Build Advice Long-term upgrade advice ?

[TheAssistant]

Hi guys,

I am not sure if that was mentioned already, there are so many posts about upgrades.
Let me directly jump in.

My current PC is old. It still works, but it's too old for the upgrade from Windows 10 to 11.
I am not sure if I really need a full new Desktop PC, or if it's enough if I just get a new bundle (motherboard/CPU/RAM), because I don't really need a new harddrive etc,

My current PC has the Z97-P motherboard with an Intel i5-4690K CPU and16 GB DDR3 RAM.
My current PC has 1 SSD with 250 GB for the OS and an additional SATA HDD with 2 TB for programs and files. I also have a BluRay Drive. All my harddrive is partly over 10 years old, the PC was always just partly updated/upgraded. I am not sure it would be now the time to replace everything.

I don't use my PC for gaming. I use it more in the classic way - Office, Adobe, surfing, listening to music, chatting, email, etc pp. I have a lot of windows/apps open at the same time and need a PC that can handle that well. I am not sure if I need the newest CPU, but I think i5 would be the minimum. I also want to make it future proof, like my current one, which serves me well the last 10-12 years.

Would you recommend replacing the whole PC? And if yes, do you have a recommendation? If not, what bundle would you recommend? I would love to have 32GB RAM, or is that overdoing it? I also would love to have the option to attach up to 4 monitors - at the moment I have an additional card to connect 2 monitors with DP connection and I love it, but the more the merrier, because I really use a lot of programs at the same time. Soundcard is not really important, because I only listen to my old mp3 files or Spotify. I don't do any podcasts etc. Sometimes I convert DVDs or watch telly on my PC, but also for that my speakers are fine. I don't need an allround system.

I would like to stay in the £1000-1500 range. Please give me any tips, what I need or what you would recommend. And please ask, if you need any more infos about my current system or my usage.

Thank you in advance,
TheAssistant

 

[Lutfij]

My current PC has the Z97-P motherboard with an Intel i5-4690K CPU and16 GB DDR3 RAM.
Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model.

I am not sure it would be now the time to replace everything.
If the system can't do what you need it to do, then yes that's the time for your to move platforms. In fact you won't be able to migrate to Windows 11 or beyond with that processor/platform. I had an EVGA Z97 Stinger platform but the fact that Windows 10 kept downloading the wrong drivers after an OS update, was what crippled my work on the Z97 platform, to learn that Microsoft had no intentions of adding support to a platform from yesteryears.

Would you recommend replacing the whole PC? And if yes, do you have a recommendation? If not, what bundle would you recommend? I would love to have 32GB RAM, or is that overdoing it?
What is that you do with your system? You might want to also consider stylizing your thread with info asked of in this thread;

*How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice First off, respect where respect is due - this is an adaptation of the Animal's *How To Ask For New Build Advice* Sticky. I created this because there's a lot of posts nowadays asking for upgrade advice both on here and on the CPU forums, and I feel...

forums.tomshardware.com

and the community will chime in with worthwhile suggestions.

 

[USAFRet]

Would you recommend replacing the whole PC?

Given a Z97 platform, yes.

Start here:

*How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice*

How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice First off, respect where respect is due - this is an adaptation of the Animal's *How To Ask For New Build Advice* Sticky. I created this because there's a lot of posts nowadays asking for upgrade advice both on here and on the CPU forums, and I feel...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[artk2219]

Hi guys,

I am not sure if that was mentioned already, there are so many posts about upgrades.
Let me directly jump in.

My current PC is old. It still works, but it's too old for the upgrade from Windows 10 to 11.
I am not sure if I really need a full new Desktop PC, or if it's enough if I just get a new bundle (motherboard/CPU/RAM), because I don't really need a new harddrive etc,

My current PC has the Z97-P motherboard with an Intel i5-4690K CPU and16 GB DDR3 RAM.
My current PC has 1 SSD with 250 GB for the OS and an additional SATA HDD with 2 TB for programs and files. I also have a BluRay Drive. All my harddrive is partly over 10 years old, the PC was always just partly updated/upgraded. I am not sure it would be now the time to replace everything.

I don't use my PC for gaming. I use it more in the classic way - Office, Adobe, surfing, listening to music, chatting, email, etc pp. I have a lot of windows/apps open at the same time and need a PC that can handle that well. I am not sure if I need the newest CPU, but I think i5 would be the minimum. I also want to make it future proof, like my current one, which serves me well the last 10-12 years.

