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cddt

2050 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1982

#3494441 21-May-2026 12:22

If you can afford it, then by all means go for it. But if you're working towards a smaller budget, there are plenty of ways to cut that down a bit.

Paul1977

5229 posts

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#3494442 21-May-2026 12:30

SpartanVXL:

I’d suggest the Intel 270k plus for your use cases, you get additional e-cores which would be useful for multi-threaded apps. You’d need to step up to AMD’s 9900x/9950x to get more cores. Or move down to Intel Ultra 5.

Intel ultra is not as bad as 13/14th gen for power/cooling, you can get away with a decent 240mm aio water cooler or a phantom spirit air cooler.

I take it you aren’t gaming? I’d recommend not running XMP/DOCP profiles on your memory if you are wanting stability. The chatgpt bit about 4x16GB or 2x32GB is possible, but you would need to understand ram settings regardless as 6000MHz CL30 is not always stable on AMD AM5. I’d recommend buying a kit that is able to do JEDEC speeds at least but is not more expensive e.g. 5600MHz for AMD or 6400MHz for Intel. Just FYI that the XMP speeds on the box is technically overclocking and is not guaranteed as your CPU/mobo can affect it.

For GPU how much cad/adobe stuff are you doing? Need CUDA? Depending on what you are doing you could step down to 5050 or go up to 5060ti 16GB.

If the SSD is going to be your primary drive I would suggest a better non-qlc model. Possibly the SN5000, MP44L or a WD SN850X depending on price.

Edit: for small stuff like nvme SSD you can browse amazon AU and find models that aren’t stocked here. They do returns but just takes a while for postage.

Your raid card will support 4x just at lower bandwidth. The only thing to check is if itwill boot in uefi, your skylake platform was just at the point of uefi becoming commonplace. If you’re running CSM/legacy at the moment you may want to check it works in uefi mode.

Also FYI you can just upgrade to win11 if you want. Use the bypass and your cpu is fine to run win11, as residential home user you won’t get in trouble.

@SpartanVXL you've certainly confirmed how out of touch I am with PC components, as I hadn't heard of half the terms you're using!

In answer to your questions: never say never, but gaming not very likely. CAD and Adobe is probably 'light' use from an objective standpoint. CAD would be for creating models for 3D printer, Adobe is more occasional use. I hadn't heard of CUDA, so would that indicate probably isn't something I need?

Price difference going from 5050 8GB to 5060 8GB isn't huge, but quite a big difference going to 5060ti 16GB. But I really don't know what I actually need.

Thanks

EviLClouD

311 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 75

#3494449 21-May-2026 13:10

Apologies if it's been stated but what is your actual budget?

What is your current power supply? I suspect you probably won't be able to reuse it.

Are you looking for a whole built pc or happy to purchase individual parts and build it yourself?

Lastly would you consider second hand? Some deals can occasionally be found

mentalinc

3403 posts

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#3494451 21-May-2026 13:17

I'm still not convinced an upgrade is needed, outside of maybe a failing SSD causing issues.
Are BIOS and Driver updates applied, and making sure windows files are fine (BSOD may have corrupt them leading to more issues - per prior post).

are you getting any bluescreens - try this to check and see what BSOD codes you're getting

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

CPU: AMD 5900x | RAM: GSKILL Trident Z Neo RGB F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC-32-GB | MB: Asus X570-E | GFX: EVGA FTW3 Ultra RTX 3080Ti| Monitor: LG 27GL850-B 2560x1440

Quic: https://account.quic.nz/refer/473833 R473833EQKIBX

Paul1977

5229 posts

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+1 received by user: 2221

#3494462 21-May-2026 14:20

EviLClouD:

Apologies if it's been stated but what is your actual budget?

What is your current power supply? I suspect you probably won't be able to reuse it.

Are you looking for a whole built pc or happy to purchase individual parts and build it yourself?

Lastly would you consider second hand? Some deals can occasionally be found

No fixed budget. I had thought a couple of thousand, but that was before I realised just how much pricing on memory had sky rocketed (which off course impacts RAM, SSD, and GPU). It will clearly be more than that.

Can't remember current PSU off the top of my head, but you might be correct.

Was planning on purchasing individual parts and building it myself. I work in IT, but have been out of the hardware side of it (other than general business grade laptops) for a long time.

Secondhand - wouldn't be my first choice, but maybe. Probably only through Geekzone as I wouldn't trust the likes of Trademe or Facebook Marketplace.

Paul1977

5229 posts

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+1 received by user: 2221

#3494467 21-May-2026 14:28

mentalinc:

I'm still not convinced an upgrade is needed, outside of maybe a failing SSD causing issues.
Are BIOS and Driver updates applied, and making sure windows files are fine (BSOD may have corrupt them leading to more issues - per prior post).

are you getting any bluescreens - try this to check and see what BSOD codes you're getting

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

Not frequently bluescreening at all, it's more app crashes or apps hanging causing massive system wide slowdowns until I force kill the app.

I might have to give more thought into additional troubleshooting the old PC. I'm a bit like a builder whose own house is never finished - I spend all day in front of a computer at work, so avoid spending time trying to troubleshoot my home PC. I had initially looked at it as a long overdue upgrade for a couple of grand, but with pricing how it currently is maybe I should try to see if I can squeeze some more life out of it.

