upgrade help

It's been a long time since I've been on the forums here. I bought a DS gaming desktop 11/2009 so my rig is going to be 11 next month! I've upgraded several components over the years but I think I've neglected 2 of the most important parts. Here is my existing rig. (I've "**" the parts I've upgraded)

Chassis: Cooler Master HAF 932
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHZ (Overclock to 3.57)
Mobo: EVGA X58 LE
**Memory: G.Skill DDR-3 1600 4GB x 6 (24GB total)
Power: 750W Corsair TX
**Storage set 1: Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD
**Storage set 2: Samsung 870 QVO 2TB SSD
**GPU: EVGA GeForce TRX 2080XC Ultra 8 GB GDDR6 (PCI-e 3.0)
**Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P
**Airflow: In addition to case fans, Corsair LL120 RGB x 6
**OS: Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
**Display: Asus MG28U6 4k UHD

I want to upgrade the mobo and processor as those are 11 years old!! (I know that RAM and cooling will have to upgrade as well). For the processor, I was looking at the i7-10700K. As for the Mobo, Asus Maximus XII Hero or MSI MEG Z490 ACE. I am open to suggestions that will help me maximize my other components. I use it for 90% gaming on Steam, Origin, Epic. I can run BL3 in 4k but only getting 40ish FPS. If I reduce settings to medium I can get 53ish FPS. Not sure if you need any other information. If so please ask. Also, not sure how complicated replacing a mobo is, if I could even DIY it (never done it before). I don't think I need a whole new rig based on my upgrades. The HAF is a full size tower so internal space is a non issue. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

hoserator has the right of it for the most part. Aside from the wiring issues that can be dealt with with some good photography as hose suggests, your new board will come with long screw doohickeys called stand-offs that attach to the mobo and then to the case so the mobo "stands off " from the case and can't short out. There will be a diagram of where the stand-offs go and the case will have plenty of screw holes, but some will likely be different than the one there now. it's not that difficult, just a little painstaking. Don't leave any out if you can help it.

I agree you re-use the cooler and get all you can from it. If that PSU has more than about 3-4 years on it, I agree it needs changing. if it's original... congrats!

NVMe SSDs are now available in the M.2 form factor (used to be add-in cards only) that plugs into a slot on the front of the mobo, and does not require cabling. They run off the PCIe bus, and are 5 times faster than SATA. The 970 PRO and the 970 PLUS are NVMes DS sells here. For some reason known but to powers beyond my pay grade, the Pro sells cheaper here than the PLUS. It's the other way around in the wild. The PLUS is a bit newer, but does not outperform. There's not much to notice between the two at the same size, but the PRO is quite pricy. They do have a 970 EVO (plain), but I don't know much about it. IMHO, you don't have to get into that right away, but it's a hella upgrade for the not too distant future. I like the 1/2 TB ones just for OS, often-used apps, and maintenance software. The SATA SSDs are plenty fast enough for everything else, IMO. that way, you don't have to replace too much if you have to wipe Windows.

Sorry to say, even the 2080 Ti couldn't max out at 4K. You'll prolly want a 3080, but that's for another day, too, I guess. The RTX 3070 out Oct 29th is better than a 2080 Ti at $499 list price.

Hope it helps.

A pleasure. Looks like you know your way around quality parts. nothing too good for the HAF, eh? The Samsung NVMes have the rep of being the cream of the crop, still.

You can buy from DS, I think, but everything they sell has installation, troubleshooting and a warranty folded in, so you can do much better at Amazon or Newegg. Some like to go to PC PartPicker, I think they give you a choice of vendors and prices when you click on the part.

Happy hunting!

I would wait until early 2021 for the new intel Rocket Lake processors and for the rtx 3000 series cards to become available again. Rocket Lake is rumored to be a huge leap forward for gaming with relatively easy above 5Ghz overclocks. The RTX 3000 series cards are also a huge leap forward (rtx 3080 seems to be the best value). Also, with rocket lake supporting PCIe 4.0, you can install a PCIe 4.0 nvme storage drive and take advantage of nvidea’s RTX IO, a “gpu attached storage” feature that claims to be able to virtually eliminate loading times on games. Basically it works by loading your game directly into the VRAM of your video card instead of having your cpu first bring it to your RAM and then having the GPU load it from RAM to VRAM.

Of course it will all come down to your budget, but a complete new build from DS (unless you can do it yourself) in early 2021 might be your best bet. The good thing about DS (apart from being expertly built and tested) is that they have financing options available for the entire machine and you would get warranty that includes labor and part replacement done by DS if something were to go wrong.

"If I had always waited for the next 'thing', I would never have had any 'thing'"

Plan is in motion and parts acquired....I'll post an update when completed. Hopefully that will be soon!

Good luck and do keep us posted.