New PC or can i just ugprade a few bits?

wedmonds

wedmonds

wedmonds

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Joined
13 Nov 2007
Posts
231
Hi All,

It's been ages since I last upgraded my machine and as a result, I am totally out of the loop in respect of what people are typically buying.
My current rig is crashing, mainly because of out-of-date motherboard drivers from Asus, which have not been updated since 2019 + One of the USB3 ports has died.
So, firstly - I am fed up with Asus and would like to go with another company unless everyone thinks they are the best bet.
Secondly, I was hoping just to upgrade the Motherboard as the processor and definitely the graphics card is doing everything I need at present. However, I suspect they are massively behind the latest gen so would consider a motherboard and processor upgrade for my existing ATX case.

I would really welcome your advice and thoughts. Here is my current spec:

Mainboard: Asus Z170-Deluxe
Processor: Intel Core i7 6700k Skylake @ 4.00GHZ (Socket 1151 LGA)
Ram: 32GB DDR4-2400 (1200Mhz)
Graphics: Nvidia Geforce RTX 2080 Ti
PSU: Corsair HX1000i
Drives: 2x1TB, 1x4TB and 1x8TB
PSU: Corsair HX1000i

Thanks for reading

Wedmonds
 
Last edited:
dave28 said:
Could change the mobo / ram / cpu

Depending on budget, how much were you looking to spend
Click to expand...
Dont really have a figure in mind Dave. I figured the decision would be made based upon a bit of common sense. I guess I would be happy to spending £400-£500 BUT if i do that, am i halfway to a completely new rig?
 
wedmonds said:
am i halfway to a completely new rig?
Click to expand...
yes you are, but the 2080ti is no slouch either.
it's rasterisation performance is at the level of a 3070/4060ti
there's not really any need to upgrade this unless you desperately want to of course (budget dependent)

wedmonds said:
I figured the decision would be made based upon a bit of common sense. I guess I would be happy to spending £400-£500
Click to expand...
that would get you a 13400/13500 bundle if you want to stick with intel
i'd argue that you would see a performance boost even if you did stick with your 2080ti as the new cpu would allow your 2080ti to stretch it's legs

edit: i'm also assuming your main drive is a ssd as i can't see it listed
 
Last edited:
wedmonds said:
I guess I would be happy to spending £400-£500 BUT if i do that, am i halfway to a completely new rig?
Click to expand...

You could cut the upgrade expense by using your existing RAM, though without overclocking your 2400 DDR4 is rather slow nowadays, so I hope you don't play @ 1080p.

Example upgrade:

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £447.97 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

FYI: B760 does not support overclocking, even though the 13600KF does, but the 13600 non-K is unfortunately not the same CPU.
 
@Tetras might as well opt for a z790 board if going -K cpu
there are other options (obvs not ocuk) for not much more than that b760 board you listed
might as well do it properly and go the whole hog lol
 
tamzzy said:
yes you are, but the 2080ti is no slouch either.
it's rasterisation performance is at the level of a 3070/4060ti
there's not really any need to upgrade this unless you desperately want to of course (budget dependent)


that would get you a 13400/13500 bundle if you want to stick with intel
i'd argue that you would see a performance boost even if you did stick with your 2080ti as the new cpu would allow your 2080ti to stretch it's legs

edit: i'm also assuming your main drive is a ssd as i can't see it listed
Click to expand...
Yup four SSds
 
Tetras said:
You could cut the upgrade expense by using your existing RAM, though without overclocking your 2400 DDR4 is rather slow nowadays, so I hope you don't play @ 1080p.

Example upgrade:

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £447.97 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

FYI: B760 does not support overclocking, even though the 13600KF does, but the 13600 non-K is unfortunately not the same CPU.
Click to expand...
thanks for that. Useful.
 
wedmonds said:
Yup four SSds
Click to expand...
:)

wedmonds said:
thanks for that. Useful.
Click to expand...
in retrospect, and after having a think...if you're just gaming only and willing to go AMD, then @Gtiracer 's advice isn't actually a bad call.

you'd need new ram either way as your 2400mhz ram will hamper any modern build
for gaming, the ryzen 7600/ddr5 would be faster than the intel 13400/13500 build, but slightly slower than the 13600k/ddr5 build (and trade blows with 13600k/ddr4)
for productivity, the 13600k would win due to having more cores/threads (14/20 on 13600k vs 6/12 on 7600)

power usage for the 7600 would be less than the 13600k - if that is a factor for yourself
upgreadability, AM5 will be supported into 2025, whereas intel's socket would be dead...but as your last computer lasted 7 years...i doubt this is a massive factor for yourself
taking cost into consideration, of course would be somewhat less if you shop around

ryzen 7600/b650/ddr5 = £540 (less after selling the game code)
My basket at OcUK:

Total: £545.92 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

​
​
​

13600k/z790/ddr4 = £560
My basket at OcUK:

Total: £567.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

​
​
​

13600k/z790/ddr5 = £639
My basket at OcUK:

Total: £646.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

​
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​
 
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I am with @Gtiracer on the AMD build and reckon that @tamzzy first option is best. That way. three-four years from now all you would need to do is but the best AMD 8xxx/9xxx in your budget and drop it in for another few years of use
 
Noughtboy said:
That way. three-four years from now all you would need to do is but the best AMD 8xxx/9xxx in your budget and drop it in for another few years of use
Click to expand...
depends on how long OP wants to keep his system though...if it's 7 years like he did from the 6700k then AM5 longevity is a bit of a moot point
 
I also have a i7 6700k and I've been considering upgrading and if I do it I'm going the AM5 route with a Ryzen 7600.

