Upgrading Shop-bough PC from 10-11 years ago and never built anything before!

[InvictusSceptic]

Hey!

 

I'm hoping some of you lovely folks can give me your input on a build I'm looking at!

 

1. Budget & Location - Based in the UK, £GBP. Had initially set budget to around £350, this isn't a MUST, the current build I'm thinking of is around £650, wouldn't want to go much higher than that.

 

2. Aim - PC that will last me another 5+ Years and be able to perform routine tasks, web browsing etc, multiple tasks at once and game (WoW, Diablo 4 when released, Football Manager, maybe the odd other game). 

 

3. Monitors - Sticking with current monitor.

 

4. Peripherals - Sticking with current Peripherals

 

5. Why are you upgrading? - Current PC struggles at times (slow) but is very bad in games. This morning in WoW I would freeze for 0.5-1s every time an aoe ability was used. Occasionally game freezes and quickly replays the same 0.5s over and over in fast succession (don't know how else to describe it) - previously this has caused bluescreen shutdowns but not experienced this yet in WoW.  Current system is around 10-11 years old and has only had the GPU and HDD upgraded since purchase. Have tried to diagnose and RAM use is up at 85% when I tab out of games, presumably this drops when game isn't the main view so ingame likely above 85%

 

The new build I am looking at is:

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qt9BC6

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£157.00 @ Amazon UK)    CURRENT - i7 3770
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D9L 46.44 CFM CPU Cooler  (£49.95 @ Amazon UK)      CURRENT - UNKNOWN, BUT OLD
Thermal Compound: Corsair TM30 3 g Thermal Paste  (£5.99 @ Amazon UK)   
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£223.97 @ CCL Computers)    CURRENT - GIGABYTE Z68X-UD5-B3
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL40 Memory  (£118.00 @ Amazon UK)   CURRENT 2X4GB I THINK
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£95.10 @ Amazon UK)  
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card  
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Total: £650.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-19 15:22 GMT+0000

 

Thoughts/Concerns

 

• Never built a PC before so somewhat nervous!
• I think the case is correct but not 100%
• I think the PSE is 750 or 850, I will have to check - based on PCPP it looks like could get away with 650 so 750 or 850 should be fine?
• Is this going to be enough of an upgrade to last a while?
• Will Windows 11 install on this? Current machine can only have 10.
• Will I need a new windows license? I think it was 7 when I purchased PC and not sure I have install code anymore. If changing MB and CPU the saved data will no longer be available to verify license?

 

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can offer!

 

Jon

[TylerD321]

You can pull your windows key from Powershell or Command prompt and transfer it over to a new windows install. If the key doesn’t work your next best option is grey market - typically around 30 bucks a key.

 

The noctua hardware will need a special mounting bracket to work with an LGA 1700 cpu. https://noctua.at/en/intel-lga1700-all-you-need-to-know
 

Generally speaking, 6000 mhz ram is what you would want for ddr5.

 

The upgrade should last you for a good bit, my main concern is how long the 1080 will last and/or be a viable gpu. I’m thinking it will be fine until gpu dies.

[GeorgeMKane]

14 minutes ago, InvictusSceptic said:

Hey!

 

I'm hoping some of you lovely folks can give me your input on a build I'm looking at!

 

1. Budget & Location - Based in the UK, £GBP. Had initially set budget to around £350, this isn't a MUST, the current build I'm thinking of is around £650, wouldn't want to go much higher than that.

 

2. Aim - PC that will last me another 5+ Years and be able to perform routine tasks, web browsing etc, multiple tasks at once and game (WoW, Diablo 4 when released, Football Manager, maybe the odd other game). 

