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Upgrade itch

sze5003

sze5003

Lifer
Feel like tinkering with stuff again. Mostly using my PC for desktop.

Want to change something but I'm all spec'ed out, need opinions

I7 6700k @4.2
32 gb ddr4 3000 Corsair ram
H100i v2 cooler
Asus strix oc 1080ti
Gigabyte gaming 7 z170x
Samsung 850 Evo 1tb
Samsung 830 256gb
Ocz trion 960gb

My mobo has been behaving weirdly after the latest update to patch the Intel security vulnerability. PC works fine when I use it but I'll have random boot problems. One day I booted it up and got there is an error with boot configuration so I turned it off and back on, booted fine.

Tested all 4 sticks of ram for multiple passes, no issues there. Not really a fan of the mobo to be honest. Somehow my Mac address is gone from bios too.

If I change it, I should still be able to use the same ddr4 ram right? I recently just got the 32gb.
 
You can change your board, but Windows sometimes has activation issues. If it's an OEM copy, you either will have to buy a new Windows license or call Microsoft and beg them for a manual activation.

Outside of that, your machine is current. There's nothing really to improve, frankly you'd be burning money. My advice: find a secondary hobby.
 
Yea I mean if I change the board I'd get something newer like a z270 but then I'd need a new processor something like the 8700k.

Not sure where my Mac address went and why all of a sudden this board is acting up.
 
sze5003 said:
Yea I mean if I change the board I'd get something newer like a z270 but then I'd need a new processor something like the 8700k.

Not sure where my Mac address went and why all of a sudden this board is acting up.
Click to expand...

I bought a new motherboard because of the problems the various updates from Gigabyte caused (I had a GA-Z170X-UD5). It worked great until they began rolling out BIOS updates that over-volted CPUs, bricked some users motherboards, and could not be reflashed to previous versions of BIOS updates (possible with some workarounds, but also clears MAC address).

One thing to point out is if you bought a Z270 motherboard, and installed a 8700k in it, you'd have a very bad day (8th Gen Coffee Lake CPUs are only compatible with Z370).

My advice is buy a nice Z270 motherboard on sale like I did (I got my Z270 Taichi on sale for $130). I'm glad I moved away from Gigabyte Z170 motherboards.

A couple good choices that are on sale:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157738&ignorebbr=1

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813144033&ignorebbr=1

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157754&ignorebbr=1
 
UsandThem said:
I bought a new motherboard because of the problems the various updates from Gigabyte caused (I had a GA-Z170X-UD5). It worked great until they began rolling out BIOS updates that over-volted CPUs, bricked some users motherboards, and could not be reflashed to previous versions of BIOS updates (possible with some workarounds, but also clears MAC address).

One thing to point out is if you bought a Z270 motherboard, and installed a 8700k in it, you'd have a very bad day (8th Gen Coffee Lake CPUs are only compatible with Z370).

My advice is buy a nice Z270 motherboard on sale like I did (I got my Z270 Taichi on sale for $130). I'm glad I moved away from Gigabyte Z170 motherboards.

A couple good choices that are on sale:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157738&ignorebbr=1

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813144033&ignorebbr=1

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157754&ignorebbr=1
Click to expand...

Seriously the gigabyte updates have messed things up for me in the past. Usb ports in the back go in and out of function, my Mac address disappeared, and my CPU voltage at one point got raised because one of their bios updates. I'm hoping the Intel vulnerability bios update didn't carry forward the CPU voltage increase from the previous two bios.

Ah I meant z370 if I find a 8700k but haven't looked into what processors are compatible with a z270. Most likely will buy motherboard and processor at microcenter because those are two things I can run back to the store and exchange if something is wrong.
 
sze5003 said:
Seriously the gigabyte updates have messed things up for me in the past. Usb ports in the back go in and out of function, my Mac address disappeared, and my CPU voltage at one point got raised because one of their bios updates. I'm hoping the Intel vulnerability bios update didn't carry forward the CPU voltage increase from the previous two bios.

Ah I meant z370 if I find a 8700k but haven't looked into what processors are compatible with a z270. Most likely will buy motherboard and processor at microcenter because those are two things I can run back to the store and exchange if something is wrong.
Click to expand...

6th and 7th gen are both compatible with Z170 and Z270.

However, 6th, 7th and 8th gen all use the same architecture and process; they're practically the same CPUs other than clockspeed. The 8th gen have higher core counts but only work in Z370 boards.
 
Yuriman said:
You can change your board, but Windows sometimes has activation issues. If it's an OEM copy, you either will have to buy a new Windows license or call Microsoft and beg them for a manual activation.

Outside of that, your machine is current. There's nothing really to improve, frankly you'd be burning money. My advice: find a secondary hobby.
Click to expand...
Yeah the OP machine is very current. I'm having the same itch to upgrade as well, but no money to do it. However I can wait another two to three years before I need to anyway.
 
Ken g6 said:
I hear the Intel microcode patch is causing problems for lots of people, and Intel recommends not installing it yet. Of course, I heard this after I installed it. :\

Edit: Looks like that's only for Haswell/Broadwell, though.
Click to expand...
Same here unfortunately. It all happened so quickly, windows installed the updates on it's own then I noticed my mobo had an update..then my voltage went up, now my USB ports are crapping out randomly. Bought a startech USB 3.0 card and it's been stellar for my occulus rift now.
 
Also, what's up with these z370 boards only having like 4 USB ports?? My keyboard needs 2, occulus needs 4 on it's own. Did manufacturers just decide we don't need them anymore?
 
sze5003 said:
Also, what's up with these z370 boards only having like 4 USB ports?? My keyboard needs 2, occulus needs 4 on it's own. Did manufacturers just decide we don't need them anymore?
Click to expand...

