My system is 13 years old, built with advice from people here and never had any problems. A user helped me become aware that it is well past expiry time and, as I want to make upgrades, most will be throttled by old technology. I have decided to replace my desktop PC
Approximate Purchase Date: Early December
Budget Range: 400-500 USD, 60-70,000 JPY
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photography, Photoshop, Design
Are you buying a monitor: Not needed
Parts to Upgrade: Motherboard, Graphics, CPU, Memory, SSD drive
Do you need to buy OS: Maybe. Have a volume MAK version of Windows Pro and not sure how many activations. I bought it on ebay. It was sold as a retail version.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Sites like Amazon are good for indicators as they can bring up items with Japanese prices. US, UK etc sites can have parts I cannot get/ that are hard to find.
Location: Tokyo, Japan.
Parts Preferences: No specific makers as I lack the knowledge but Japan market availability.
Overclocking: Maybe, if stable
SLI or Crossfire: Not exactly sure what they do so prob no.
Your Monitor Resolution: Eizo monitor with 2560 x 1440 res.
Additional Comments: Looking for something reasonable with longevity but do not need top of the range. Will not be gaming. Japanese parts and prices can be different from the US, so choices are good, sometimes something can cost far more or less here depending on availability. Can be flexible on price, if upgrading a part makes a big difference for example.
Why Are You Upgrading: See top, PC oudated
A few questions that can help me decide what to buy;
Motherboard. I am wondering the difference between the numbers and letters, is a B, H, X etc similar between all makers?
For example an AsRock B660, MSI B660, Gigabyte B660, Asus B660 all have a similar “base” with added extras?
My other understanding is that the number corresponds to the CPU that can be used. AMD Ryzen 5 for the numbers with 500, Ryzen 6 for 600 etc?
If this is the case can a more advanced motherboard support a lesser CPU, for example a B660 can have a Ryzen 6 or 5 but a B550 must have Ryzen 5?
Apologies for all the questions and options, for the first time everything is really new to me, I have been out of touch for a long time.
Current considerations,
ASRock
B660M-HDV,
B660M Pro RS,
H670 PG Riptide
H610M-HDV/M.2
If worthwhile a step up in price like a B660M “Steel Legend” is recommended though not sure what it actually means.
Asus (worth the extra cost?)
Asus TUF Gaming B660-M Plus D4
Asus TUF Gaming B550-PLUS AM4
Asus Prime H610 D4
MSI
MSI Mag B660M mortar
MSI B660 tomahawk
MSI pro B660M-P
GIGABYTE
MB5689 H610M
GIGABYTE B550M AORUS PRO-P
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra
Gigabyte X590 Aorus Ultra
Gigabyte B660M Aorus Pro
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5500
I just learnt that Intel has CPU alternatives, are they compatible with the motherboards mentioned and how do they compare to Ryzen? (only one I had heard of)
Graphics
ASUS AMD Radeon RX 550 2G (Cheapest but outdated performance?)
51Risc Radeon RX 580 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 (cheap but unknown maker?)
PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 6400
Radeon RX 6500 XT MECH 2X 4G OC
An Alternative option is a CPU with built in Graphics. Questions I would have are “can you upgrade the graphics card later?” and “how does the built in graphics CPU compare with lower end graphics cards mentioned?”.
SSD drive
Likely a Crucial Crucial SSD 1TB (MX or BX)
Memory
ADATA 16gb 8x2 DDR4 2666
panram value 16gb 8x2 DDR4 2666
These were the cheapest RAM options, for example “RipJaws” but I could not find them here. Is there anything I need to be careful of when buying?
My current PC has Corsair Vengence 2 x 4 GB 1333.
I have a Cooler Master Case (CM 690) which I am now wondering about. I never considered the front I/O panel for example. USB 2.0 x 2, IEEE 1394a x 1, Microphone x 1, eSATA x 1, Speaker x 1 (HD Audio support)
It has a cooler master hyper 212 heat sink for the CPU which I guess is not needed anymore? Also extra fans for cooling which may not be needed either.
The power supply is a Corsair TX650W, still working from 13 years ago! When it finally dies, is it a threat to the PC parts? Of a case of just time to replace? If potentially it could damage new parts I will replace.
A final note to this massive post (thanks for reading if you made it this far!). The 2nd hand market in Japan is excellent. Here once opened goods cannot be returned unless faulty, also if a box is damaged the cost goes down a lot, even if unopened. Many places sell unused or barely used parts at massive discounts. Things like cases could be picked up really cheap. I may just replace the whole system.
