Upgrading an Old(ish) PC

[BillUp]

Hello all. I could do with a bit of advice please. I want to upgrade my old PC just to keep up with technological advancements, and wondered what I would need to swap out, what I can keep, what would be incompatible etc.

Specs of old PC:

Intel Core i5-6600K 3.50GHz
Asus ROG Z170 Maximus VIII Ranger Motherboard
Corsair CS750M CS Modular 80 Plus GOLD-RATE 750W 12V Power Supply
G.Skill Trident Z 32GB (4x8GB) 3000MHz DDR4 Memory
NZXT Kraken X61 All-In-One Liquid Cooling Solution Intel/AMD
ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro M.2 Gaming Solid State Drive (SSD) - 512GB
Samsung 960 Evo M.2 SSD 250GB (with Windows 10 Pro installed)
Acer Predator Z35 G-Sync 1080P 120Hz Curved Ultrawide Monitor

I want to change out the Motherboard to a Z590 offering and the CPU to an Intel Core i7 11700K (I would love an i9 but they are slightly above my paygrade.)

Can you see anything else I would need to change out for compatibility issues? I'm guessing I would need to swap out the Kraken X61 because the mounting hardware would be different?

I haven't mentioned the GPU in this list as I wanted to get the Mobo and CPU sorted first, and then replace my Gigabyte GeForce GTX1080 Windforce O.C 8GB to a new RTX 3080.

I will be running this PC mainly for MSFS2020.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

Chris.

 

[MissChief]

Cpu and board upgrade would see you well. Everything else is decent enough to be carried over IMO.

 

[EsaT]

If you have lots of usage hours would start also considering replacing that short 3 year warranty PSU.

Anyway just forget Intel for high end.
Now only "high" thing in Intels is landfill fire level real max power draw of upper models.

Ryzens have lot lower real max power draw even for 16 cores and are faster also in single core performance.
And ~£150 level B550 board would be well enough.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/amd-...hz-socket-am4-processor-retail-cp-3cb-am.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...i-amd-am4-b550-atx-motherboard-mb-35b-ms.html

That memory is likely Samsung B-die, which would be good overclocker.

 

[Alan McFall]

Corsair CS750M CS Modular 80 Plus GOLD-RATE 750W 12V Power Supply
G.Skill Trident Z 32GB (4x8GB) 3000MHz DDR4 Memory
NZXT Kraken X61 All-In-One Liquid Cooling Solution Intel/AMD
ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro M.2 Gaming Solid State Drive (SSD) - 512GB
Samsung 960 Evo M.2 SSD 250GB (with Windows 10 Pro installed)

Will carry over to your new system unless.. you're going Ryzen then you could do with 3600mhz RAMl, Intel K skew with a high end GPU (6800xt/3080) and you'll need a bigger PSU.

 

[BillUp]

Thank you for the replies Gents.

I did toy with the idea of going Ryzen, but I am so used to Intel, been using them for 25 odd years, it would be harsh if I were to swap allegiances now lol I know Intel Motherboards and CPU's. I just makes sense for me to stay with them.

My PC although around 5 years old, it has had little use. Saying this though, I'll leave nothing to chance. I will more than likely upgrade the PSU. I can save up for one of them while using my present one.

So you all think the Kraken x61 will be fine? I thought I would have mounting issues? It has been rock solid for me. Even with a 4.8Ghz overclock on my 6600K it never allows the CPU to go above 68c

If I can eek out the Trident for as long as possible, I would be very happy. It wasn't cheap at £190 for 2 packs of matched pairs.

So I think I know where I am. I can replace the Motherboard and CPU with minimal fuss, with the intention of changing the PSU and GPU at a later date. Once again thank you for your help. You're all Aces.

Chris.

 

[Quartz]

I want to upgrade my old PC just to keep up with technological advancements,

Do you really NEED to upgrade right now? Because it's all change for the next generation with the next generation switching to DDR5. Probably towards the end of this year. But if you do buy now, AMD offers the better upgade path by far.

ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro M.2 Gaming Solid State Drive (SSD) - 512GB

Linus Tech Tips just had a video on ADATA NVME drives. You should watch it:

So you all think the Kraken x61 will be fine?

If you do buy now, take the opportunity to check the fluid level. The easiest way is to weigh it and compare the weight with the weight listed. You can also shake it and listen for sloshing

 

[mickyflinn]

@Quartz has a very good point about ddr5 and intel are due to release there Alderlake cpu's late this year.

I would wait.

 

[EsaT]

I did toy with the idea of going Ryzen, but I am so used to Intel, been using them for 25 odd years, it would be harsh if I were to swap allegiances now lol I know Intel Motherboards and CPU's. I just makes sense for me to stay with them.


If I can eek out the Trident for as long as possible, I would be very happy. It wasn't cheap at £190 for 2 packs of matched pairs.

Here's direct 5800X vs 11700K comparison:

And there was even less reason to use Intel fair 15 years ago.
But Intel used plenty of illegal tactics to prevent competition.
https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/digest/intel-and-the-x86-architecture-a-legal-perspective
Also compilers sabotaging AMD's performance are still in Intel's menu with AMD now leading in performance per core and offering up to twice the cores.

While most games are still from Intel stagnation era, CyberPunk 2077 actually has heavy settings fps minimums scaling up to 12 cores:
https://overclock3d.net/reviews/software/cyberpunk_2077_performance_review_and_optimisation_guide/4

Intel was the biggest obstacle to advance of game development in the last decade and effects of that will show for years.


Thaiphoon Burner would tell memory chip type and PCB design revision etc.
http://softnology.biz/files.html

 

[Joxeon]

If you're set on going Intel then I'd just pick up a B560 and 11400F for under £200 total cost if you sold your 6600K + board. It would see you through a year or two till the 2nd gen DDR5 stuff is out and all the bugs are ironed out, would still be a massive improvement over what you have currently and spending over double on a 11700K + Z590 is only going to get you 10% extra performance at 1080P and even less if play on any higher resolutions.

 

[Alan McFall]

I did toy with the idea of going Ryzen, but I am so used to Intel, been using them for 25 odd years, it would be harsh if I were to swap allegiances now lol I know Intel Motherboards and CPU's. I just makes sense for me to stay with them.

I upgraded from 6600K (2500k,4670k previously) to 5600x.. best CPU upgrade i've ever had, these Ryzen chips really are the dogs b0110x ! Don't be scared of Ryzen BIOS there is very little difference. Ryzen are just better chips this gen, and now you can get a 5600x for £250 theres nothing to lose !!!

 

[BillUp]

Once again guys, thank you for your comments. As you can see from my post count, I don't usually ask for a lot of advice. I'm more of a search the internet for the answer kind of guy. In this case though I really wanted to make sure I wouldn't come up against any unforeseen issues. The biggest unforeseen issue you provided was, I had no idea Alderlake was just around the corner. I had it in mind I would get some advice, and then do the research required.

I'm pleased I asked. With this in mind, I will not be upgrading right now. Its totally pointless. My PC as is runs MSFS2020 just fine with medium to high settings at 1080p. What this does do is allow me to save up for my RTX3080. I will actually get this first, and by the time I am ready to upgrade the system (as I know it will bottleneck the 3080) I will have the GPU and enough money to do the system upgrade. Which way I go with the platform I will know better cometh the time to decide.

That is really interesting Quartz. Linus actually singles out my exact drive. I took a look and I do have the original spec drive, with the figures to match. So I guess I got lucky lol. Thats a pretty shady practice I do say, although it isn't just Adata doing it. Looks like quite a few of the big names have been caught baiting and switching.

Chris.