Question My upgrade path from i7 7700k for Win 11 compat

[SamboK]

I've spent about a week going over hardware and exploring options to choose the best components that fit my needs, its been a bit of an adventure exploring all of the different options out there and stumbling over many roadblocks, and reassessing requirements to find the right solution. I think I've found it and I hope the contents of this might also help someone else who is or will go through the same process soon.

TLDR:

• Settled on a Ryzen 7 5700x on a ASUS PRO WS X570-ACE.
• I7-7700k and Asus Strix Z270-E Gaming will become a Linux based NAS using TrueNAS. I’ve been looking at buying a dedicated NAS anyway, likely something from Synology so this kills that bird and saves me around $1000AUD, and it will be technically interesting and challenging to implement which I'm happy to deal with. Finally it reduces e-waste.

All quoted prices in $AUD

The goal of this upgrade is to replace the existing I7 7700k with a CPU that is compatible with Windows 11 at the cheapest possible price while also having the best quality. But evolved slightly into a mild upgrade that will stave off the need for another upgrade for at least another 5 - 10 years with a newer is better approach and meeting in the middle between cost, quality and newness.

I have begun this upgrade in December 2024 to counter the anticipated hardware price hikes that will occur as we get closer to Microsoft's deadline in October 2025.

Replace just the CPU

• LGA 1151 8th and 9th generation “Coffee Lake” and “Coffee Lake Refresh” processors are incompatible with the Z270 chipset on the motherboard.
• I7 7700k is the best cpu you can put on this motherboard.

So this option is a no go, and leads to the next option of having to replace both the cpu and the motherboard as a minimum.

Replace both the CPU and the Motherboard

• Considerations
  • I’ve been using a Corsair H80i v2 AIO cooler for years. It has a nice spot in my case where it lives that can only fit 120mm. My case is a Silverstone RV-02 Raven, it can easily support a larger AOI cooler that sits above its 3 180mm fans with brackets. but it looks janky and I question its effectiveness at cooling. I’ve also lost those brackets years ago. There's an official picture of this online somewhere.
  • The RV-02 is a unique case and I’ll keep on using it for good, I do plan on customising it later and installing a custom water loop that uses a 180mm x 540mm radiator above the fans, and an additional 120mm thick radiator in the spot I currently have my H80i v2. But that's a challenge for another time.
  • The I7 7700k has a 91W TDP and the H80i v2 has been handling it with no problems at all, though I do get temps in the high 80s sometimes if I’m pushing it. So I wouldn’t want to get a cpu with a higher value, I could probably go up to 95W but no more without thermally throttling the cpu.
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  • I have 32GB of Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4 RAM that can run up to 3000MHz. These can be overclocked to accommodate a higher bus speed.
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  • I currently have an EVGA Geforce GTX 1080 FTW Gaming graphics card installed and another that I've had mostly acting as a paperweight while I eventually get around to ordering new fans for it. Once that’s done I’ll run them in SLI. I know that SLI has been phased out almost entirely but for this upgrade, I’d like to retain the ability to use SLI as I still play games that support it. I’ll also be splurging and getting a curved 4k monitor sometime within the next year to replace my aging but still perfectly working 1080p monitors.
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  • I'm not too interested in overclocking the CPU, I like things running from the factory, but I do like using intel K (unlocked) CPU’s where possible as they have higher clock rates. But locked CPUs are completely fine as well.
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  • Also have no interest in RGB. Bland and black is better, more interested in having robust and well made hardware that performs well enough out the factory as is. I’ll eventually order a spare panel to replace the one with the small acrylic window on it.

• Constraints
  • Use existing 120mm AIO cooler, supports many different sockets but best to stick with LGA 1151, LGA 1200, AM4 and AM5.
  • < 95W TDP
  • Has the ability to support DDR4 Ram > 3000MHz, overclocking to 3000MHz is ok.
  • Supports 2 way SLI

• Intel 9th Gen Upgrade (LGA 1151)
  • Core i9 9900K - 95W
  • Similarly priced to i7 9700k, the i9 is slightly more expensive but not much, both around $300. However while both have 8 cores, the i7 only has 8 threads while the i9 has 16.
  • Asus WS Z390 PRO - $800 to $1100
  • ROG STRIX Z390-E Gaming - $300 to $600
  • Both options are PCIe 3.0

• Intel 11th Gen Upgrade (LGA 1200)
  • Core i7 11700 - 65W - $500
  • It is basically identical to the Core i9 11900. The both are 65W, the base clock is the same and the turbo clock rates are only marginally better for the i9.
  • The K versions for both are 125W.
  • https://versus.com/en/intel-core-i7-11700-vs-intel-core-i9-11900
  • The differences are not worth the extra cost of the i9, and they are way harder to find.
  • Doesn't seem to be a workstation for the Z490 or Z590
  • ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING $500 to $800
  • PCIe 4.0

• AM4 Upgrade
  • AMD Ryzen 7 5700X - 65W - $239
  • 5800X and 5900X run at 105W TDP, are more expensive (5900X is double the price), with only slightly better performance. 5700X is more than enough for what I need to do.
  • The AMD X570 chipset is the only one that supports 2 way SLI
  • ASUS Pro WS X570-ACE - $350 to $800
  • ASUS ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING - $250 to $500
  • Both options are PCIe 4.0

• AM5 Upgrade
  • Not possible as AM5 uses DDR5 memory and isn't backwards compatible with DDR4, so I would need to buy more memory adding to the cost ruling this option out.

