I built my PC in 2018 and have only upgraded the graphics card since then. My current processor is an Intel Core i5-6500, paired with an MSI B150M Mortar motherboard. I'm considering a CPU upgrade, but I'm unsure which processors are actually supported and whether any compatible option would provide a meaningful performance improvement. Would something like an i7-7700K work, or is it better to replace the motherboard and move to a newer platform? I'd also appreciate advice on whether my existing DDR4 memory can be reused in a new build.
4 Answers
There isn’t a particularly strong upgrade path on this motherboard. You can look for a reasonably priced i7-7700, but unless you find one cheaply on the used market, putting the money toward a newer platform makes more sense. You may be able to reuse the DDR4 in an AM4 system, even though it’s among the slowest DDR4 memory available.
For a noticeable improvement, replacing the motherboard and CPU is the better route. A budget AM4 combination such as a Ryzen 5 5600 with an A520 board would be a substantial step up and could cost roughly £160, depending on current prices. Your existing DDR4 may be reusable, although the memory speed is quite low and will limit performance somewhat.
An i7-7700 or i7-7700K may be the most practical upper-end upgrade for this platform if the required BIOS is available, but the improvement over an i5-6500 probably won’t justify paying much for one. The K suffix also doesn’t offer much benefit on a B150 board because CPU overclocking isn’t supported.
The motherboard uses an LGA1151 socket, but that label covers multiple Intel CPU generations. The B150M Mortar is primarily designed for 6th-generation Skylake chips, so newer CPUs—including later Core generations and i9 models—aren’t automatically compatible. Check the exact CPU support list and BIOS requirements rather than relying on the socket name alone.
That was my concern too—the socket name made it sound more compatible than the motherboard specifications actually suggest.
I’m fine spending a little more on the motherboard and processor. It’s just frustrating to hear that my current RAM may also hold the upgrade back.