Question Looking for suggestions to upgrad MBO and CPU

[thane108]

I have a system I built 6 years ago. It is my office desktop that also serves as my network server - mostly music to Sonos and photos to large screen tv via jriver.

NZXT S340 Elite ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - I'm assuming this would be fine for upgrading.​

MSI Z270 SLI Plus motherboard
I7-70007K CPU
RTX 2080 GPU
16 Gig DDR4 3000 C15
Samsung 860 500 gig SSD - operating system and programs
Samsung 970 500 gig SSD - data - music and photos mostly
WD2003FZEX-00Z4SA0 2T Hard drive purchased in 2015 for backup

I feel like I need to replace the CPU - it isn't capable of running windows 11
Which would mean upgrading the MBO to something that would handle a more recent CPU.
I'm not sure if I should go ahead and replace the DDR4 with DDR5 - if staying with DDR4 I'll need to find the correct MBO.
My 500 gig SSD that I'm using for media is getting tight. I'd like to replace it with 1.5 or 2 TB.
My backup hard drive is getting old - thinking I should replace it.

Guess I'm looking for suggestions for a motherbaord/cpu, perhaps a motherboard that would take the DDR4 if DDR5 isn't worth the upgrade?

And replace the old hard drive with something newer for backup?

Thanks in advance for critique and suggestions.

 

[Lutfij]

If you go for something that's DDR5, you open yourself to the latest and greatest platforms from Intel and AMD. If you want to stick to DDR4, you can choose older boards/processors from Intel or AMD's AM4 platform. In fact, you should be good with a B550 chipset+Ryzen 7 58003D/9 5900x, then again why are you upgrading..?!

With what you've mentioned in terms of what you do with the system, you should be fine.

 

[Order 66]

If you go for something that's DDR5, you open yourself to the latest and greatest platforms from Intel and AMD. If you want to stick to DDR4, you can choose older boards/processors from Intel or AMD's AM4 platform. In fact, you should be good with a B550 chipset+Ryzen 7 58003D/9 5900x, then again why are you upgrading..?!

With what you've mentioned in terms of what you do with the system, you should be fine.

I agree, if the OP was also doing gaming with this PC, then maybe an upgrade would be needed, as it stands right now though, I don't see the point of upgrading unless the system is going to be used for gaming at some point.

 

[pete_101]

Why do you need Windows 11?
If you need more storage, add a new SSD, but I don't see why you want Windows 11 for all that you're using it for.

 

[thane108]

Wife said "Yes!" with raised fist when I read her the postings.

Guess I'll just install a larger SSD - guess I should also replace the older hard drive.

Thanks.

 

[thestryker]

Looks like your board has two M.2 slots so whatever SSD is most economical shouldn't be a problem for your system. A new HDD would be a pretty good idea given the age of your existing one.

Unless there's a specific reason for Win11 it's probably best to wait and see how things shake out when Intel has ARL on the market and AMD brings Zen 5. Depending on your PSU you might need to update that as well if you were moving on to a new platform.

 

[thane108]

So, I'll go ahead and add a second m.2 ssd to my system.

It looks like both of the these would be compatible. Is that correct? Suggestions for 2TB?

Crucial T500 2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe M.2 2280SS Gaming SSD

 

[thestryker]

It looks like both of the these would be compatible. Is that correct?

Crucial T500 2TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe M.2 2280SS Gaming SSD

Yeah, pretty much any SSD is going to be compatible. Just keep in mind the performance will be limited to PCIe 3.0 speeds.

Suggestions for 2TB?

They have limited availability if you happen to be outside of north america, but all of my current SSDs are SK Hynix/Solidigm. I'm guessing there might not be anymore consumer drives launched under the SK Hynix branding as Solidigm is also their company. They've been doing interesting software work at Solidigm so if you're using windows their drives can have an edge on the competition.

Crucial, Samsung, Kingston, Western Digital and Seagate all make good drives as well. Pricing is likely to be going up so holiday sales time is probably going to be the last time we see really great sales for a while.