Upgrade from a AMD AM3+ to AM4 or AM5 chipset MB running W10?

[videobruce]

This is a AMD (which I have run since 1999) based system.
I was told (from a long time reliable source who set me up w/ my 1st PC in '99) it would be better to upgrade from a AM3+ to a AM4 chipset than the current AM5 due to possible hardware driver issues running W10 (either missing or not compatible due to more changes with M$ tiring to force one to move to W11).

I do NOT have any interest with W11, W10 is bad enough! I'm currently running W7. What do you guys think?

 

[cal5582]

im on am5 on win 10 and have had zero issues. dont get me started on windows 11 though. i upgraded to that and lost the ability to right click in 3ds max.

 

[videobruce]

W11 is a bigger joke than W10. Frankly, I'd like to go back to Win2000 !

I see you are a AMD believer also.

 

[Bloste]

AM5 here, with Win10 in two machines. One with B650 and the other with X670E.

Zero problems with drivers.

 

[videobruce]

I will have to ask him specifically what/which type of drivers he had issues with. He is a certified M$ MVP (if that is the correct term), but he he doesn't have any 'love lost' with M$.

 

[DaemonForce]

It's not a real concern. If you need a reason to choose between AM3+/AM4/AM5 it boils down to matched pairings of three qualities:
A bountiful mix of general hardware options vs price
Hardware performance vs compatibility (or conflicts)
PCI-E lane and other load balancing issues that doesn't fit the above

There is a LOT that has changed since Super 7 and Slot A. If you're on a K6 or Athlon 500, the world has moved on LONG ago.
Here are some things to know: Most consumer CPU and board combos have a tight ceiling on simultaneous component usage.
Prosumer and enterprise hardware under the right conditions, can be a golden ticket to getting some jobs done at the best price.

Win7 is probably the last real Windows UI that genuinely behaves but there's a lot of newer hardware that doesn't care for it.
Win10 is currently the minimum support floor for many modern hardware components and will stay that way for quite a while.
Win11 has been primarily rejected by the target audiences along with technologies like SecureBoot for reasons that escape me.
Whatever you can do on Win11 can be done on Win10 with far less teething issues or frustration. If you need an easy out, try Server.

 

[LittleBro]

AM5 platform is perfectly fine with Windows 10. It even delivers more performance than in 11.

Both AMD and Nvidia have GPU drivers for Windows 10.
Creative sound cards as well (but be sure to disable driver update via Windows Update).
Realtek audio and network drivers for Windows 10 are okay. I've experienced with Realtek NICs on Win11 on 24H2, though.
Personally, I use Intel i210-AT NIC, which runs with no problems on W10. Intel i225-V and i226-V have hardware issues (design flaws).
AMD chipset drivers on W10 are okay.

Basically, on any AM4/AM5 motherboard you purchase today you'll most likely encounter:
Realtek audio chip, Realtek 2.5 Gb or Intel i225-V/i225-6 NIC. Some more expensive boards have 10 Gb NIC.

Disable virtualization in BIOS prior to Win10 install. Disable delivery of drivers/driver updates through Windows Update in gpedit.msc.
I always install all drivers (and driver updates) manually via device manager.

 

[cal5582]

It's not a real concern. If you need a reason to choose between AM3+/AM4/AM5 it boils down to matched pairings of three qualities:
A bountiful mix of general hardware options vs price
Hardware performance vs compatibility (or conflicts)
PCI-E lane and other load balancing issues that doesn't fit the above

There is a LOT that has changed since Super 7 and Slot A. If you're on a K6 or Athlon 500, the world has moved on LONG ago.
Here are some things to know: Most consumer CPU and board combos have a tight ceiling on simultaneous component usage.
Prosumer and enterprise hardware under the right conditions, can be a golden ticket to getting some jobs done at the best price.