 

3. Monitors - Sticking with current monitor.

 

4. Peripherals - Sticking with current Peripherals

 

5. Why are you upgrading? - Current PC struggles at times (slow) but is very bad in games. This morning in WoW I would freeze for 0.5-1s every time an aoe ability was used. Occasionally game freezes and quickly replays the same 0.5s over and over in fast succession (don't know how else to describe it) - previously this has caused bluescreen shutdowns but not experienced this yet in WoW.  Current system is around 10-11 years old and has only had the GPU and HDD upgraded since purchase. Have tried to diagnose and RAM use is up at 85% when I tab out of games, presumably this drops when game isn't the main view so ingame likely above 85%

 

The new build I am looking at is:

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qt9BC6

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£157.00 @ Amazon UK)    CURRENT - i7 3770
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D9L 46.44 CFM CPU Cooler  (£49.95 @ Amazon UK)      CURRENT - UNKNOWN, BUT OLD
Thermal Compound: Corsair TM30 3 g Thermal Paste  (£5.99 @ Amazon UK)   
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£223.97 @ CCL Computers)    CURRENT - GIGABYTE Z68X-UD5-B3
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL40 Memory  (£118.00 @ Amazon UK)   CURRENT 2X4GB I THINK
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£95.10 @ Amazon UK)  
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card  
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Total: £650.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-19 15:22 GMT+0000

 

Thoughts/Concerns

 

• Never built a PC before so somewhat nervous!
• I think the case is correct but not 100%
• I think the PSE is 750 or 850, I will have to check - based on PCPP it looks like could get away with 650 so 750 or 850 should be fine?
• Is this going to be enough of an upgrade to last a while?
• Will Windows 11 install on this? Current machine can only have 10.
• Will I need a new windows license? I think it was 7 when I purchased PC and not sure I have install code anymore. If changing MB and CPU the saved data will no longer be available to verify license?

 

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can offer!

 

Jon

I would recommend shifting some parts around so you can at least try to fit a new psu in there. A 10+ year old PSU may not power new hardware very well.

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/QQNDY9

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£157.00 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S redux 70.75 CFM CPU Cooler  (£49.95 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG B760 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£209.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (£77.09 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£65.58 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card 
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£123.48 @ Ebuyer) 
 £683.08

 

For the Windows part, you'll have to find that out by getting the key (various methods on how to get it), and try it out on the new install. Theoretically, it should work, but you may need a new license (you can get one for like $20 or 30 though).

[PDifolco]

22 minutes ago, InvictusSceptic said:

Hey!

 

I'm hoping some of you lovely folks can give me your input on a build I'm looking at!

 

1. Budget & Location - Based in the UK, £GBP. Had initially set budget to around £350, this isn't a MUST, the current build I'm thinking of is around £650, wouldn't want to go much higher than that.

 

2. Aim - PC that will last me another 5+ Years and be able to perform routine tasks, web browsing etc, multiple tasks at once and game (WoW, Diablo 4 when released, Football Manager, maybe the odd other game). 

 

3. Monitors - Sticking with current monitor.

 

4. Peripherals - Sticking with current Peripherals

 

5. Why are you upgrading? - Current PC struggles at times (slow) but is very bad in games. This morning in WoW I would freeze for 0.5-1s every time an aoe ability was used. Occasionally game freezes and quickly replays the same 0.5s over and over in fast succession (don't know how else to describe it) - previously this has caused bluescreen shutdowns but not experienced this yet in WoW.  Current system is around 10-11 years old and has only had the GPU and HDD upgraded since purchase. Have tried to diagnose and RAM use is up at 85% when I tab out of games, presumably this drops when game isn't the main view so ingame likely above 85%

 

The new build I am looking at is:

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qt9BC6

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£157.00 @ Amazon UK)    CURRENT - i7 3770
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D9L 46.44 CFM CPU Cooler  (£49.95 @ Amazon UK)      CURRENT - UNKNOWN, BUT OLD
Thermal Compound: Corsair TM30 3 g Thermal Paste  (£5.99 @ Amazon UK)   
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£223.97 @ CCL Computers)    CURRENT - GIGABYTE Z68X-UD5-B3
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL40 Memory  (£118.00 @ Amazon UK)   CURRENT 2X4GB I THINK
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£95.10 @ Amazon UK)  
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card  
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Total: £650.01
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-19 15:22 GMT+0000

 

Thoughts/Concerns

 

• Never built a PC before so somewhat nervous!
• I think the case is correct but not 100%
• I think the PSE is 750 or 850, I will have to check - based on PCPP it looks like could get away with 650 so 750 or 850 should be fine?
• Is this going to be enough of an upgrade to last a while?
• Will Windows 11 install on this? Current machine can only have 10.
• Will I need a new windows license? I think it was 7 when I purchased PC and not sure I have install code anymore. If changing MB and CPU the saved data will no longer be available to verify license?