AM4 is the cheaper option by far, so I settled on that, bought the Ryzen 7 5700X for $239 and am looking at spending a bit extra ($350 to $400) to get the X570-ACE direct from China, over choosing the Strix X570 for around the same price. Moderately cheaper than compared to the prices for motherboards on the Intel side.

Is there something I've overlooked or could have chosen better?

Thank you for taking the time to read and hope you've had a very merry Christmas, and will have a happy new yearXD

 

[BFG-9000]

The price of that 5700X seems high when the 5700X3D is $180 now (at Microcenter and Aliexpress), but that depends on your location.

If you are using your RAM for a NAS, how will it be available for your 5700X system?

Cheapest by far is a used 6-core or greater Skylake-X and used LGA 2066 board (i7 7800X, 7820X or i9 7900X-7980XE) but who knows if Windows 13 will drop those off their compatibility list.

 

[SamboK]

Ahh yeah I live in Australia so all of the prices are in $AUD. I'll make a note at the top. Think I should change all the prices in the post to $USD to avoid confusion?

I looked at the 5700X3D but didn't pick it because 105W TDP.

I'll keep the ram in the 5700X system and buy some cheaper stick for the nas later, it will be built around the old mobo and 7700k. That will be another interesting challenge for later on.

I didn't consider the LGA 2066 as the chips in that socket are all run between 112 to 165W.

without the constraints I placed on my selection, the ones you've mentioned would be excellent choices. Maybe I should do some more digging and come up with acouple of good combos that assumes that a machine has an i7700K and a Z270 something board and makes afew lowest price recommendations based on use cases.

 

[CountMike]

Ahh yeah I live in Australia so all of the prices are in $AUD. I'll make a note at the top. Think I should change all the prices in the post to $USD to avoid confusion?

I looked at the 5700X3D but didn't pick it because 105W TDP.

I'll keep the ram in the 5700X system and buy some cheaper stick for the nas later, it will be built around the old mobo and 7700k. That will be another interesting challenge for later on.

I didn't consider the LGA 2066 as the chips in that socket are all run between 112 to 165W.

without the constraints I placed on my selection, the ones you've mentioned would be excellent choices. Maybe I should do some more digging and come up with acouple of good combos that assumes that a machine has an i7700K and a Z270 something board and makes afew lowest price recommendations based on use cases.

Don't even look at Intel 9th gen, too obsolete and dead end. 5700x3d can always be run in Eco mode 65W TDP with little to no performance loss but there is still advantage in 3D cache over 5700x at least for gaming.
For that one and up to 5950x you don't need expensive or high VRM MBs with x570. My 5800x run fine on Asus prime x470 pro and same on Asus b550 with a lot of power to spare. So it's better to chose more modest MB and transfer money to better CPU even if you have to upgrade cooler.
You say that you have and want to keep Corsair H80i v2 but it's not any better than mid range air cooler, maybe even vorse than most in 30 to 50 bucks range that can cool 250+ TDP. On top of it that Corsair H80i v2 is getting long in the teeth and may not last much longer, average life is 3-5 years so I would not skimp on CPU just to use it.

 

[Flayed]

I don't see the point of going with AM4 and spending so much on a motherboard, it only makes sense if you are going for super-budget components. You would be much better off with AM5. Your DDR4 is worth what 40 -50 US$?

 

[SamboK]

5700x3d can always be run in Eco mode 65W TDP with little to no performance loss but there is still advantage in 3D cache over 5700x at least for gaming.

I wasn't aware of the Eco mode, that's handy to know. It doesn't look like much on the outside but triple the L3 cache and L3 Core values and twice the number of transistors. But from what I've read should give you around 10% more FPS. I probably wouldn't even notice it and don't do enough intense gaming where I'd need it for the marginally extra price it cost. I stuck with the 5700 as its a good balance. I was eyeing off the 5950x for a long while though before scaling back.

You say that you have and want to keep Corsair H80i v2 but it's not any better than mid range air cooler, maybe even vorse than most in 30 to 50 bucks range that can cool 250+ TDP. On top of it that Corsair H80i v2 is getting long in the teeth and may not last much longer, average life is 3-5 years so I would not skimp on CPU just to use it.

This is very sound advice, and one I hadn't actually thought about as I was too focused on making it work with the H80i v2. Its old as now, I bought it in 2017 and hasn't skipped a beat yet but I'd say its well due for an update. I'll grab an air cooler for the time being.

 

[SamboK]

I don't see the point of going with AM4 and spending so much on a motherboard, it only makes sense if you are going for super-budget components. You would be much better off with AM5. Your DDR4 is worth what 40 -50 US$?

You probably would as DDR5 ram isn't too expensive.

The point of this is to replace minimal hardware and use my existing ram. Think of it like a challenge or something. The best results for the least cost while adhering to the constraints, minus the point about the AIO cooler, that's going to go now .

Why AM4 with a good motherboard? AM4 and more specifically X570 is the last to support 2 way SLI before it got phased out. I have 2 cards why not

However I'd say without the constraints I had placed on myself, there would be cheaper more modern options and I think I'll explore those next and write about it.