New motherboard and CPU?

6954Dave · Saturday at 22:09

Hello,

I have a 7 year old pc that’s starting to creak. I use it for high end GIS and CAD work, and it’s recently started freezing up for 10-15 seconds every 5-10 minutes, which is very annoying.

I have upgraded it over the years with some decent GPU, RAM and SDDs. Am I right in thinking I could update the motherboard and CPU and keep my existing components and still have a decent setup? What are your thoughts?

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700K CPU @ 4.20GHz 4.20 GHz
OS Name: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
OS Version: 10.0.19045 N/A Build 19045
OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
OS Configuration: Member Workstation
OS Build Type: Multiprocessor Free
System Type: x64-based PC
Processor(s): 1 Processor(s) Installed.[01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 158 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~4200 Mhz
BIOS Version: American Megatrends Inc. 0904, 2017-03-16
Graphicw: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel DDR4 64GB (2 x 32GB) 3200MHz Kit - PVS464G320C6K
Storage: Corsair MP400 2TB NVMe PCIe M.
Samsung Evo 3 TB SSD

mickyflinn · Saturday at 22:17

Hi and welcome.

What's you budget for upgrades?

What PSU do you have and motherboard model?

Freezing up have you tested any components like the memory?

Tetras · Saturday at 22:18

6954Dave said:
Am I right in thinking I could update the motherboard and CPU and keep my existing components and still have a decent setup? What are your thoughts?

Yeah, but the requirements for gaming are a different thing to your work, so hard to know where the performance is likely to come from primarily.

You'd be limited to 12th-14th gen too, if you plan to keep the memory.

6954Dave said:
I have a 7 year old pc that’s starting to creak. I use it for high end GIS and CAD work, and it’s recently started freezing up for 10-15 seconds every 5-10 minutes, which is very annoying.

How do you know a new CPU/motherboard will fix that? I just ask because, it sounds like it could be a different kind of problem than lacking CPU performance.

6954Dave · Saturday at 22:22

mickyflinn said:
Hi and welcome.

What's you budget for upgrades?

What PSU do you have and motherboard model?

Freezing up have you tested any components like the memory?

Budget is 3k but if just motherboard and cpu then ideally under 1k.

What is the PSU?

Motherboard is ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270H GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - 10-04-2017

6954Dave · Saturday at 22:23

Tetras said:
Yeah, but the requirements for gaming are a different thing to your work, so hard to know where the performance is likely to come from primarily.

You'd be limited to 12th-14th gen too, if you plan to keep the memory.

How do you know a new CPU/motherboard will fix that? I just ask because, it sounds like it could be a different kind of problem than lacking CPU performance.

Quite possibly. My initial thought was to upgrade to windows 11. But my cpu isn't supported. So thought maybe an upgrade was due anyway.

6954Dave · Saturday at 22:24

6954Dave said:
Budget is 3k but if just motherboard and cpu then ideally under 1k.

What is the PSU?

Motherboard is ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270H GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - 10-04-2017

And how would I test memory?

Tetras · Saturday at 22:26

6954Dave said:
Quite possibly. My initial thought was to upgrade to windows 11. But my cpu isn't supported. So thought maybe an upgrade was due anyway.

7th gen CPUs run Windows 11 fine and can be installed without needing hacks (they even support all of the security features being enabled without losing much performance), but you might need to update the BIOS to expose the firmware TPM and secure boot options, or alternatively get a TPM 2.0 module for the TPM header.

6954Dave · Saturday at 22:34

T

Tetras said:
7th gen CPUs run Windows 11 fine and can be installed without needing hacks (they even support all of the security features being enabled without losing much performance), but you might need to update the BIOS to expose the firmware TPM and secure boot options, or alternatively get a TPM 2.0 module for the TPM header.

That's too deep in the weeds for me. I just need to know if I can extend the life of my existing components without the freeze ups, but without hacking about

Tetras · Saturday at 22:47

6954Dave said:
That's too deep in the weeds for me.