Would you recommend replacing the whole PC? And if yes, do you have a recommendation? If not, what bundle would you recommend? I would love to have 32GB RAM, or is that overdoing it? I also would love to have the option to attach up to 4 monitors - at the moment I have an additional card to connect 2 monitors with DP connection and I love it, but the more the merrier, because I really use a lot of programs at the same time. Soundcard is not really important, because I only listen to my old mp3 files or Spotify. I don't do any podcasts etc. Sometimes I convert DVDs or watch telly on my PC, but also for that my speakers are fine. I don't need an allround system.

I would like to stay in the £1000-1500 range. Please give me any tips, what I need or what you would recommend. And please ask, if you need any more infos about my current system or my usage.

Thank you in advance,
TheAssistant

If your concern is about getting a newer PC so you can install windows 11 and get updates, you dont really need a new PC for that. While your current PC cant "officially" support Windows 11, but you can definitely still get windows 11 on there and it will likely run just fine. The oldest machine i have running 11 regularly is an i7 2600 based Optiplex 790, its stable and works just fine. I do need to fully download the latest version, and make sure the registry is modified so i can install the latest feature pack updates, but its a quick change and it hasn't caused me any issues. That said, if you care about your data, make sure to do a backup before attempting to modify your windows install.

What I learned from 3 years of running Windows 11 on “unsupported” PCs

When your old PC goes over the Windows 10 update cliff, can Windows 11 save it?

arstechnica.com

How to install Windows 11 on almost any unsupported PC

Want Windows 11 but have an unsupported computer? Here's how to install Windows 11 even if your PC doesn't meet the minimum requirements.

www.xda-developers.com

 

[TheAssistant]

My current PC has the Z97-P motherboard with an Intel i5-4690K CPU and16 GB DDR3 RAM.
Please list the specs to your build like so:
CPU:
CPU cooler:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:
Monitor:
include the age of the PSU apart from it's make and model.

CPU: Intel i5-4690K
CPU cooler: bundled with CPU
Motherboard: ASUS Y97-P
Ram: 16GB DDR3
SSD/HDD: 250SSD Samsung/2TB SATA HDD WD
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630
PSU: ATX 500W Switching Desktop Power Supply Unit JSP-500P12N
Chassis: 3 x 3.5", 2 x 2.5" (one of them is currently used for a floppy drive *not working anymore*)
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Monitor: 2 x DELL U2415 24"

I want to upgrade the OS to Windows 11 Pro, but do I really need to replace the whole PC or does it make sense to just upgrade the bundle (Motherboard/CPU/RAM)? Which product would you recommend?

Thank you.

 

[USAFRet]

I want to upgrade the OS to Windows 11 Pro, but do I really need to replace the whole PC or does it make sense to just upgrade the bundle (Motherboard/CPU/RAM)? Which product would you recommend?

New CPU/RAM/motherboard.
New CPU cooler (maybe incl with the CPU)
Plus, new PSU.

Thats basically a "whole new PC"

You can keep the case and drives.

 

[retro77]

I'd say you got your money's worth your current system.

I'd replace everything since the oldest component in a new system could go out and cause damage to surrounding parts.

Shop the Newegg/Amazon deals and you can something going cheap.

The Logical Increments site is a good resource to see a build to budget and links to current prices/items.

 

[artk2219]

CPU: Intel i5-4690K
CPU cooler: bundled with CPU
Motherboard: ASUS Y97-P
Ram: 16GB DDR3
SSD/HDD: 250SSD Samsung/2TB SATA HDD WD
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630
PSU: ATX 500W Switching Desktop Power Supply Unit JSP-500P12N
Chassis: 3 x 3.5", 2 x 2.5" (one of them is currently used for a floppy drive *not working anymore*)
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Monitor: 2 x DELL U2415 24"

I want to upgrade the OS to Windows 11 Pro, but do I really need to replace the whole PC or does it make sense to just upgrade the bundle (Motherboard/CPU/RAM)? Which product would you recommend?

Thank you.