 

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can offer!

 

Jon

Imo tons of money wasted in useless cooling, DDR5 board and RAM (each costing more than the CPU!) , overpriced SSD ..

This will have same performance and costs £200 less...

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£157.00 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK400 66.47 CFM CPU Cooler  (£35.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: MSI PRO B660M-A WIFI DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£139.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (£43.27 @ Currys PC World Business) 
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£65.58 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card 
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Total: £440.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-19 15:52 GMT+0000

 

[InvictusSceptic]

44 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Imo tons of money wasted in useless cooling, DDR5 board and RAM (each costing more than the CPU!) , overpriced SSD ..

This will have same performance and costs £200 less...

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£157.00 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK400 66.47 CFM CPU Cooler  (£35.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: MSI PRO B660M-A WIFI DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£139.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (£43.27 @ Currys PC World Business) 
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£65.58 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card 
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Total: £440.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-19 15:52 GMT+0000

 

 

Saving money certainly sounds good! So thank you for your input.

 

I know performance for now would be the same, but do you think DDR5 would future proof a bit?

 

 

 

 

55 minutes ago, TylerD321 said:

You can pull your windows key from Powershell or Command prompt and transfer it over to a new windows install. If the key doesn’t work your next best option is grey market - typically around 30 bucks a key.

 

The noctua hardware will need a special mounting bracket to work with an LGA 1700 cpu. https://noctua.at/en/intel-lga1700-all-you-need-to-know
 

Generally speaking, 6000 mhz ram is what you would want for ddr5.

 

The upgrade should last you for a good bit, my main concern is how long the 1080 will last and/or be a viable gpu. I’m thinking it will be fine until gpu dies.

 

So, you reckon fork out the extra £30 for something like https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/8yzhP6/corsair-vengeance-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl36-memory-cmk32gx5m2d6000c36? 

 

I know the 1080 isn't going to last forever - I can't actually remember when I bought it, but I think if I can't afford to upgrade everything now, the is probably throttling my overall performance the least?

[PDifolco]

1 hour ago, InvictusSceptic said:

 

Saving money certainly sounds good! So thank you for your input.

 

I know performance for now would be the same, but do you think DDR5 would future proof a bit?

 

 

Not really, I mean DDR5 price is decreasing sharply while performance is increasing, so in a couple years you will get 7000+ RAM for way cheaper than 5600 now...

Plus it doesn't really give more performance unless you have hi end CPU and RAM, which is super expensive and out of your budget

Finally 2x8GB DDR4 is like $50 not a big deal to change them later imo

[Gin N Rum 5454]

2 hours ago, TylerD321 said:

You can pull your windows key from Powershell or Command prompt and transfer it over to a new windows install. If the key doesn’t work your next best option is grey market - typically around 30 bucks a key.

 

The noctua hardware will need a special mounting bracket to work with an LGA 1700 cpu. https://noctua.at/en/intel-lga1700-all-you-need-to-know
 

Generally speaking, 6000 mhz ram is what you would want for ddr5.

 

The upgrade should last you for a good bit, my main concern is how long the 1080 will last and/or be a viable gpu. I’m thinking it will be fine until gpu dies.

Can't you get keys for as little as $5?

[SorryBella]

7 hours ago, Gin N Rum 5454 said:

Can't you get keys for as little as $5?

I mean depends on their ethics. I know a lot of seller that can do even less with less savory method. Another reason why id rather run unactivated or other ways instead. And besides, Tyler's method would be basically free, and OP can just connect the key to a microsoft account, and log that account in with the new PC. And from there OP can update to windows 11 after turning on secure boot and TPM.

 

Also, look forward to selling that cpu-motherboard-ram combo, ivy bridge is sufficiently old that working boards are hard to find, so they can fetch substantial amount of money. Thats the issue of old CPUs, there will always be more CPU than motherboard because CPUs lasts near forever while motherboards dies left and right.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F 2.5 GHz 10-Core Processor  (£209.99 @ AWD-IT) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£34.90 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: ASRock B660M Pro RS Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£114.97 @ Box Limited) 
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (£43.27 @ Currys PC World Business) 
Storage: Crucial P3 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£108.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card 
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Total: £512.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-20 02:03 GMT+0000

 

You can definitely go used on the memory to compress this build cost further.