For the record, you may have to worry about those things if you buy new parts too.

They're requirements of the Windows 11 installer which were introduced specifically for Windows 11 (unless a bypass is used) and 7th gen natively supports those features (though might require a BIOS update to expose them, since Windows 10 did not require it).

6954Dave said:
I just need to know if I can extend the life of my existing components without the freeze ups

In theory, yes. Within the caveats of what I mentioned in post #3.

6954Dave said:
if just motherboard and cpu then ideally under 1k.

I'd suggest something like the below. It avoids the 13th-14th gen issues, re-uses your 64GB of DDR4 and it is a big upgrade on what you have.

Do note the limited number of USB ports and you'd lose 2x SATA ports.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i7-12700K 3.60GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-69Z-IN) = £194.99
1 x MSI PRO B760-P DDR4 II (LGA 1700) DDR4 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-03380) = £109.99
1 x Arctic Freezer 36 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02420) = £22.99

Total: £331.97 (includes delivery: £3.99)

mickyflinn · Saturday at 22:49

6954Dave said:
Budget is 3k but if just motherboard and cpu then ideally under 1k.

What is the PSU?

Motherboard is ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270H GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - 10-04-2017

Download memtest to test the memory and PSU is power supply.

freddie64 · 2024-11-03T13:58:30+0000

6954Dave said:
Motherboard is ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270H GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - 10-04-2017

6954Dave said:
BIOS Version: American Megatrends Inc. 0904, 2017-03-16

Can't see that bios version on the support page for that motherboard.
If it is the correct motherboard try updating the bios to the latest version. (maybe try non beta first)
https://rog.asus.com/uk/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z270h-gaming-model/helpdesk_bios/

6954Dave said:
Samsung Evo 3 TB SSD

Did not know you could get a 3TB SSD.

Use Crystaldiskinfo to check the health of the drives. (use the ZIP version so no install)
https://crystalmark.info/en/download/#CrystalDiskInfo

dfour · 2024-11-03T15:44:07+0000

Switching to AMD and keeping your existing ram.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 9 5950X Sixteen Core 4.9GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3C9-AM) = £359.99
1 x Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming WIFI II (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6J0-AS) = £149.99
1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.98

Total: £539.96 (includes delivery: £0.00)

The 5900x would be save £90.

AM5 + 64 gig of ram.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DR-AM) = £599.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-02841) = £194.98
1 x Asrock B650 LIVEMIXER (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-18W-AK) = £179.99

Total: £1,004.95 (includes delivery: £0.00)

moppy89 · 2024-11-03T21:46:49+0000

Tetras said:
For the record, you may have to worry about those things if you buy new parts too.

Yeah, just because you're buying new parts doesn't mean everything will immediately play nicely.

I've got horrible memories of running memtest and trouble shooting my first build before having to RMA my mobo :mad:

6954Dave · 2024-11-04T07:10:10+0000

i ran memtest and got good results i think with no errors after 3 hours running. and ran crystal disk with good results too i think. (all above 90%)
funnily enough, the reason the samsung drive is 3TB is because it's a disk, not SSD ‍

, so im thinking a switch to SSD and replacing this D drive would help a lot in this situation, at least in the medium term? it's had 24,000 hrs up time and 2000 bootups.

6954Dave · 2024-11-04T07:12:11+0000

just checked and it's over its lifespan.


Life Expectancy	20,000 Power On Hours (POH) / 5 Years Component Design Life

[th]
Capacity
[/th][th]
3 TB
[/th]

Tetras · 2024-11-04T13:43:25+0000

6954Dave said:
at least in the medium term? it's had 24,000 hrs up time and 2000 bootups.

Is the work you're doing actually running from the HDD though?

6954Dave · 2024-11-04T15:34:29+0000

Tetras said:
Is the work you're doing actually running from the HDD though?

project work sits on the D: (HDD) and OS sits on the C: (SSD)