Question Upgrade 13600k with DDR4 or DDR5

[Ozbro89]

Hi,

Looking to upgrade from a 3800x to a 13600k

not sure if it is worth upgrading to DDR5 6000, when I have DDR4 4000.

Gaming on 1440p and will use for Adobe premier pro and lightroom.
Most reviews that I can find are outdated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tech Junky]

Get a z690 board for less and upgrade the BIOS/UEFI. I've used a steel legend and it's been rock solid for a year now.

 

[Pneumothorax]

Hi,

Looking to upgrade from a 3800x to a 13600k

not sure if it is worth upgrading to DDR5 6000, when I have DDR4 4000.

Gaming on 1440p and will use for Adobe premier pro and lightroom.
Most reviews that I can find are outdated.

Thanks in advance!

After having issues with getting my Asus Z690 TUF DDR4 to work with being upgrading from a 12900K to a 13900K, I hastily bought a Z690 with DDR5 6000 C36. Needless to say the switch from DDR4 to DDR5 is underwhelming, should've just saved my money. I have DDR4 3600 C14 B die and the DDR5 is about the same speed despite the cost. If you do the Z690 DDR4 route, make sure you have an Alder lake chip to flash the bios, you may also need to update the ME firmware which unfortunately may only be able to be done via Windows.

 

[Tech Junky]

DDR4 to DDR5 is underwhelming

I keep telling people not to pay the DDR5 tax as it's not that big of an improvement. The need to go DDR5 right now is AMD exclusive at this point and might become an issue with MTL/ARL 23-24 release cycle depending on if Intel leaves the chipset open to DDR4 or not.

The only benefit to DDR5 right now is to spend more money on the RAM / Board.

As to the BIOS/UEFI flashing there's ways around needing a CPU installed with some boards. I haven't personally tried it with ADL / Z690 but, my laptop released a new UEFI and EC flash and the EC needed to be done from USB and used EFI file structure to do the flash itself and some CLI / DOS commands to execute it. I didn't find an OEM program to do this but used another one from another reseller that worked just fine to boot from and execute the command.

There's inherently always a gotcha moment when transitioning from a board made for X when using Y CPU. If the case needs the generation CPU it was designed for I've heard of rental options from some where you put a deposit down on the CPU and when you're done you send it back. I would think most boards though can flash from USB w/o a CPU installed though.

How to update your BIOS without a CPU

You can update the BIOS without a CPU to make your Motherboard ready for newer Processors. Here's how to use the so-called BIOS Flashback Feature.

www.cgdirector.com

Flashing Your BIOS with No CPU Installed

Introduction If you have a modern DIY desktop PC that uses a motherboard from one of the large motherboard vendors from Taiwan (such as ASUS, ASRock, BIOSTAR, Gigabyte, or MSI), there is a good cha…

glennsqlperformance.com

 

[Pneumothorax]

I keep telling people not to pay the DDR5 tax as it's not that big of an improvement. The need to go DDR5 right now is AMD exclusive at this point and might become an issue with MTL/ARL 23-24 release cycle depending on if Intel leaves the chipset open to DDR4 or not.

The only benefit to DDR5 right now is to spend more money on the RAM / Board.

As to the BIOS/UEFI flashing there's ways around needing a CPU installed with some boards. I haven't personally tried it with ADL / Z690 but, my laptop released a new UEFI and EC flash and the EC needed to be done from USB and used EFI file structure to do the flash itself and some CLI / DOS commands to execute it. I didn't find an OEM program to do this but used another one from another reseller that worked just fine to boot from and execute the command.

There's inherently always a gotcha moment when transitioning from a board made for X when using Y CPU. If the case needs the generation CPU it was designed for I've heard of rental options from some where you put a deposit down on the CPU and when you're done you send it back. I would think most boards though can flash from USB w/o a CPU installed though.

How to update your BIOS without a CPU

You can update the BIOS without a CPU to make your Motherboard ready for newer Processors. Here's how to use the so-called BIOS Flashback Feature.

www.cgdirector.com

Flashing Your BIOS with No CPU Installed

Introduction If you have a modern DIY desktop PC that uses a motherboard from one of the large motherboard vendors from Taiwan (such as ASUS, ASRock, BIOSTAR, Gigabyte, or MSI), there is a good cha…

glennsqlperformance.com

Asus being cheap didn’t do it for their mid level boards like the z690TUF. gigabyte at least put it on their lower level boards with qflash

 

[Tech Junky]

Asus

Doesn't surprise me and with their issues on boards I refuse to use them.