[InvictusSceptic]

17 hours ago, SorryClaire said:

I mean depends on their ethics. I know a lot of seller that can do even less with less savory method. Another reason why id rather run unactivated or other ways instead. And besides, Tyler's method would be basically free, and OP can just connect the key to a microsoft account, and log that account in with the new PC. And from there OP can update to windows 11 after turning on secure boot and TPM.

 

Also, look forward to selling that cpu-motherboard-ram combo, ivy bridge is sufficiently old that working boards are hard to find, so they can fetch substantial amount of money. Thats the issue of old CPUs, there will always be more CPU than motherboard because CPUs lasts near forever while motherboards dies left and right.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13400F 2.5 GHz 10-Core Processor  (£209.99 @ AWD-IT) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£34.90 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: ASRock B660M Pro RS Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£114.97 @ Box Limited) 
Memory: Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (£43.27 @ Currys PC World Business) 
Storage: Crucial P3 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£108.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card 
Case: Zalman Z11 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Total: £512.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-20 02:03 GMT+0000

 

You can definitely go used on the memory to compress this build cost further.

There would actually still be sale value in what I have? Any idea what kind ranges this stuff goes for - I kinda thought at this point i'd be practically junk!

 

On 3/19/2023 at 5:56 PM, PDifolco said:

Not really, I mean DDR5 price is decreasing sharply while performance is increasing, so in a couple years you will get 7000+ RAM for way cheaper than 5600 now...

Plus it doesn't really give more performance unless you have hi end CPU and RAM, which is super expensive and out of your budget

Finally 2x8GB DDR4 is like $50 not a big deal to change them later imo

If I went for DDR4 ram now, with the idea of upgrading to DDR5 within the next couple of years, I'd have to go for a higher MB wouldn't I so DDR5 compatible? This seems like a smarter option as totally get your point - early adopter tax which means paying over odds for something now that in future will seem standard.

 

I am starting to think that I may have to just go for a more expansive upgrade than I had originally hoped - might go down the 13th gen i5 route, with DDR4 + new PSU. Then look at upgrading GPU either now or in near future and RAM to DDR5 in 2-3 years

[PDifolco]

36 minutes ago, InvictusSceptic said:

If I went for DDR4 ram now, with the idea of upgrading to DDR5 within the next couple of years, I'd have to go for a higher MB wouldn't I so DDR5 compatible? This seems like a smarter option as totally get your point - early adopter tax which means paying over odds for something now that in future will seem standard.

 

I am starting to think that I may have to just go for a more expansive upgrade than I had originally hoped - might go down the 13th gen i5 route, with DDR4 + new PSU. Then look at upgrading GPU either now or in near future and RAM to DDR5 in 2-3 years

Well if you go Intel you *will* have to swap mobo on any upgrade, and the $50 DDR4 RAM cost isn't much on the cost of a full new platform ...

So if you go DDR5 now you will have to already get a more expensive DDR5 board, buy relatively expensive and slow DDR5 that you may want to upgrade as well in the future, seems costlier...

There's a case for new AM5 platform with decent DDR5 like 6000CL30, you'll be able to keep board and RAM on an upgrade in a couple years. But now the cost (esp. boards) is  higher ...

[InvictusSceptic]

2 hours ago, PDifolco said:

Well if you go Intel you *will* have to swap mobo on any upgrade, and the $50 DDR4 RAM cost isn't much on the cost of a full new platform ...

So if you go DDR5 now you will have to already get a more expensive DDR5 board, buy relatively expensive and slow DDR5 that you may want to upgrade as well in the future, seems costlier...

There's a case for new AM5 platform with decent DDR5 like 6000CL30, you'll be able to keep board and RAM on an upgrade in a couple years. But now the cost (esp. boards) is  higher ...

Apologies, not sure I understand.

 

Lets say I upgraded to i5 and the Mobo to something compatible with DDR5 but stuck with DDR4 Ram for now - is this possible?

 

Is it then possible to upgrade the RAM to DDR5 in a year or 2 without having to upgrade Mobo for a 2nd time?