Win7 is probably the last real Windows UI that genuinely behaves but there's a lot of newer hardware that doesn't care for it.
Win10 is currently the minimum support floor for many modern hardware components and will stay that way for quite a while.
Win11 has been primarily rejected by the target audiences along with technologies like SecureBoot for reasons that escape me.
Whatever you can do on Win11 can be done on Win10 with far less teething issues or frustration. If you need an easy out, try Server.

i dont like being locked out of my own machine by hardware drm in the name of security. i dont like that microsoft turned on bitlocker by default so when my grandad forgets the pin to his computer hes just screwed. i dont like hypervisor based security interfering with my virtualbox vms. also it broke the right click menus on 3ds max. i need an os that runs programs, not a worse version of chatgpt integrated into the shell. if i wanted that id just download gpt4all and run multiple models offline.

 

[Makaveli]

On AM5 and windows 10 zero issue.

In fact i didnt even reinstall windows when i swapped board and processor. Booted right up only had to fix activation since the motherboard change.

Basically, on any AM4/AM5 motherboard you purchase today you'll most likely encounter:
Realtek audio chip, Realtek 2.5 Gb or Intel i225-V/i225-6 NIC. Some more expensive boards have 10 Gb NIC.

I choose my specific AM5 board because it has a realtek nic didn't want to deal with the i225 which alot of the boards are using.

 

[videobruce]

Win11 has been primarily rejected by the target audiences along with technologies like SecureBoot for reasons that escape me.
Whatever you can do on Win11 can be done on Win10 with far less teething issues or frustration. If you need an easy out, try Server.

That pretty much sums up what my friend feels. He typed up a 'paper' on the subject of W10 vs W11 and what you pointed out is what he feels.

Disable virtualization in BIOS prior to Win10 install. Disable delivery of drivers/driver updates through Windows Update in gpedit.msc.
I always install all drivers (and driver updates) manually via device manager.

Is this virtualization in the BIOS, is that new, I don't recall seeing that before. My current MB is a Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P.
I also install drivers by DM, I point it to the director where the drive(s) are hit enter. No searching the PC for something.
BUT. nVidea has changed thing with their annoying 'Control Panel' that now has all kinds of .exe's that are NOT driver related in it so even when using DM, these unwanted bloated 'extras' get installed anyway. Take about BS, I now go thru the unpacked driver package and go into the 'Drivers' sub-folder and re-name the extension of the unwanted .exe by adding "old" to the end of the file name preserving the original of the .exe' in case in the future, it may be useful.

But, the version of W10 I do have on a USB thumb drive which he customized including turning off updates, still downloads a nVideo driver package and 3 or so other M$ updates during the install process which I was surprised and unhappy about.

 

[DaemonForce]

i dont like being locked out of my own machine by hardware drm in the name of security. i dont like that microsoft turned on bitlocker by default so when my grandad forgets the pin to his computer hes just screwed. i dont like hypervisor based security interfering with my virtualbox vms. also it broke the right click menus on 3ds max. i need an os that runs programs, not a worse version of chatgpt integrated into the shell. if i wanted that id just download gpt4all and run multiple models offline.

Who is running Bitlocker by default? Who is doing this?
It's never the default on any of my installs and it gets stripped out long after the fact.
Did I miss something? Did something happen between Win10/2016/2019/2022 that I just don't see?
The only hangup I remember is serious driver repo issues on 8.1/2012(not R2). Do I need to try IoT?
If I ever do a video installing Win10 from WinPE, ya'll gonna collectively lose your shit fr.

Maybe it's time to build a new one. There's no way things are this invasive now.

 

[videobruce]

This Bitlocker that I have heard about, AFAIK, I never had trouble with it, I don't even think it's running in my system since using RT7 Lite to strip all the crap out, I might of already done that 9 years or so ago when I built this current PC (according to the dates of the files).

But, but ON topic...............

 

[agent_x007]

Who is running Bitlocker by default? Who is doing this?
It's never the default on any of my installs and it gets stripped out long after the fact.
Did I miss something? Did something happen between Win10/2016/2019/2022 that I just don't see?
The only hangup I remember is serious driver repo issues on 8.1/2012(not R2). Do I need to try IoT?
If I ever do a video installing Win10 from WinPE, ya'll gonna collectively lose your shit fr.

Maybe it's time to build a new one. There's no way things are this invasive now.