Motherboard, cpu, ram, and psu would do it, but you may as well throw in a new NVME SSD while you're at it since a new 1TB is like 50 - 60 dollars. I put a couple of builds together, one AMD, the other Intel. If you are the type to do in socket upgrades, the AMD one will have more future CPU upgrade options as AM5 will be supported until 2027 with new CPU's. LGA 1700 will have one more refresh at the end of the year, Bartlett lake, but its basically EOL. I also added a graphics card, an Intel A380 with 4 Display port outputs, but if you can find a cheap used card or something else, that would also work.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core Processor (£145.19 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Assassin King 120 MINI V2 64.87 CFM CPU Cooler (£17.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 GAMING X WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard (£164.49 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory (£147.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£61.00 @ MoreCoCo)
Video Card: Sparkle ELF Arc A380 6 GB Video Card (£110.22 @ NeoComputers)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 12 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£93.94 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £740.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-05 21:18 BST+0100


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-14600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor (£188.26 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Assassin King 120 MINI V2 64.87 CFM CPU Cooler (£17.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 D AX ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£163.00 @ MoreCoCo)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory (£147.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£61.00 @ MoreCoCo)
Video Card: Sparkle ELF Arc A380 6 GB Video Card (£110.22 @ NeoComputers)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 12 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£93.94 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £782.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-05 21:24 BST+0100

 

[LOGAN54321]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core Processor (£145.19 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (£32.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (£149.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory (£125.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£120.88 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sparkle ELF Arc A380 6 GB Video Card (£110.22 @ NeoComputers)
Case: Phanteks XT PRO ATX Mid Tower Case (£54.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2024) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£124.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Total: £863.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-06 00:35 BST+0100

 

[Why_Me]

Hi guys,

I am not sure if that was mentioned already, there are so many posts about upgrades.
Let me directly jump in.

My current PC is old. It still works, but it's too old for the upgrade from Windows 10 to 11.
I am not sure if I really need a full new Desktop PC, or if it's enough if I just get a new bundle (motherboard/CPU/RAM), because I don't really need a new harddrive etc,

My current PC has the Z97-P motherboard with an Intel i5-4690K CPU and16 GB DDR3 RAM.
My current PC has 1 SSD with 250 GB for the OS and an additional SATA HDD with 2 TB for programs and files. I also have a BluRay Drive. All my harddrive is partly over 10 years old, the PC was always just partly updated/upgraded. I am not sure it would be now the time to replace everything.

I don't use my PC for gaming. I use it more in the classic way - Office, Adobe, surfing, listening to music, chatting, email, etc pp. I have a lot of windows/apps open at the same time and need a PC that can handle that well. I am not sure if I need the newest CPU, but I think i5 would be the minimum. I also want to make it future proof, like my current one, which serves me well the last 10-12 years.

Would you recommend replacing the whole PC? And if yes, do you have a recommendation? If not, what bundle would you recommend? I would love to have 32GB RAM, or is that overdoing it? I also would love to have the option to attach up to 4 monitors - at the moment I have an additional card to connect 2 monitors with DP connection and I love it, but the more the merrier, because I really use a lot of programs at the same time. Soundcard is not really important, because I only listen to my old mp3 files or Spotify. I don't do any podcasts etc. Sometimes I convert DVDs or watch telly on my PC, but also for that my speakers are fine. I don't need an allround system.

I would like to stay in the £1000-1500 range. Please give me any tips, what I need or what you would recommend. And please ask, if you need any more infos about my current system or my usage.

Thank you in advance,
TheAssistant

Bottom drawer is for your BR / DVD drives.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (£259.86 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler (£29.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte B850 GAMING X WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard (£164.49 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: *ADATA XPG Lancer Blade 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (£95.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£90.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: *MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card (£236.97 @ Amazon UK)
Case: *Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (£79.98 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£88.65 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1045.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-06 05:19 BST+0100

https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/pop/pop-air/black-solid/

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W79wfESM4SU

 

[Misgar]

I would like to stay in the £1000-1500 range. Please give me any tips, what I need or what you would recommend.

You've got 1000 - 1500 quid to spend and you can build a pretty decent system for that amount of dosh.

Like me, you're still into Blu-ray drives so you'll have to be careful when choosing a case. Many modern cases have glass sides and are filled with LED fans (up to 13 ?!?). They're designed to look pretty but there's often no space to fit a 5.25 inch optical drive.

I'm writing this on an old i7-4770K in a Gigabyte GA-Z97-D3H system with 16GB RAM on Windows 10. The case is a "boring" black Fractal Design with a single front panel slot for a DVD/RW drive. I have other Fractal Design cases including the R5, which I like because some versions allow me to fit eight hard disks inside for server builds.

If you do choose an R-series case, check carefully before ordering. There are multiple options and some don't include front panel bays.
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/define-r5/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fractal-Design-Define-Midtower-Computer/dp/B00Q2Z11QE

I also have a large number of ancient Lian-Li Aluminium cases, many of which I bought second-hand on eBay.co.uk. The V2000 features seven accessible 5.25in bays on the front panel. Only useful if you like multiple hot swap drives, but you can always buy an illuminated glass fish tank instead.

