Updating 10 yr old system

[heinztvoert]

Hello all,
It is nice to finally post after many years of browsing and looking at the advice.

Here is the situation, I have a i7-2600k that is great but is finally showing its age - Photoshop, Lightroom, and other programs are taxing it to the max. I mostly use the computer for photos, and some video editing. On a normal day I have 4-5 programs open at once on my two monitors - ACER 27 inch and a LG 34 inch IPS QHD.

Here is current system:
1. Asus P8p67LE
2. Intel Core i7-2600k
3. Nvidia Geforce GTX 750 Ti (I need to upgrade)
4. 32gb ViperIII DDR3 Ram 1600MHz
5. Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1tb
6. Seagate 3 tb
7. Seagate 4 tb
8. 850 Watt PSU

I like what AMD is offering and I have gotten the following:
1. MSI MEG x570 Unify
2. XPG Gammix D10 32gb 3200mHz
3. Ryzen 7- 3800X
4. Deepcool Captain 240X RGB AIO.

I have over the years done minor upgrades to the system (RAM, Drives, Graphic) but this is first major upgrade. Oh btw Case is a HAF 932 (yes it is oldish but I love it)

I plan on swapping the parts, and I do have some basic knowledge - I don't plan to do OC or do much gaming, maybe I have gone overboard on some parts but I think it can hold me for a while and a bit of future proof.

Question 1. Can I simply swap the parts, and leave the rest as is (SSD is the boot drive) or should I do a clean install of windows?
Question 2. Any recommendations on video cards? I am partial to Nvidia (had issues with some AMD cards before)
Question 3. I held off on a NVMe drive, should I just take the plunge now or can it wait some time? If take the plunge now any recommendations?

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Cheers
Heinz

 

[Toothless]

Clean install of windows.

Get an NVME. I love my 970 EVO but there are cheaper offerings.

Someone is selling a used 1070ti on the forums for a good price.

There was a sale on Newegg or Amazon for a $319.99 3800x, I'd grab that unless you wanna save about $45 and go for a 3700x. (It's a solid chip)

Ram, I've gone with G.Skill for years and it's always worked for me. Check your board QVL.

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Answer 1. For things like, PSU, HDDs, SSD; youll be able to port those over. You will need a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM. And always do a clean install of Windows especially with platform swaps. You dont want driver conflicts of any sort messing things up.
Answer 2. Depending on how much you want to spend, you could get a 1660, or a 2060 from nvidia.
Answer 3. You can take the plunge on an nvme drive now. Get a 500GB Samsung 970 Evo for i think it's $80-100 and use the 1TB to offload everything else too.

IIRC, DDR4-3600MHz ram is the sweet spot for most AMD setups.

 

[TheLostSwede]

1. That's a big maybe. Windows might not be happy and will ask you to re-activate for sure. However, going from Intel to AMD is not good in terms of drivers and it's almost impossible to do a clean driver removal. I clean install would be preferred.

2. Whatever fits your budget really.

3. Sure, NVMe isn't a must. If you're getting something now, there was an offer linked to here for the WD Black SN750 for $135 on Amazon. For that price, it's a very good drive for the money.

WD Black SN750 1TB NVMe SSD $135 at Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Black-SN750-NVMe-Internal-Gaming/dp/B07M64QXMN/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=WD_Black+SN750+1TB&qid=1591311051&sr=8-1

www.techpowerup.com

I would suggest considering some faster RAM, something like 3600MHz, personally I've had very good luck with these

Viper Steel DDR4 Performance Memory DRAM | Viper Gaming

Patriot’s Viper Steel memory modules are designed with true performance in mind. Built for the latest Intel® and AMD™ platforms, our Viper Steel DDR4 memory provides the best performance and stability for the most demanding computer environments.The Viper Steel memory utilizes a custom designed...

viper.patriotmemory.com

Also consider a 280mm rather than a 240mm AIO cooler, it'll allow the 3800X to stretch its legs so to speak.

 

[heinztvoert]

Oh wow, thank you all, I really didn't think much about the speed of the RAM, even when I tried to custom build from retailer online - he told me 3200mhz was good enough.

I will go and take a look at your suggestions. Any thought on Sabrent Rocket?
https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-Inter...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

1. That's a big maybe. Windows might not be happy and will ask you to re-activate for sure. However, going from Intel to AMD is not good in terms of drivers and it's almost impossible to do a clean driver removal. I clean install would be preferred.

2. Whatever fits your budget really.

3. Sure, NVMe isn't a must. If you're getting something now, there was an offer linked to here for the WD Black SN750 for $135 on Amazon. For that price, it's a very good drive for the money.

WD Black SN750 1TB NVMe SSD $135 at Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Black-SN750-NVMe-Internal-Gaming/dp/B07M64QXMN/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=WD_Black+SN750+1TB&qid=1591311051&sr=8-1

www.techpowerup.com

I would suggest considering some faster RAM, something like 3600MHz, personally I've had very good luck with these

Viper Steel DDR4 Performance Memory DRAM | Viper Gaming

Patriot’s Viper Steel memory modules are designed with true performance in mind. Built for the latest Intel® and AMD™ platforms, our Viper Steel DDR4 memory provides the best performance and stability for the most demanding computer environments.The Viper Steel memory utilizes a custom designed...

viper.patriotmemory.com

Also consider a 280mm rather than a 240mm AIO cooler, it'll allow the 3800X to stretch its legs so to speak.