Thank you for your time!!!
Approximate Purchase Date: Early December
Budget Range: 400-500 USD, 60-70,000 JPY
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photography, Photoshop, Design
Are you buying a monitor: Not needed
Parts to Upgrade: Motherboard, Graphics, CPU, Memory, SSD drive
Do you need to buy OS: Maybe. Have a volume MAK version of Windows Pro and not sure how many activations. I bought it on ebay. It was sold as a retail version.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Sites like Amazon are good for indicators as they can bring up items with Japanese prices. US, UK etc sites can have parts I cannot get/ that are hard to find.
Location: Tokyo, Japan.
Parts Preferences: No specific makers as I lack the knowledge but Japan market availability.
Overclocking: Maybe, if stable
SLI or Crossfire: Not exactly sure what they do so prob no.
Your Monitor Resolution: Eizo monitor with 2560 x 1440 res.
Additional Comments: Looking for something reasonable with longevity but do not need top of the range. Will not be gaming. Japanese parts and prices can be different from the US, so choices are good, sometimes something can cost far more or less here depending on availability. Can be flexible on price, if upgrading a part makes a big difference for example.
Why Are You Upgrading: See top, PC oudated
A few questions that can help me decide what to buy;
Motherboard. I am wondering the difference between the numbers and letters, is a B, H, X etc similar between all makers?
For example an AsRock B660, MSI B660, Gigabyte B660, Asus B660 all have a similar “base” with added extras?
My other understanding is that the number corresponds to the CPU that can be used. AMD Ryzen 5 for the numbers with 500, Ryzen 6 for 600 etc?
If this is the case can a more advanced motherboard support a lesser CPU, for example a B660 can have a Ryzen 6 or 5 but a B550 must have Ryzen 5?
Apologies for all the questions and options, for the first time everything is really new to me, I have been out of touch for a long time.
Current considerations,
ASRock
B660M-HDV,
B660M Pro RS,
H670 PG Riptide
H610M-HDV/M.2
If worthwhile a step up in price like a B660M “Steel Legend” is recommended though not sure what it actually means.
Asus (worth the extra cost?)
Asus TUF Gaming B660-M Plus D4
Asus TUF Gaming B550-PLUS AM4
Asus Prime H610 D4
MSI
MSI Mag B660M mortar
MSI B660 tomahawk
MSI pro B660M-P
GIGABYTE
MB5689 H610M
GIGABYTE B550M AORUS PRO-P
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra
Gigabyte X590 Aorus Ultra
Gigabyte B660M Aorus Pro
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 5500
I just learnt that Intel has CPU alternatives, are they compatible with the motherboards mentioned and how do they compare to Ryzen? (only one I had heard of)
Graphics
ASUS AMD Radeon RX 550 2G (Cheapest but outdated performance?)
51Risc Radeon RX 580 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 (cheap but unknown maker?)
PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 6400
Radeon RX 6500 XT MECH 2X 4G OC
An Alternative option is a CPU with built in Graphics. Questions I would have are “can you upgrade the graphics card later?” and “how does the built in graphics CPU compare with lower end graphics cards mentioned?”.
SSD drive
Likely a Crucial Crucial SSD 1TB (MX or BX)
Memory
ADATA 16gb 8x2 DDR4 2666
panram value 16gb 8x2 DDR4 2666
These were the cheapest RAM options, for example “RipJaws” but I could not find them here. Is there anything I need to be careful of when buying?
My current PC has Corsair Vengence 2 x 4 GB 1333.
I have a Cooler Master Case (CM 690) which I am now wondering about. I never considered the front I/O panel for example. USB 2.0 x 2, IEEE 1394a x 1, Microphone x 1, eSATA x 1, Speaker x 1 (HD Audio support)
It has a cooler master hyper 212 heat sink for the CPU which I guess is not needed anymore? Also extra fans for cooling which may not be needed either.
The power supply is a Corsair TX650W, still working from 13 years ago! When it finally dies, is it a threat to the PC parts? Of a case of just time to replace? If potentially it could damage new parts I will replace.
A final note to this massive post (thanks for reading if you made it this far!). The 2nd hand market in Japan is excellent. Here once opened goods cannot be returned unless faulty, also if a box is damaged the cost goes down a lot, even if unopened. Many places sell unused or barely used parts at massive discounts. Things like cases could be picked up really cheap. I may just replace the whole system.
Thank you for your time!!!