Well, when my mom accidently updated to Win11 on her 8-th gen Dell laptop - update bitlocked ALL partitions.
No prior notice about it, no "pop-up" that it's being activated - just straight silent enable during update.
Going back to Windows 10 right away from Win11 "upgrade", DID NOT disabled bitlock applied on Win11 installation.
Update was done in February 2025 (I think she got Win11 23H2 from this update), and I noticed the bitlocked thing only after she wanted hard drive upgrade (around two weeks ago). She had 1TB HDD for data, and wanted 2TB SSD (more capacity + less worry about laptop being dropped).

Notes :
1) Windows 10 after reverting was able to access files, and do usual things with it enabled.
2) She only noticed laptop having a lot less usable battery life/work time on battery power (more frequent charging), being a bit more hot during operation (HDD thing probably ?), and a noticeable slower file operations (copying files between laptops in the same network).

You can check if disk/partition is bitlocked through Disk Management utility :

^OS drive was "unbitlocked" before taking this picture, I highlighted place where it had the same "bitlocked" information as other partitions.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I personally have no loyalty towards AMD (they aren't worthy of it, and neither are their competitors), but if you want hardware that is supported by Windows 10, the time is now. The next wave of hardware will require Windows 11. Ryzen 9000 series and the Intel Core Ultra series 2 processor both work on Windows 10. However, you're way too late to adopt Windows 10 - EOL date is in 6 months. Will it remain usable past that point? Yeah, sure. Who knows for how long. Since you're still suffering an FX processor (the worst performing processor line in easily 20 years), I take it your requirements aren't very high.

Buy yourself a Ryzen 5 9600X, a compatible motherboard, 32 GB of DDR5-6000 memory, install Windows 10 and be happy. The 9600X is going to easily outperform even an FX-9590 by a factor of 10, if not more - and it's one of the most basic CPUs you can buy today.

Solid basic all-AMD build, including a new GPU and case that contains an ODD bay. Will be a suitable upgrade, good for both Windows 10 and 11.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($221.37 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI6E ATX AM5 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital WD Blue SN5000 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: ASRock Steel Legend OC Radeon RX 7600 8 GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 500 ODD ATX Mid Tower Case ($96.07 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE Gold 750 V3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $997.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-03-29 07:30 EDT-0400

 

[inquisitor1]

This is a AMD (which I have run since 1999) based system.
I was told (from a long time reliable source who set me up w/ my 1st PC in '99) it would be better to upgrade from a AM3+ to a AM4 chipset than the current AM5 due to possible hardware driver issues running W10 (either missing or not compatible due to more changes with M$ tiring to force one to move to W11).

I do NOT have any interest with W11, W10 is bad enough! I'm currently running W7. What do you guys think?

ah! mirror exactly to me. I too believe w10 is garbage and w11 worse. and I too run w7. slowly learning linux along the way. but what i did is run w10 on my pc and its offline. will never get connected online so no worries there. I used ntlite to rip out tons of crep from the build. tons of group policy regedit and services editing. like 3 hours to clean up all the windows trash in it. when a program wont work with w11, itll be the same thing. w11 will get installed on an offline pc. im not playing MS game. they can goto hell.

moved from am3+ to am4. dont feel am5 is worth it as you pay twice for ram and MB prices as AM5 and not necessarily that performance gain back.

since you hate windows 10 and 11, you have no choice but to learn linux. try with virtualbox and mint to get you started., its very easy to implement and play with. run it within w10. it sounds much more complicated then it is. I have 1 daily pc thats online, the other 3 are all offline. best way.

buying am5 wouldnt be because of driver issues, but more because of ram and MB pricing being far higher and the performance over am4 is not substantial. if you want best bang for buck, am5 is not it. yet

 

[Macro Device]

Buy yourself a Ryzen 5 9600X, a compatible motherboard, 32 GB of DDR5-6000 memory, install Windows 10 and be happy. The 9600X is going to easily outperform even an FX-9590 by a factor of 10, if not more - and it's one of the most basic CPUs you can buy today.