That is very true, didn't occur to me about the drivers going from intel to AMD.

 

[xman2007]

Oh wow, thank you all, I really didn't think much about the speed of the RAM, even when I tried to custom build from retailer online - he told me 3200mhz was good enough.

I will go and take a look at your suggestions. Any thought on Sabrent Rocket?
https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-Inter...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==




That is very true, didn't occur to me about the drivers going from intel to AMD.

3600-3800mhz is the sweetspot for Ryzen 3000
And yes ALWAYS performa clean Windows install with a new platform, it's a pita for sure but you will have a much more stable and responsive system from the outset instead of running into potential issues and trying to diagnose it after. And yes, never mix AMD/Intel/NVIDIA drivers, it's just asking for trouble and leaves all kinds of onwanted crap in the registry.

As for that nvme drive you posted, just going by the 1.3k reviews and 5 star rating on Amazon, I would say go for it, it's not the best of the best if you like, such as the Samsung pro range but it looks to be a very good price and has very good performance and reviews to boot

 

[SL2]

Edit: Now I see you've already got the parts.. ignore my CPU rant..

3. Ryzen 7- 3800X

Either 3700X or 3900X. The 3800X doesn't make much sense IMO.

4. Deepcool Captain 240X RGB AIO.

If you want it to be maintenace free for many years, maybe up to 10 years in best case (yeah, I know, impossible to predict), you should go for an air cooler. An AIO might work for that long time, but that's not a given. However, if you have given it a thought and don't mind that extra work/money down the road then go ahead. I personally prefer things that just works.

Question 1. Can I simply swap the parts, and leave the rest as is (SSD is the boot drive) or should I do a clean install of windows?

Clean install is the only sensible way to go. When you install, make sure you only have the drive you're installing Windows to connected (one drive only), otherwise you might get issues down the road. After install you may connect other drives.

Question 2. Any recommendations on video cards? I am partial to Nvidia (had issues with some AMD cards before)

Why not keep the one you have for now? Put the money into a 3900X instead, and if needed, get a new graphics card in a few years.

Windows cost $10 or so, and you download the ISO from here.

 

[Cranky5150]

New AM4 mobo , cpu and ram is the best path IMO....

 

[Buftor]

How much gaming do you do? If not much, you can save a lot of money on the video card.
You should definitely go for NVME drive, since working with Lightroom you are buzzing through a lot of files. You can get excellent drives for $140 for 1TB. I got a Corsair MP510 2TB a few months ago for $250. Worth every penny.
With Ryzen 7 and NVME drive, you will be amazed at the speed of Photoshop.

 

[SL2]

Also, I'm not telling you to wait, because that would make someone here tell me that you might as well wait forever..

..but I'm just informing you that AMD's 4000 series CPU's are expected to show up later this year.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Also, I'm not telling you to wait, because that would make someone here tell me that you might as well wait forever..

..but I'm just informing you that AMD's 4000 series CPU's are expected to show up later this year.

And the supposed XT processors, supposedly later this month...

 

[SL2]

And the supposed XT processors, supposedly later this month...

And that as well, although I don't find them exciting, so far.

Edit: Now I see you've already got the parts.. ignore my CPU rant..

 

[Sunny and 75]

1) Definitely a clean install of windows.

2) 1660 Super would be a proper choice for GPU. If you want more powerful options, consider either RX 5700 XT or 2070 Super. And if money is not an issue then 2080 Ti is the top choice.

3) Going from HDD to SSD is so much more noticeable than going from SSD to NVMe, with that said and considering X570 Unify has PCIe 4.0 NVMe support i'd suggest
Seagate FireCuda 520 series 1TB.

 

[NightOfChrist]

Any thought on Sabrent Rocket?
https://www.amazon.ca/Sabrent-Inter...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I'm a Sabrent Rocket user, although I don't have a 500 GB drive. I'm using a Sabrent Rocket 1 TB (SB-ROCKET-1TB) and a Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1 TB (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB).
I can recommend Sabrent Rocket because it's decent, but feel free to get what brand you like most.

 

[Hyderz]

how old is that psu?

 

[Iceni]

Any thought on Sabrent Rocket?

I went with the ADATA 8200 Pro. On my x570 board it is getting the correct speeds and it's a little cheaper than that sabrent.

It's currently $116 with a $10 coupon for the 512Gb.

XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB 3D NAND NVMe Gen3x4 PCIe M.2 2280 Solid State Drive R/W 3500/3000MB/s SSD (ASX8200PNP-512GT-C) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB 3D NAND NVMe Gen3x4 PCIe M.2 2280 Solid State Drive R/W 3500/3000MB/s SSD (ASX8200PNP-512GT-C) : Amazon.ca: Electronics

www.amazon.ca

 

[Valantar]

As mentioned by some above: if that PSU is as old as the system, it needs replacing. Better to do it preventively than have it fail when assembling the new system. Ten years is a great run for any PSU.

 

[heinztvoert]

how old is that psu?

It is about 5 years, I replaced the original as it had a burnt smell coming out of it.