Then I'll probably slap a higher end CPU in it when the Zen 5 chips are released next year, though with AM5 you should also be able to upgrade to the generation of CPUs after that as well.
 
tamzzy said:
depends on how long OP wants to keep his system though...if it's 7 years like he did from the 6700k then AM5 longevity is a bit of a moot point
Click to expand...
Not really as he could only possibly have gone for Kaby Lake (7XXX) and nothing more. And the performance upgrade from that "tock" was dismal. With AM5, he could literally just drop in a 8xxx or 9xxx so two generations of clock and IPC worth with the only thing necessary being thermal paste
 
tamzzy said:
depends on how long OP wants to keep his system though...if it's 7 years like he did from the 6700k then AM5 longevity is a bit of a moot point
Click to expand...

My system is based on a motherboard and RAM from 2017. Started with a 8 core 1800X and now has a 5950X with plenty of life still to go. The jump in CPU performance between 2017 and now is massive. In 6-7 years the OP could drop in a 9950X or X3D with 16 cores or more.
 
Grumbledook said:
I also have a i7 6700k and I've been considering upgrading and if I do it I'm going the AM5 route with a Ryzen 7600.

Then I'll probably slap a higher end CPU in it when the Zen 5 chips are released next year, though with AM5 you should also be able to upgrade to the generation of CPUs after that as well.
Click to expand...
Sure, that sounds like a smart plan for future CPU upgrades, especially with the upcoming Zen 5 and AM5 compatibility.
 
Guys, my sincere apologies, I never came back on this. Life got in the way - you know kids, wife, colds, coughs, covid!
Anyway, I have not progressed this but its probably now for the best because I have a recent re-think and I am wondering what you would recommend if I was to completely change up my budget to £1500. Perhaps keeping the graphics card? It's rather large so would need a case to fit it. It is an Asus GeForce RTX 2080 Ti ROG Strix OC 11264MB GDDR6 PCI-Express. Would plan to keep the SSDs and upgrade everything else. As I said before, I have fallen out with Asus because their support has been poop over the years and I have had enough of them. Also, I have always been Intel but I would try Ryzen if everyone rates them better now. Your help would be appreciated again! :) Thank you for reading.
 
Last edited:
wedmonds said:
I am wondering what you would recommend if I was to completely change up my budget to £1500. Perhaps keeping the graphics card? It's rather large so would need a case to fit it.
Click to expand...

wedmonds said:
Would plan to keep the SSDs and upgrade everything else. As I said before, I have fallen out with Asus
Click to expand...

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,474.79 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

If you want a case with more storage capacity, look at the Enthoo Pro 2, though I think you'd have to buy more fans since I can't see any included in the spec sheet on their website.

If you swap the motherboard to MSI Z790-A MAX then you wouldn't need a BIOS flash for a 14th gen CPU.
 
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Last edited:
wedmonds said:
Guys, my sincere apologies, I never came back on this. Life got in the way - you know kids, wife, colds, coughs, covid!
Anyway, I have not progressed this but its probably now for the best because I have a recent re-think and I am wondering what you would recommend if I was to completely change up my budget to £1500. Perhaps keeping the graphics card? It's rather large so would need a case to fit it. It is an Asus GeForce RTX 2080 Ti ROG Strix OC 11264MB GDDR6 PCI-Express. Would plan to keep the SSDs and upgrade everything else. As I said before, I have fallen out with Asus because their support has been poop over the years and I have had enough of them. Also, I have always been Intel but I would try Ryzen if everyone rates them better now. Your help would be appreciated again! :) Thank you for reading.
Click to expand...

For that budget you would still be better off with a Ryzen at this point in time, 7800x3d and relevant board, MSI tomahawk b650 and gigabyte b650 gaming x are good budget options over Asus. This all depends on your main use case though, if mostly productive then a intel core 13700/14700

What CPU cooler you currently have? You might be able to get just a fitting kit to go on the X3d CPU.

You might want a PSU aswell,

You'll probably want to drop in a nvme aswell

Your options would be based on what's available in the deals that are everywhere at the moment.
 
Last edited:
OK, you guys are inspiring me. What about this kind of thing, I have basically taken your ideas and combined with what builds OC have put together to come up with this:

Not 100% on case or watercooler - I have a beefy power supply already so no problem there.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,132.94 (includes delivery: £0.00)​



​
 
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