Want to upgrade to Windows 11 before Windows 10 EOL

[Guardian604]

My current build works perfectly fine for my needs and I don't really need to upgrade.

However, with Windows 10 reaching its end-of-life in Oct 2025, I'd like to upgrade to Windows 11 before then.

Unfortunately, my machine is not compatible and I'm not eager to try workarounds as I want a stable machine for work from home and personal use.

 

I'm really looking for what are the minimal parts I need to replace to allow me to upgrade to Windows 11.

I understand that my motherboard and CPU are two key parts I'll need to replace.

 

I'm also prepared to replace most things if the cost/value is reasonable.

 

Any advice is appreciated! Thank you ahead of time.

 

Budget (including currency): CAD$1,000-1,500

Country: Canada

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 

Web Browsing, Watching Videos, Photo editing (Photoshop, Lightroom), Illustrator, DaVinci Resolve (Instructional Video Editing), Web Programming (running local environments, VMs, etc), Excel Spreadsheets.

I do some gaming from time to time, but not very often and I'm perfectly happy with 1080p.

 

Other details

My current part list: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/6ZkYxH

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4 GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 54.36 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1600 CL10 Memory
Storage: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 590 8 GB Video Card
Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply

I run two 1080p Monitors and have a keyboard, mic, webcam and desk light plugged in at all time.

[Eigenvektor]

1 hour ago, Guardian604 said:

I understand that my motherboard and CPU are two key parts I'll need to replace.

You'll also need to replace RAM along with the motherboard, since no current CPU still supports DDR3.

 

Personally, I'd wait a bit, since Zen 5 CPUs should be available for purchase starting next month. You still have more than a year before Windows 10 is EOL.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 hour ago, Guardian604 said:

Unfortunately, my machine is not compatible and I'm not eager to try workarounds as I want a stable machine for work from home and personal use.

theres exactly 0 stability issues with working around the MS requirements, they're entirely artificial. windows 11 runs just as fine on 10 on  a core 2 quad from 17 years ago

[jaslion]

For now 11 actually just runs quite fine just like 10 when you do the disable tpm in rufus.

 

However if you do wish to upgrade it can be done quite cheaply and since you dont seem in a rush to replace it performance wise id say this would be a nice upgrade:

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/DfBTt7

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600KF 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor  ($209.98 @ Memory Express)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B760-PLUS ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($175.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($139.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $525.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-06-30 04:58 EDT-0400

 

Added things to do/advice:

 

Contact noctua for a mounting kit for the u12p. If its more than like 15$ dont bother and just get a thermalright 120mm tower cooler for 17$.

 

If those hdds are old as in 10+ years deco consider having a good backup strategy and maybe just adding another drive that takes copies off of these to the system. Cloud backups ain much like eg backblaze which is 60$ a year last I checked for unlimited.

 

Psu may want a replacement for that too after all this time. Should be fine but well cant hurt.

 

If you are using the stock fans in the 550d consider replacing them with some arctic p series fans if you want a quieter and better cooled system.

[PowerPCFan]

3 hours ago, Helpful Tech Witch said:

theres exactly 0 stability issues with working around the MS requirements, they're entirely artificial. windows 11 runs just as fine on 10 on  a core 2 quad from 17 years ago

This is 100% true lol, windows 11 is only a little bit "heavier" than windows 10

 

4 hours ago, Guardian604 said:

My current build works perfectly fine for my needs and I don't really need to upgrade.

However, with Windows 10 reaching its end-of-life in Oct 2025, I'd like to upgrade to Windows 11 before then.

Unfortunately, my machine is not compatible and I'm not eager to try workarounds as I want a stable machine for work from home and personal use.

 

I'm really looking for what are the minimal parts I need to replace to allow me to upgrade to Windows 11.

I understand that my motherboard and CPU are two key parts I'll need to replace.

If you want to hold off on the upgrade, you can bypass TPM in Rufus when flashing an installer USB. That should let you install Win11 on your PC. 

 

 

 

Article on how to do that: https://www.makeuseof.com/rufus-bypass-tpm-secure-boot-requirements-windows-11/

 

Windows 11 ISO download link (not a direct download link): https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

(you'll want to scroll down to "Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) for x64 devices")

[Somerandomtechyboi]

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/mQJTMV

this isnt even the bare minimum but itll probably hold you over for quite awhile if a 3570k system still does fine for your needs

 

as for extra cost cutting measures you can make theres cutting the rams down to 16gb saves 40cad and getting a used 3600(x) will probs save around 20-40cad

 

id highly reccomend the latter as you wont really see a diff in performance and cpus are basically risk free to buy used and im saying this as someone that has probably 30+ cpus at this point all exclusively bought used as i deal with ddr3 era hardware, most of them are 775 and 1366 due to cpu binning to do stuff like this

Spoiler

ddr3 3400 on bloomfield pure aircooling

 

afaik i am the record holder for ram freq on 45nm bloomfield by a long shot cause apparently noone ever had the idea to run 1:1 uncore memclk probably due to trash amibios boards

 

nothing on 775 yet as i dont have a good board atm and i have no particularly good cpus but looking into screwing around with 775 again

though i do have an fx 4100 + 4130 alongside a couple a4 3300 and some fm2 a4/a6 chips, so yeah dont worry about bad cpus just make sure you test em first, but if you are lazy the 5500 is a valid option

 

you can also buy used boards but i think those are more hassle than theyre worth for most ppl unless you are getting a really good deal and board warranties are pretty useful since boards are the most error prone part of a build

 

5 hours ago, Guardian604 said:

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 54.36 CFM CPU Cooler

this is reusable btw just ask for a mounting bracket from noctua and you are good to go

 

 

since you dont really need the performance i wouldnt bother with am5 or buying ddr5

 

garbage ddr5 wont be futureproof and a waste of money and ddr5 prices will probably fall overtime in the coming years not to mention buying used am5 when you do finally decide you need the performance

 

by going for a cheap upgrade now you are saving money in the long run and getting better/cheaper hardware in the  future

[Guardian604]

Thank you for the input everything. This is really helpful with all the various considerations.

 

Regarding the feedback about using Rufus to upgrade to Windows 11 with current hardware.

I had considered this and my main concern is if Microsoft will limit support to unsupported devices. For instance, timely vulnerability patches.