The continual upgrade cycle (PC)

[Chuck328]

Problem : One stick of DDR 4 has failed, so I'm down from 16g to 8 in the pc. This seems to be affecting VR gaming.

I built this machine in 2017. ASUS ROG IX Maximus code, i7 7700k and 2x Corsair Vengeance 8g/2400 DDR4 ram. Decent enough even today.

Options are : Are replace the failed stick for a few quid, maybe even go for 2x 16 gig sticks ( the board will support up to 64 gig but I reckon that's diminishing returns for the price?)

Or

Upgrade.

If I do upgrade, realistically I'm looking at a new mobo, new chip and new ram. All of a sudden I'm into near enough 4 figures in cost.

My i7 only supports up to 2400mhz ram. The socket won't go further than the i7 7700k kabylake chip. So as I understand it, the current setup is pretty much at its maximum bar more gigs of ram ( and it was all fine before this ram failure)

Future proofing ( for I hope a good few years) suggests bite the bullet and go all out on an upgrade, however, finances suggest just replace the ram.

Any thoughts?

[Hanslow]

I was considering a complete new PC build during December. In the end I was looking at the thick end of £1750 for what I wanted and then found stock was nigh on impossible to get hold of for some of the newer decent stuff. In the end I just added another 16GB of RAM and another 1TB NVMe to my existing machine, which is 4.5 years old and running a 6700K with a GTX 980 video. It still copes well enough for gaming with decent visuals.

I'll look back at a new build either later this year, or maybe next. I'm wanting to do the build more than needing a new setup so it'll win me over eventually.

Certainly have a look to see if you could actually get what you'd like in a new system first as that may make the decision for you.

[xeny]

Chuck328 said:

My i7 only supports up to 2400mhz ram.

If it's a K then isn't memory speed unlocked, so you can overclock if you really must?(providing there's motherboard support)

Everything Intel has shipped for desktop up to now are essentially rehashes of the chip you have. Read the first paragraph of https://www.anandtech.com/show/15785/the-intel-com... . You'd get more cores and a little more single threaded performance.

You could buy a Ryzen 5000 series, which is a little faster single threaded, but supply isn't great at present, and IMO doesn't deliver enough performance uplift over what you have to be worth spending money on.

Buy the RAM, consider it good. Maybe check if the RAM has a lifetime warranty?

[Chuck328]

Many thanks for the replies chaps.

I think you are both correct. Hold off upgrading for now.

Xeny, that's a good web site, I read the whole article, site bookmarked, thanks again.

Will look into the K series overclock ( I didn't know that). Ram bought from amazon, will look at purchase small print from vendor and manufacturer.

New ram to order now!

Cheers!!