[SOLVED] Desktop upgrade sequence

[MD-PA]

Current desktop is Ryzen 5 2400G on Asus Prime B450M-A, 16GB RAM, Win 10 Home. I added a 4GB GeForce GTX 1650 and no longer use the CPU's integrated graphics; also the 2400G is incompatible with Win 11. No overclocking -- I rarely do demanding gaming, mostly productivity apps and managing large document, music, and video databases. I'd like a modest performance boost, but plan to get most of that by moving OS & apps from the present Samsung SATA SSD boot drive to NVMe in the mobo's M.2 socket (data is still on 16TB of internal SATA6 HDDs plus external USB 3.1gen1 HDD docks.)

For budget reasons I'd like to do it in phases over several months, and am considering the sequence

1. swapping in a Ryzen 5 5600X
2. cloning boot drive to NVMe, then Win 11 upgrade
3. eventually -- if e.g. I find I just gotta have more/faster USB or more PCI slots-- move new and existing components to a newer mobo chosen for compatibility with them.

I've shepherded Windows through "OMG I just woke up in a new brain/memory" upgrades before -- I know the arguments for clean start and used to be religious about that, but it's gotten better at adapting for itself and I really hate mass reinstallation of apps. That aside, any alternate sequence to suggest or gotchas to beware of?

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you do not have BIOS version 2409 or newer, you'll want to be sure to update the BIOS before attempting to swap in a 5xxx series Ryzen CPU.

And, in my opinion, not doing a clean install when cloning to same Windows version or major updates is one thing, but as has pretty much always been the case, the "upgrade" results going from one Windows version, like 7 to 8.1, 8.1 to 10, etc., very often results in a variety of hard to pin down problems and ghost issues. I think when you choose to move to Windows 11, that would be a really good time to take the time to do the clean install. Or, do the upgrade so you can tie your license to Windows 11 first, if necessary, and then do the clean install. Yes, it means a PITA having to reinstall applications but that is better in most cases than trying to track down and resolve issues resulting from having upgraded to an entirely new Windows version. Of course, simply doing it your way first just to see if there ARE any problems is absolutely viable, but at the first sign of problems I'd simply move on and clean install.

Also, if you change motherboards, then hands down doing a clean install, even if you are staying on the same OS version, should be compulsory as there are always simply too many differences especially when it comes to the storage controller and drivers for there to NOT be problems most of the time. Especially if it's a different chipset. So if you are going to change boards you'll probably want to do that, but of course that's entirely up to you, and also, you'll want to change boards before you move to Windows 11 most likely because when you do it you are likely going to have to jump through one or two hoops reactivating Windows as it will see it as an entirely new computer usually when you change.

How to associate your windows 10 license with a Microsoft account

Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change

Windows build 1607 (Or newer) and activation after a hardware change



and in case you should ever need to do a CLEAN install of Windows, this guide will help to ensure it gets done properly.

How to do a CLEAN installation of Windows 10, the RIGHT way​

 

[MD-PA]

Thanks (for the 'best practices' links, too -- I've been through all this on multiple upgrades since first PC build circa 1985, but great to have the latest on my tablet before touching hardware.) I've flashed to 2409 BIOS, set up Asus firmware TPM 2.0 which Win10 health check is now happy with. MS account already linked to Win10 license.

Yes, I'll definitely slog through clean OS/apps reinstall from zero if I go to new mobo.

 

[Darkbreeze]