Hah, I'd be thankful they haven't just reduced the back panel to a single USB-C port, which is also used to power the machine.
 
I'm looking for a decent z370 board and I'm looking at Asus this time. Want to stay away from gigabyte since I had a bad experience with the auros 1080ti card and now my current gigabyte motherboard which got screwed up by their bios patches. I can't find anything with decent amount of USB ports. I have an internal pcie usb 3.0 card I'm using now but I found that surprising.

Microcenter has a bundle deal on the Asus z370 prime A with the 8700k for $499 but it only has 4 ports.
 
sze5003 said:
I'm looking for a decent z370 board and I'm looking at Asus this time. Want to stay away from gigabyte since I had a bad experience with the auros 1080ti card and now my current gigabyte motherboard which got screwed up by their bios patches. I can't find anything with decent amount of USB ports. I have an internal pcie usb 3.0 card I'm using now but I found that surprising.

Microcenter has a bundle deal on the Asus z370 prime A with the 8700k for $499 but it only has 4 ports.
Click to expand...

Just buy an inexpensive powered USB hub.
 
whm1974 said:
Why should we have to? Board manufacturers should include enough USB ports to begin with.
Click to expand...

Calm down. I didn't say they had to do anything.

I just recommended it because the OP stated the boards he wants doesn't have enough USB ports for him. It would be like recommending adding a Blutooth/WIFI module to a motherboard that doesn't have it built in.
 
UsandThem said:
Calm down. I didn't say they had to do anything.

I just recommended it because the OP stated the boards he wants doesn't have enough USB ports for him. It would be like recommending adding a Blutooth/WIFI module to a motherboard that doesn't have it built in.
Click to expand...
Already have a USB card but that will be taken up by the occulus and two sensors. I have another card I can use or I see here the msi z370 ultra gaming board has a ton of USB ports. I'm still searching through brands but yeah looks like these boards all have the same amount of ports on the back compared to last year's models.
 
sze5003 said:
Already have a USB card but that will be taken up by the occulus and two sensors. I have another card I can use or I see here the msi z370 ultra gaming board has a ton of USB ports. I'm still searching through brands but yeah looks like these boards all have the same amount of ports on the back compared to last year's models.
Click to expand...

@corkyg uses a powered hub, and he's never said he has had any issues with it. Maybe he can chime in with his thoughts or recommendations.

Like you said, it does seem like many boards come with less USB ports for whatever reason.
 
Yes, as UsandThem said, I have always used a powered USB hub. Currently it is a 13 port box, and it has provided uninterrupted service for over 3 years now. My reasoning for a powered hub is to take that variable load off of the system PSU. It also allows me to turn specific devices on and off from a convenient desktop location.
 
corkyg said:
Yes, as UsandThem said, I have always used a powered USB hub. Currently it is a 13 port box, and it has provided uninterrupted service for over 3 years now. My reasoning for a powered hub is to take that variable load off of the system PSU. It also allows me to turn specific devices on and off from a convenient desktop location.
Click to expand...
Very nice, I know Anker makes some decent usb products. I'll look into that when I make a decision on what board to go with.
 
I've been using some relatively inexpensive (Got them on sale at Newegg) "Orico" branded USB3.0 powered hubs. Not 100% reliable though, sadly. Sometimes things flake out. Not sure if it's the actual hub, or the included PSU, or just USB3.0 protocol glitches (I have it connected to the host machine, via a passive shielded USB3.0 extension cable, probably 4-6').
 
If you do decide to go with Coffee Lake & Z370, I'm happy with my ASRock Extreme 4 so far. I paired it with an 8700 non-K and 850 Evo SSDs and it's "just worked" so far.
 
Hmm I am stuck between these two: http://www.microcenter.com/product/484690/PRIME_Z370-A_LGA_1151_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
OR
http://www.microcenter.com/product/484686/ROG_STRIX_Z370-H_GAMING_LGA_1151_ATX_Intel_Motherboards

The Strix-H, look at all those USB ports!

Also, seems I may have made a mistake adding another 16gb of ram to my current system. I bought another 16gb set of the same exact model ram I already had. Ran memtest and no issues on all 4 DIMMS but I can't figure out if this is safe or if I should have sold the 16gb original set and bought a 32gb kit?

My Logitech MX master mouse is stuttering, randomly. It does not happen every day, its completely random. I try to see if its the pc lagging but pressing buttons on the keyboard like the windows icon brings up start instantly. Only the mouse cursor stutters when I move the mouse. I realized this even in games. I would expect my flight sim in the Oculus rift to lag like that if it was an issue with the memory. But it was smooth as butter. Its when I touch the mouse that I notice the stutter...now the game does not lock up just the mouse stutters while everything is running fine in the background. Some days its fine, most of the time, and it has been for a year or so now. Just recently started happening.

So I guess its not a good idea to assume I can plop by 32gb of ram in these new boards and it should be good? I checked the memory support list and its compatible with my 16gb set but in 2 DIMMS. For four DIMMS they show a bit of a different model number. In either case, if I have to buy a whole new 32gb set, keep an eye out in the For sale forum as I will probably be selling it or giving it to my brother if he decides to build a pc like he's been saying for years now.
 
> My Logitech MX master mouse is stuttering, randomly.

Try using a USB extension cable or hub to move the receiver closer to your desktop. Plopping the receiver on the edge of my desktop fixed flaky behavior with my m510.
 
I picked up the Asus z370 Strix E version board. I have no idea what the hell all the letters mean. They range from E all the way to H. The i7 8700k was $380 yesterday and when I went to microcenter today I ended up getting it for $350 and the board was $10 off too.

Not looking forward to taking apart my rig tonight but it's gotta be done so I can see if I need to exchange the motherboard tomorrow. Damn it every time I get bored I end up spending money.
 
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