In most cases, 7700 non-X goes for basically the same money. I'd pick it over 9600X, unless OP has something with ridiculous ST performance requirements on their mind. +2 cores isn't much but it's essentially free performance in this case.

 

[freeagent]

I have some of the fastest processors made for AM4 and my 9900X just smokes them in every possible way. AM5 is the way to fly unless you wanna run with Intel.

Edit:

Running Win 11 though.. all this 10 talk makes me want to install it.

 

[Dr. Dro]

In most cases, 7700 non-X goes for basically the same money. I'd pick it over 9600X, unless OP has something with ridiculous ST performance requirements on their mind. +2 cores isn't much but it's essentially free performance in this case.

That's valid, though like, they're still using some FX-8300 CPU. I don't think this dude has the faintest clue how obsolete his computer is at this point. The 9600X may seem weaksauce at multithread to us, but it's probably a full 5x+ faster than the 8350. 7700 is also a solid pick and while it sacrifices some ST, it'll take that MT gap even farther. Definitely think the 9600X is the right fit here, it's probably more than 15 times faster in single thread compared to something like a 8300.

 

[Macro Device]

all this 10 talk makes me want to install it.

Definitely think the 9600X is the right fit here

Yes but no one's gonna have any extra whimpers if they choose a 7700.

 

[freeagent]

My 3770K feels like a calculator compared to my modern rigs.

Edit:

Wait.. calculators are pretty snappy.. nvm

 

[Wirko]

Did something happen between Win10/2016/2019/2022 that I just don't see?

Of those that you mentioned, Server 2022 is based on a different codebase, which is not 10 and neither 11. It may have its own set of issues and bright points, I'd love to see more discussion about that, but there's basically none.

 

[LabRat 891]

Only negatives I've ran across for AM5:
-un-disable-able Pluton security co-processor
-Most AM5 boards offer lacking PCIe slot expansion
-Intel BE200 WiFi will not work on AM5 platform

Otherwise, either AM4 (B550 and X570) or AM5 (B*50 and X*70) are fully Windows 10 and Windows 11 compatible.

A 5700X3D or 5800X3D is no slouch on AM4, and a 5950X could probably be had quite affordably (if many cores was your goal)
but...
it's a 'complete' platform. It's only going to exist and be supported for however long AMD keeps up AM4 Embedded.

 

[unwind-protect]

I am not aware of AM5 specific driver problems.

An AM4 build can still make financial sense if you want a lot of RAM, as DDR4 is cheaper. I stayed on AM4 so far because I have (and want) 128 GB of ECC UDIMMs.

 

[Redwoodz]

As a rule of thumb I never install Windows connected to the net.
I'm using W11 standard ISO. I opt out of the privacy stuff, turn off auto updates and manually install drivers.
One of these days I'm switching to Linux.

It's funny listening the FX comments, truth be told Bulldozer performed terrible in benchmarks but it always felt perfectly fine and snappy when using it most of the time.

 

[_roman_]

Ryzen 7600X / X670 mainboard here.

You limit your choices with windows 7 and windows 10.

W11 pro has lots of issues. I got rid of many nonsense by setting the uefi correct and by using an offline user (afaik only pro version can do that).

i would not go am4. my previous 5800x / am4 had similar performance compiling code / according to various charts as my ryzen 7600X.

--

you may look into refurbish computers. you will most often get a refurbish w10 / w11 pro license also. When you buy am4 you could also buy a refurbish computer in my point of view.

that price nonsense about am4 is cheaper. I check prices regularly. You get several entry am5 mainboards for 90€, 8GB DDR5 sticks and cheap processors (8000 series / 7400f / 7500f). I hope you will not compare a 25€ am4 mainboard with 8GB DDR4 4€ stick with used am4 processor for 20€? do you? 8gib ddr5 is cheap. do not compare it with high end ddr5 modules! = same slow performacne - same e-waste as am4

This Bitlocker that I have heard about, AFAIK, I

bitlocker does not install when you use windows 11 pro 23h2 during installation with an offline user. my box is proof for that. assuming you are able to configure uefi correctly and configure the partition table correctly before installatoin.