PC upgrade advice

[entertheninja]

Hi,

I built my PC in 2019. It is running Windows 10 Pro. Specifications are:

asus rog strix B450-F gaming
AMD ryzen 7 1700x 8 core, 3400Mhz
16GB (2x8GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Black, PC4-21300 (2666)
4GB Gigabyte GTX1050 Ti D5 graphics card (installed in 2021)
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB
2TB WD hard drive

All of the above have been in place since 2019 except the graphics card.

With Windows 10 support expiring in October, I'm wondering what I should do. I don't play games. I use my PC for audio and video editing mainly. My current setup has served me well. Should I be looking to buy a new PC with Windows 11 on it? Or should I upgrade a few components such as hard drives and pay for windows 10 extended support if this is available? I have no idea if my current PC can be upgraded to Windows 11 pro or not as it isn't entirely clear from looking in windows updates. I've also heard bad things about Windows 11 saying it comes with a lot of adverts.

Thank you

 

[Tetras]

I have no idea if my current PC can be upgraded to Windows 11 pro or not as it isn't entirely clear from looking in windows updates. I've also heard bad things about Windows 11 saying it comes with a lot of adverts.

Which BIOS version do you have?

The listing on Asus website says:

ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING BIOS 4502

Version 4502
10.96 MB 2021/08/03
Support Windows 11 by default, no settings changes required in the UEFI BIOS.

Officially, I believe you need a CPU that is 2000 series or newer, but unofficially you may find it still upgrades with that BIOS.

A 5700X would be a big step on the 1700X, or even a 5900X if your audio/video editing uses the CPU. I'd also recommend switching to a 32GB kit and buying an M.2/NVME drive if you need more storage.

 

[entertheninja]

Which BIOS version do you have?

The listing on Asus website says:


Officially, I believe you need a CPU that is 2000 series or newer, but unofficially you may find it still upgrades with that BIOS.

A 5700X would be a big step on the 1700X, or even a 5900X if your audio/video editing uses the CPU. I'd also recommend switching to a 32GB kit and buying an M.2/NVME drive if you need more storage.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm very rusty on IT/tech stuff these days, but are you telling me that this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sams...id-state-drive-with-heatsi-sto-sam-01702.html
is better than this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sams...er-3d-v-nand-solid-state-drive-hd-243-sa.html

and the nvme will fit my motherboard Asus ROG Strix B450-F. The spec mentions dual NVMe M.2 which I assume means it can accommodate the first URL . And if NVMe M.2 is so better than 2.5" SSDs than how come it doesn't cost much more?

 

[mickyflinn]

Thanks for the advice.

I'm very rusty on IT/tech stuff these days, but are you telling me that this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sams...id-state-drive-with-heatsi-sto-sam-01702.html
is better than this https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sams...er-3d-v-nand-solid-state-drive-hd-243-sa.html

and the nvme will fit my motherboard Asus ROG Strix B450-F. The spec mentions dual NVMe M.2 which I assume means it can accommodate the first URL . And if NVMe M.2 is so better than 2.5" SSDs than how come it doesn't cost much more?

Your motherboard only supports pcie3 m2 so there's no point in spending on pcie4 m2 drive v unless you want to future proof when changing platform.

Yes 2 x m2 drives are better as they can transfer files across much faster than a SSD, and for price m2 drives have become much more affordable.

 

[Tetras]

but are you telling me that this
is better than this

I wasn't intending to tell you anything, I was just suggesting what might be helpful upgrades if you need them, especially since (with the storage) you're still using an old mechanical hard drive.

To answer your question though, yes, the 980 Pro is better than the 870 QVO. The 870 QVO is a drive I wouldn't buy unless it was cheap, because it uses QLC memory. You can read more here:

Samsung 870 QVO 1 TB Review - Terrible, Do Not Buy

The Samsung 870 QVO is the company's new QLC-based SSD that reaches capacities of up to 8 TB. In our Samsung 870 QVO review we're taking a close look not only at synthetics, but also real-life performance, which is surprisingly weak, especially considering they want $115 for the reviewed 1 TB...

www.techpowerup.com

PCI-Express NVME/M.2 drives have a much higher top speed than SATA drives, because SATA drives are limited by well.., SATA. That's why most drives have a max read/write of 550 MB/s, whereas a PCI-E 3.0 drive (your board supports up to PCI-E 3.0 speeds) can do 3000-3500 MB/s.

Realistically, you won't notice the difference between SATA and NVME drives in most circumstances, but you WILL notice the difference between SSDs and HDDs.

Another advantage of M.2 drives is that you don't need a SATA cable, or a power connector from the PSU, so there's less clutter in the case.

And if NVMe M.2 is so better than 2.5" SSDs than how come it doesn't cost much more?

They're not always cheaper than SATA drives, deals are constantly changing on SSDs, but SATA SSDs have more parts so the material cost would be higher and since M.2 slots are really common now, I would assume that manufacture and supply are lower too.

I'd suggest you get Crucial's T500 2TB for £100, this is also a high-end PCI-E 4.0 drive and one of the best deals at the moment.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sams...id-state-drive-with-heatsi-sto-sam-01702.html

Note that buying a drive with a heatsink could cause compatibility issues in a future upgrade, since most boards come with heatsinks built-in now. They're not necessary unless you use the drive heavily.

 

[Jupiter]

Why not go all-SSD?