporates all Japanese solid caps' if the budget allows.

I can find sites that sell components and MB bundles but taking into account what I have been using PC for all these years, ( bit of editing, lots of word processing, streaming, watching Blu-ray films but now wishing to add a duel monitor set up via HDMI ), my requirements are simple.

I'm looking to others for advice to tell me these components or bundle will do you, keeping in mind my OS upgrade to Win 11/12 and a little bit of futureproofing would be great.

I have had some great pointers from another person, another site but further help and opinions would be appreciated.
 
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Honestly with that kind of budget...just get a used ex-corp computer
Anything with intel 8th gen or ryzen 2000 and above will be windows 11 compatible
(and more importantly around your budget or thereabouts)
 
tamzzy said:
Honestly with that kind of budget...just get a used ex-corp computer
Anything with intel 8th gen or ryzen 2000 and above will be windows 11 compatible
(and more importantly around your budget or thereabouts)
Click to expand...
Thanks but I have much of what I need, my thinking, why not reuse it.
 
NC1 said:
Thanks but I have much of what I need
Click to expand...

The parts you need basically constitute a whole new computer
(that being said you can still put your current SSDs into said used ex-corp computer, so not totally a waste)

This is what you'd be looking to spend to get new:
My basket at OcUK:

Total: £242.93 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

CPU comes with decent entry level graphics, and your budget does not stretch enough for a separate graphics card
Mobo has integrated wifi, so no need for a separate adapter
 
Onboard ryzen graphics is plenty good enough, even for gaming, copes well enough even for terminator resistance. Much much better than old school integrated graphics, especially laptop integrated (which pretty much useless for 3D)
 
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tamzzy said:
The parts you need basically constitute a whole new computer
(that being said you can still put your current SSDs into said used ex-corp computer, so not totally a waste)

This is what you'd be looking to spend to get new:
My basket at OcUK:

Total: £242.93 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

CPU comes with decent entry level graphics, and your budget does not stretch enough for a separate graphics card
Mobo has integrated wifi, so no need for a separate adapter
Click to expand...
Thanks I will take a look.

The MB, will a AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Desktop Processor (6-core/12-thread, 19 MB cache, up to 4.2 GHz max boost) be compatible with it?
 
NC1 said:
with that board
Click to expand...
Please see my post about the display outputs too:
Tetras said:
Just noticed the OP wants dual monitors too and looks like that board only has 1x HDMI, but there are B450/B550 boards around that price with either DVI+HDMI or HDMI+DP and could use an adapter to sort the second HDMI.

Edit: A520M-Plus II has D-Sub, DP and HDMI, with 4x USB 3.2 Gen 1 on the rear and it has USB flashback for any BIOS troubles.
Click to expand...

NC1 said:
a lesser spec CPU
Click to expand...
To be clear, you must have a G model to use the motherboard display outputs, any other CPU will just give you a black screen.
 
Tetras said:
Please see my post about the display outputs too:
Click to expand...

Tetras said:
To be clear, you musthave a G model to use the motherboard display outputs, any other CPU will just give you a black screen.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the advise, I've been doing a lot of research today on Google, I settled on two MBs an ASUS TUF or the one in your link, the Gigabyte B450M DS3H WIFI AM4 Socket Micro-ATX Motherboard, I decided on the Gigabyte along with the Ram.

Instead of the Ryzen 5600G I am going to fit the Ryzen 4600G, unfortunately Overclockers don't stock this CPU so will have to purchase elsewhere.

However there might be a fly or two in the ointment, chiefly, according to its description above and Google posts, this board as purchased only supports Win 10 and not Win 11, further reading suggests while the Gigabyte is compatible for Win 11 it is not an easy task to make it so and even then not guaranteed to work, it requires flashing the bios for one, enabling UEFI and maybe having to convert my existing SSDs to GPT and I have no idea what that entails.

The MB is great and good specs but only 1 HDMI port and nothing else to connect a 2nd monitor to.

I'm hoping it's possible to install an expansion card with two extra HDMI ports but what board slot would I use? I am trying to avoid using a USB to HDMI adapter, I need all the USB ports available.
 
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NC1 said:
Gigabyte is compatible for Win 11 it is not an easy task to make it so and even then not guaranteed to work, it requires flashing the bios for one, enabling UEFI
Click to expand...
All mobos should have bios that's already compatible with windows 11 unless you're really unlucky, so don't worry about it

NC1 said:
maybe having to convert my existing SSDs to GPT and I have no idea what that entails.
Click to expand...
when you do a full windows reinstall the windows installer will sort this out
(you are planning to do a full reinstall, right?)

NC1 said:
The MB is great and good specs but only 1 HDMI port and nothing else to connect a 2nd monitor to.
I'm hoping it's possible to install an expansion card with two extra HDMI ports but what board slot would I use? I am trying to avoid using a USB to HDMI adapter, I need all the USB ports available.
Click to expand...
in this case then i would get the asus tuf a520m-plus ii that @Tetras has suggested
it isn't available at ocuk, but available elsewhere and for the same-ish price as the gigabyte board that i listed before, so no change in overall budget

obviously as it's stocked at ocuk's competitor's sites, we cannot link to it, so you'd need to do some googling
 
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NC1 said:
I'm hoping it's possible to install an expansion card
Click to expand...
I'm afraid the name of this "expansion card" is... a graphics card :o

Switching the board to the TUF is the easiest solution, 'cos getting an adapter for HDMI to DP is pretty easy.
 
tamzzy said:
All mobos should have bios that's already compatible with windows 11 unless you're really unlucky, so don't worry about it


when you do a full windows reinstall the windows installer will sort this out
(you are planning to do a full reinstall, right?)


in this case then i would get the asus tuf a520m-plus ii that @Tetras has suggested
it isn't available at ocuk, but available elsewhere and for the same-ish price as the gigabyte board that i listed before, so no change in overall budget

obviously as it's stocked at ocuk's competitor's sites, we cannot link to it, so you'd need to do some googling
Click to expand...
Ok it's the Tuf then, is it the same ram/type from Overclockers as for the Gigabyte board and the same question for my intended CPU?

It wasn't my intention to do a full install but on reflection doing so will get rid of any nasties I may have downloaded.

Will I still need to convert my existing SSDs to GPT, I would back up of my folders/files before a full reinstall of Win 11, so not an issue?
 
NC1 said:
Ok it's the Tuf then, is it the same ram/type from Overclockers as for the Gigabyte board and the same question for my intended CPU?
Click to expand...
yes and yes

NC1 said:
It wasn't my intention to do a full install but on reflection doing so will get rid of any nasties I may have downloaded.
Click to expand...
delete the existing partitions in the windows installer and the installer will autoformat the drive to gpt

NC1 said:
Will I still need to convert my existing SSDs to GPT,
Click to expand...
as far as i remember, only the boot drive has to be gpt, subsequent drives can be mbr, so shouldn't be an issue
either way, back up before transplanting the drives
(you should be regularly backing up important data anyhow ;) )
 
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