[TylerD321]

2 minutes ago, InvictusSceptic said:

Apologies, not sure I understand.

 

Lets say I upgraded to i5 and the Mobo to something compatible with DDR5 but stuck with DDR4 Ram for now - is this possible?

 

Is it then possible to upgrade the RAM to DDR5 in a year or 2 without having to upgrade Mobo for a 2nd time?

No, you’re limited to either ddr4 or ddr5 depending on your motherboard you select.

[SteveGrabowski0]

I don't see the point of going gray market on Windows keys, anything other than a Windows retail license you pay ~$150 for from a retail store is considered piracy by Microsoft. So if you can't transfer your old Windows key over (you can if it's a retail copy, you're not supposed to be able to otherwise) and you don't want to pay for a retail license might as well just use Microsoft Activation Scripts for free instead of paying someone $30 for a key that will be no more legit than the one you get using MAS.

 

I also don't see the point of aftermarket cooling on an i5-12400F, just a waste of money. I run a 12400F on the stock cooler in hot ass Texas where we just had the worst summer ever recorded in the San Antonio area I live in (seemed like it was 102F = 39C or wose every day last summer) and my home AC sucks (was hard to keep daytime temps below 85F indoors last summer) and still never had any problem with my 12400F ever getting too hot or throttling last summer.

[PDifolco]

42 minutes ago, InvictusSceptic said:

Apologies, not sure I understand.

 

Lets say I upgraded to i5 and the Mobo to something compatible with DDR5 but stuck with DDR4 Ram for now - is this possible?

 

Is it then possible to upgrade the RAM to DDR5 in a year or 2 without having to upgrade Mobo for a 2nd time?

I meant that current LGA1700 chipset will be abandoned by Intel on next gen for idk what, LGA1752 or LGA1814 lol

So you could only upgrade on same gen say i5 to i7 13th gen without having to change the board. Future boards will eventually all be DDR5, so to really  upgarde to new gen you'll need to buy a board for say $200 , and DDR5 RAM will be less expensive say $75, so $275

If you by DDR5 now it's $100 to $50 for DDR4

So buying now and dropping later DDR4 will only cost you net $25, but you'll certainly get faster RAM as well in the future

 

For AMD builds tho you should get midrange 6000MT DDR5, they're less RAM speed sensitive, and the platform will last for at least 2 gens (promises by AMD..)

 

[SorryBella]

3 hours ago, PDifolco said:

for idk what, LGA1752 or LGA1814 lol

LGA 1776. Make America Intel Again.

 

but yeah, @PDifolco makes a good point in that if youre chasing longevity it would make sense going DDR5 for now, in which case you might be interested in going AMD instead.

But of course keep in mind that RAM is a very quickly cost-falling product same with storages back in the 2010s, so dont expect yourself to still be psyched about your RAM speed and capacity later on in DDR5 lifecycle.

 

[InvictusSceptic]

OK thanks, lots to consider. I'm going to have another look.

 

Considering going one of a few ways.

 

1. Cheap ddr4 and upgrade in a couple of years, but won't be able to do a big future upgrade.

 

2.  Spend more now, go ddr5 but lowere ddr5 ram and upgrade the ram and gpu in a couple of years 

 

3. Spend a bit more on ddr5 and replace gpu only in a couple of years 

 

If anyone has any thoughts, let me know. Will close and make a new post when get to that point

[InvictusSceptic]

Sorry to double post - my other option is to just upgrade everything now and push my budget to £1200/£1500

[InvictusSceptic]

On 3/19/2023 at 3:46 PM, TylerD321 said:

You can pull your windows key from Powershell or Command prompt and transfer it over to a new windows install. If the key doesn’t work your next best option is grey market - typically around 30 bucks a key.

 

The noctua hardware will need a special mounting bracket to work with an LGA 1700 cpu. https://noctua.at/en/intel-lga1700-all-you-need-to-know
 

Generally speaking, 6000 mhz ram is what you would want for ddr5.

 

The upgrade should last you for a good bit, my main concern is how long the 1080 will last and/or be a viable gpu. I’m thinking it will be fine until gpu dies.

hey - can you point me towards where I should be looking for Windows 11 pro on grey market? wasn't able to get anything moving from old pc sadly