If you decide on an mATX build, the above cases may be too big for your liking, so you'll have to look elsewhere. Cases available in the USA may not be on sale in the UK.

I've used various on-line stores for builds over the years including:
https://www.ebuyer.com/
https://www.scan.co.uk/
https://box.co.uk/
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/

I don't use my PC for gaming. I use it more in the classic way - Office, Adobe,

What Adobe apps in particular? You can get by with a "medium" spec build for Photoshop, but Premiere Pro and similar video editors require powerful multi-core CPUs and fast GPUs.

I'm running Photoshop and Topaz Video AI on a 7950X rig built in 2022 with an RTX 4070 GPU. Your budget of up to £1500 should be sufficient for a good video rig. Photoshop is less demanding, but plugins such as Topaz Photo AI still "hammer" the GPU if you're working on large RAW images.

I am not sure if I need the newest CPU, but I think i5 would be the minimum.

For video editing, I'd choose an i7 or i9 Intel CPU, or an AMD Ryzen 7 or 9. A 9-series CPU might be outside your price range, but I would hesitate to recommend an i5 or Ryzen 5 for Premiere Pro, DaVinci, etc.

For inspiration when choosing a CPU and GPU for Adobe, check out the Puget Systems web site:
https://www.pugetsystems.com/soluti...ons/adobe-photoshop/hardware-recommendations/

https://www.pugetsystems.com/solutions/video-editing-workstations/adobe-premiere-pro/

Most of Puget's pre-built systems are aimed at professionals and very expensive, but it's worth checking the respective merits of different CPUs and GPUs in the comparison charts.

If you can't find an affordable CPU or GPU in Puget's current builds (they tend to recommend Threadripper and Xeon CPUs for professional users) check out a their Adobe reviews from 2022/3 for more modest (affordable) hardware.

For 4K video work consider 64GB system RAM and a GPU card with 12GB VRAM. If you work at 1080p, you can get by with 32GB system RAM and an 8GB GPU, but "more is better" (cores and RAM) in video apps.

I also would love to have the option to attach up to 4 monitors

I've not run 4 monitors off a single GPU. I think I can only use 3 monitors with one of my GPUs, despite having 4 outputs. Check the spec of any GPU before purchase and find a card that suits the inputs on all your monitors. I'm using a mixture of HDMI and Display port on an old 30" 16:10 Dell monitor from a 3800X and 7950X via a KVM. Other PCs are DVI and even VGA on 24in monitors.

 

[logainofhades]

With that budget, you can get you a pretty nice system, that will last quite awhile. As you are someone that does long term rigs, might as well go as high end as budget allows. Need more specifics on Adobe software used though. Assuming you are using Adobe software that takes advantage of GPU, here.



PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor (£516.83 @ NeoComputers)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Royal Pretor 130 81.88 CFM CPU Cooler (£39.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX AM5 Motherboard (£210.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Memory: Patriot Venom 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (£154.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£119.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card (£248.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (£69.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2025) 750 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£91.30 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1450.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-06 14:47 BST+0100

 

[TheAssistant]

I use mainly Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Acrobat. Apart from that I am creating/converting eBooks and User Guides with MS Office. When working with Video converting, it's literally VHS to Digital converting or DVD/BluRay ripping with more than one language and subtitles.

That all sounds like nothing, but sometimes I have 10+ programs running in the background.

 

[Why_Me]

I use mainly Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Acrobat. Apart from that I am creating/converting eBooks and User Guides with MS Office. When working with Video converting, it's literally VHS to Digital converting or DVD/BluRay ripping with more than one language and subtitles.

That all sounds like nothing, but sometimes I have 10+ programs running in the background.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core Ultra 7 265K 3.9 GHz 20-Core Processor (£265.97 @ Currys PC World)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler (£29.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte Z890 EAGLE WIFI7 ATX LGA1851 Motherboard (£167.71 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (£179.97 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: *MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card (£249.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: *Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (£74.94 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£89.95 @ AWD-IT)
Total: £1148.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-27 12:36 BST+0100

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (£262.49 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler (£29.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B850-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (£167.94 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (£179.97 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: *MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X 12G GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card (£249.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: *Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case (£74.94 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£89.95 @ AWD-IT)
Total: £1145.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-27 12:34 BST+0100