Upgrade Advice Appreciated Please

justintime2001 · 1 Apr 2025 at 23:03

Hi Folks.

I would like to upgrade my old system. I don’t do any gaming but I do like Music & Video Editing as well as Lots of Office Stuff & Surfing. My old system is listed below and I would appreciate being pointed in the right direction to suitable upgrade components please. Not looking to spend the earth but would like a reasoable upgrade.

i7-7700K 4.2Ghz
Asus ROG Maximus IX Hero Intel Z270
Team Group Dark Pro “* Pack Edition” 2 x 8GB DDR4 3200Mhz
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 OC 4096MB GDDR5
Running Windows 10 and won’t allow Win 11 upgrade.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

My budget up too £1000 approx. Only mess with family video, nothing special. PC seems to pause before doing anything these days and I have had it a few years and just thought an upgrade may improve general peformance and also allow the windows 11 upgrade. I am not an expert and just about manage to do ok with help from the forum.

Tetras · 1 Apr 2025 at 23:08

Can you describe in more detail the type of work that is currently too slow?

Have you monitored your usage (e.g. task manager) while it is being slow to check the bottleneck(s)?

justintime2001 said:
Running Windows 10 and won’t allow Win 11 upgrade.

7th gen can run Windows 11 no problem, if you sort tpm/secure boot, but feature updates may have to be installed manually.

tamzzy · 1 Apr 2025 at 23:30

justintime2001 said:
Not looking to spend the earth but would like a reasoable upgrade.

what exactly is your budget that we have to work to?

Gray2233 · 1 Apr 2025 at 23:35

The above aside, what software do you use for video editing? I ask because a newer GPU might benefit.

If not, you're looking at a platform update (cpu/mobo/ram), but it's difficult to suggest the extent of that without knowing more about what you're wanting to do. Video editing could range from fiddling with family holiday videos, making dodgy anime music videos, or more professional work.

nade · 2 Apr 2025 at 07:36

Even 2nd hand CPU/RAM parts would provide a decent upgrade, I had a very similar spec system from 2017 to 2021 and upgraded to a 5600x which felt like a reasonable uplift in performance. But as tamzzy has asked, would be good to have an idea on budget to let us make any suggestions.

justintime2001 · 2 Apr 2025 at 07:44

Thank you for the questions. My budget up too £1000 approx. Only mess with family video, nothing special. PC seems to pause before doing anything these days and I have had it a few years and just thought an upgrade may improve general peformance and also allow the windows 11 upgrade. I am not an expert and just about manage to do ok with help from the forum.

Tetras · 2 Apr 2025 at 15:28

justintime2001 said:
PC seems to pause before doing anything these days and I have had it a few years and just thought an upgrade may improve general peformance and also allow the windows 11 upgrade

We could investigate that and you can definitely sort the Windows 11 thing, but if you'd rather have a fresh start then sure, I get it.

Here's an example build. I'd suggest not using a graphics card, but if you do find that you have problems, then add an Arc B580, RTX 4060 or 3060 12GB (doesn't sound like you need the VRAM, but the 1st and 3rd option if you do).

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-69X-IN) = £149.99
1 x Gigabyte B760 DS3H AX (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03572) = £140.00
1 x Crucial Pro 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C46 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01086) = £110.98
1 x KIOXIA EXCERIA PRO 2TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TSH-01448) = £116.99
1 x Kolink Tranquility Silent Midi Tower Case - Black Noise Dampened (SKU: CA-03W-KK) = £62.98
1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95

1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Black Dual Tower CPU Air Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03280) = £44.99

Total: £710.88 (includes delivery: £0.00)

justintime2001 · 2 Apr 2025 at 15:45

Tetras said:
We could investigate that and you can definitely sort the Windows 11 thing, but if you'd rather have a fresh start then sure, I get it.

Here's an example build. I'd suggest not using a graphics card, but if you do find that you have problems, then add an Arc B580, RTX 4060 or 3060 12GB (doesn't sound like you need the VRAM, but the 1st and 3rd option if you do).

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-69X-IN) = £149.99

1 x Gigabyte B760 DS3H AX (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03572) = £140.00

1 x Crucial Pro 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C46 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01086) = £110.98

1 x KIOXIA EXCERIA PRO 2TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TSH-01448) = £116.99

1 x Kolink Tranquility Silent Midi Tower Case - Black Noise Dampened (SKU: CA-03W-KK) = £62.98

1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95

1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Black Dual Tower CPU Air Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03280) = £44.99

Total: £710.88 (includes delivery: £0.00)

Thank you Tetras, sounds good. Would going for an intel core i7 make much difference?

Tetras · 2 Apr 2025 at 15:48

justintime2001 said:
Thank you Tetras, sounds ideal.

You're welcome. FYI: I didn't take into account SATA ports/M.2 slots, USB ports, LAN and such, so do check the motherboard has what you want.

justintime2001 · 2 Apr 2025 at 15:54

Tetras said:
You're welcome. FYI: I didn't take into account SATA ports/M.2 slots, USB ports, LAN and such, so do check the motherboard has what you want.

Thank you. Would going for an intel core i7 make much difference?

mickyflinn · 2 Apr 2025 at 16:49

Personally would go 14600k

justintime2001 said:
Thank you. Would going for an intel core i7 make much difference?

It can do in productivity and video rendering ,do you plan on using your gyx 960 ?

If yes the 12700f can be had for £180 although it doesn't have any integrated graphics,so no back up.

Tetras · 2 Apr 2025 at 17:08

justintime2001 said:
Thank you. Would going for an intel core i7 make much difference?

Based on the usage you have described, I think the 12600K is plenty good enough.

The 12700K only has 2 more P-Cores (8 P & 4 E, versus 6 P & 4 E on the 12600K), which made the 12600K a (relatively) good performer of the 12th generation.

Intel did address this later, the 13700K has 8 E-Cores and the 14700K has 12, an upgrade which made it arguably the pick of the 14th gen. Still, the 13th-14th gen have a big question mark over them that 12th gen doesn't have (especially the i7/i9) and I don't think it would be worth it for your light usage. You'd also ideally need to upgrade the motherboard and the cooling, so the added cost to the CPU is not the end of the story.

justintime2001 · 2 Apr 2025 at 20:49

Tetras said:
Based on the usage you have described, I think the 12600K is plenty good enough.

The 12700K only has 2 more P-Cores (8 P & 4 E, versus 6 P & 4 E on the 12600K), which made the 12600K a (relatively) good performer of the 12th generation.

Intel did address this later, the 13700K has 8 E-Cores and the 14700K has 12, an upgrade which made it arguably the pick of the 14th gen. Still, the 13th-14th gen have a big question mark over them that 12th gen doesn't have (especially the i7/i9) and I don't think it would be worth it for your light usage. You'd also ideally need to upgrade the motherboard and the cooling, so the added cost to the CPU is not the end of the story.

Thanks Tetras.