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

Paul1977

5229 posts

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+1 received by user: 2221

#3494538 21-May-2026 15:48

@mentalinc forgot to mention that firmware and drivers are up to date (latest mainboard firmware is from 2018!)

sfc /scannow did repair some errors, but nothing major from what I could make out from the log.

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth found no issues.

No BSODs according to BlueScreenView.

While SSD is saying only 16% life remaining, it is not indicating any errors.

richms

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#3494540 21-May-2026 15:55

I have found all my PCs are behaving like crap since a recent windows or chrome update. Even the exact same tab set of about 70 that was fine before will have chrome lagging out, windows explorer freezing, and the few other things I use on the computers are also unbareably slow unless I close chrome. I would not jump to the conclusion that this is a hardware issue at this time. Same issues but with orcaslicer bailing on me often. This is both local use and over RDP so I dont think its using GPU for anything.

I am seriously considering just getting a macbook neo as an interim laptop to see me thru with how non inspiring cheap windows ones are and how bad the pricing is on something half decent now.

Richard rich.ms

LurkingKiwi

45 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 28

#3494550 21-May-2026 16:55

Paul1977:

ChatGPT seemed to think if I did 2x 16GB DDR5 and then added an additional 2x 16GB later that I might need to slow the speed down from 6000Mhz? That's why I went straight to 64GB, but I don't really understand why I'd have to run it slower using 4 slots compared to 2?

Adding additional DRAM modules adds capacitance/impedance to the memory bus lines, reducing the speed they can reliably operate at.

There is even a distinction between DIMMs with chips on one side or both sides.

The motherboard manuals usually have a table listing the maximum "supported" clock speed for 1 DIMM single sided per memory channel (1DPC), 1 DIMM double sided, 2 DIMMs single sided (2DPC), 2 DIMMs double sided with the number shrinking each row.

Low end mobos (for space/cost reasons) and really expensive ones (for ultimate performance with short tracks and without empty sockets on the bus) have 2 sockets, 1 per channel.

Note that, as mentioned by another poster, that 6000 is based on running AMD or Intel souped-up memory timings, the base is something like 4800 or 5600 depending on the CPU.

I bought a temporary Core i5-12400 prebuilt from PBTech which had 2*8GB DDR4 while I waited for Arrow Lake to mature and 24GB DIMMS to arrive (bad choice on the cost escalation front); I was able to add another pair because the rated motherboard 2DPC DDR4 speed without overclocking was higher than the CPU could go and I could get the exact same DIMMs.

EviLClouD

311 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 75

#3494561 21-May-2026 17:22

Paul1977:

EviLClouD:

Apologies if it's been stated but what is your actual budget?

What is your current power supply? I suspect you probably won't be able to reuse it.

Are you looking for a whole built pc or happy to purchase individual parts and build it yourself?

Lastly would you consider second hand? Some deals can occasionally be found

No fixed budget. I had thought a couple of thousand, but that was before I realised just how much pricing on memory had sky rocketed (which off course impacts RAM, SSD, and GPU). It will clearly be more than that.

Can't remember current PSU off the top of my head, but you might be correct.

Was planning on purchasing individual parts and building it myself. I work in IT, but have been out of the hardware side of it (other than general business grade laptops) for a long time.

Secondhand - wouldn't be my first choice, but maybe. Probably only through Geekzone as I wouldn't trust the likes of Trademe or Facebook Marketplace.

If you wanted to go down the pre-built this looks to be the best bang for buck in our current climate.

https://computerlounge.co.nz/products/jaeger-nex-go-rtx-5060-ti-8gb-ryzen-5-7500f-gaming-pc

A current gen AM5 CPU+MB paired with 32GB of DDR5 Ram.

The only things that let it down is the Bronze PSU and RTX 5060 Ti with only 8GB of ram, but depending on your use case those could make do, or you could opt to sell them and upgrade later on.

But it's also King's birthday next week and there will no doubt be sales, so good to keep an eye out then too!

dpf81nz

75 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 36

#3494601 21-May-2026 21:06

You could get a new (or even a decent used) SSD, slightly better GPU (if wanted for gaming) for now and then use Rufus to create a Win11 ISO that will install on your hardware, probably buy you a year or two at least and hopefully memory prices etc might have dropped a bit

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

SpartanVXL

1529 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 675

#3494672 22-May-2026 09:57

I would hazard a guess that either motherboard or SSD may be causing some issues, skylake is 11 years old now.

If buying now then I would still recommend the Intel Ultra, at least cpu+ram+mobo+psu and you can get away with using the 1030 for a little while longer.

Despite my wharblgarbl about ram speed, don’t worry too much just get the fastest kit that doesn’t cost more than the others.

Edit: oops forgot new ssd, can do the same as GPU or grab a secondhand one from here. You can always add more easily.

scuzzbono

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

ID Verified

#3499931 3-Jun-2026 15:46

Handle9:

For what you are saying you use your computer for have a good look at the current Mac Mini. You’ll get significantly better bang for buck for your use cases than a PC.

Keep your current setup as a NAS.

I've just been looking for some gen 10, 11 or 12 for a home server in front of a synology NAS. Talk about expensive. Seems some big companies buy up enterprise lease expiries. 'recondition' them and sell off at high prices.

Looking at M1 and M2 prices, you're much better off getting a Mac Mini. Not as fast as the later gen 12500's but fast enough with a very low power draw. And you can run linux stuff if you want to.

Relicensing and relearning is probably the hurdle, but thats easily overcome if you put your mind to it.

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