Desktop upgrade suggestion needed
- Thread starter icebags
- Start date
nac
Aspiring Novelist
Since these are entry level chipset boards, most don't come with 4 slots. There are very few models which do sport 4 slot and most of them don't make it to Indian markets, the ones do would be priced as much as or at least close to B series boards.
theitwares.com/motherboards/amd-motherboards/asus-prime-a520m-a-amd-am4-micro-atx-with-1-gb-ethernet-m-2-and-usb-3-2-gen-1-motherboard.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_qvlvui__gIVLY1LBR3Cng2jEAQYAiABEgJY3vD_BwE
omega44-xt
Gear up ...
amazon.in/Silicon-Power-256GB-Gen3x4-SP256GBP34A60M28/dp/B07ZGJYLNLalright, so i will make it 240gb then. and i have shortlisted the following sata ones (sequence as per preference) :
Crucial BX500
WD Green
ADATA SU650
(1) can you please suggest which one of the above would be best for reliability and wont fail anytime soon.
now there is a problem though, hard disks are getting piling up, those mobos provide 4x sata ports, and with this ssd, i will have 4 hard disks and one optical drive, which got accumulated over the years. so, one will be left out.
i see you have suggested M.2 NVME drive, and those mobos support 4 x SATA3, 1 x Ultra M.2(Gen3 x4 & SATA3). i am not familiar with M.2, i heard if you use M.2 then one sata port goes off. so there again 4 drives total.
(2) so please suggest if that is true.
another issue is that, my Os comes upgraded from win XP. to install OS fresh on a drive, i guess i have to load XP first, then upgrade to Win 8.1, then Win 10. but as per the specs these new mother board & processionor wont boot with XP or win 8. so, cant directly load OS into M.2.
then again when reading that zdnet article you provided, i came across this and got confused:
The digital license is associated with that specific device, which means you can reformat the disk and perform a clean installation of the same edition of Windows 10 anytime. (If you're thinking of upgrading your old system drive to an SSD, perform the upgrade to Windows 10 on the old hardware; after confirming that the new Windows 10 version is properly activated, install the SSD and then either restore from a backup image or boot from the USB flash drive to do a clean install. You won't need a product key, and activation is automatic.)
(3) so it means i have to do the upgrade in HDD with current C2Duo, activate Windows 10, then change the hardware to AMD, then copy OS image to M.2 drive ? that process is so complicated and long.
then there is mention of "boot from the USB flash drive to do a clean install", (4) does this mean, once win10 is activated in new hardware from HDD, i can just boot from bootable windows10 stick and do fresh install of 10 diectly on M.2, without installing the prior windows versions ?
so confusing.
Get its 256/512GB
2. Check your mobo specs & manual carefully. They mention this in specs itself for mobo if some NVMe slot & SATA slots are linked. AFAIK, B450s with 6 SATA ports disable 2 SATA ports for 1 NVMe
3. Maybe
4. For non-OEM device (like dell/lenovo/hp laptops/desktops), Windows key is not stored in mobo/BIOS. So you ought to have a key.
omega44-xt
Gear up ...
I'll take Gigabyte over AsRock. I keep MSI & Asus above Gigabyte though.
OP
icebags
Technomancer
Hmm after some research and with you people suggestion, I skipped all the vrm heatsinkless A520M boards, also asrock B450M pro4 ( was getting this at < 6k), which was not clearly told if came with latest BIOS and ordered gigabyte B550M DS3H @ ~8.4K.
DS3H still seems doesn't have not very good audio solution, but vrm seems better than anything nearby it, with 8(5+3) phases, where 5 primary pases have heatsink (3 auxiliary ones don't - may stick aftermarket small alluminium ones on them), 128gm Max Ram with 4 slots. And provision to entry level decent OC.
I was earlier thinking to get giga A520M DS3H, but it doesn't have heatsink and lot of stuff and costs only ~1k less. What a crappy pricing.
Good B450M are found costing ~8k anyways, and there may be compatibility issues, difficulty in supporting 3600Mhz memory, higher continuous current consumption due to memory OC. So after much consideration, skipped.
Already received 5600G @10.2k
And Crucial BX500 ssd@1.2k
Baught sata SSD, because of windows installation issues from old hardware. Will later buy an NVME someday and transfer this to my laptop.
Now need to find RAM. Thinking of getting 3600Mhz ones.
Seems going overbudget, didn't think would spend this much on motherboard. Hope it will last me many many years.
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OP
icebags
Technomancer
done the purchase.
5600G @ 10.1k
AsRock B550M Pro4 @ 8.9k
2x Ripjaws V 3600Mhz @ 4k
SATA SSD @ 1.1k
Total 24.1k
Cancelled gigabyte for some reasons, one of them being old crappy Realtek ALC887 sound chip from 15 years ago, which sounds so flat and boring. i missed the old creative sound card for so long. Asrock pro4 has ALC1200 chip, which sounds much better with depth, and dynamic range.
After a lot of headache, finally able to upgrade to Win10, with activation. First time tried offline upgrade, but that process failed activating. So , formatted ssd again, loaded XP -> upgraded to Win 8 -> upgraded to Win 8.1 -> online upgrade with microsoft id to Win 10. And that triggered the activation of digital license.
Then connected new hardware, had to reactivate for hardware change. Then finally did a fresh direct Win 10 installation from blank ssd. and finally it's complete.
nac
Aspiring Novelist
That's wonderful pricing for the CPU. Would be good if I can get such deals when I get it.
OP
icebags
Technomancer
FK suddenly gave a 500/- coupon on this item, against some previous purchase. and 10% card offer applied. I think you may get it @10.5k check frequently.That's wonderful pricing for the CPU. Would be good if I can get such deals when I get it.
Price is actually more wonderful for the mobo. It usually sells at ~11k. But, for some reason vedant sometimes listing at around 9k.
omega44-xt
Gear up ...
You are lucky to get the correct CPU from FK. Few poor souls got 5600G instead of the 5600 they placed the order for & FK support is bad as usual.
OP
icebags
Technomancer
oh, that's lame.
mine came with some open box policy at the time of delivery. delivery boy opened the package, broke the seal of the processor box in front of me to show everything was right.
i was asked to reject the parcel, if anything was wrong.
omega44-xt
Gear up ...
Even now FK gives open box delivery to items at times, sometimes it doesn't.
OP
icebags
Technomancer
its working well, but it seems the old CM 212 hyper evo cpu cooler i have used so far, is not compatible with the am4 socket.
i even found there are some am4 upgrade kit for this in some other countries.
so, any idea where to get that upgrade kit in india ? or any other suggestions ?
i even found there are some am4 upgrade kit for this in some other countries.
so, any idea where to get that upgrade kit in india ? or any other suggestions ?
OP
icebags
Technomancer
interesting suggestion. not sure if CM will provide an individual item. but lets try.
rohitshakti_sehgal
Journeyman
How about buy A320 of zebtronics coming for rs. 2700 in Delhi instead of asus 320
omega44-xt
Gear up ...
Don't have high expectations of long term reliability. Also features might be less as well. So compare them.