Question about Upgrading my Computer with Current Motherboard

Hello all. I recently posted here with some questions about the best ram to use to upgrade my computer, and the responses got me thinking about a lot of things with my rig. I understand just enough about computers to realize I don't really know much about how components work together and things, and was hoping for your advice on how best to go about updating my computer.

I currently have 8GB of RAM and would like to upgrade to 16GB. However, I learned when I was asking about this that my motherboard (ASUS Z87-K Z87-K | Motherboards | ASUS USA
) would not take DDR 4 RAM, only DDR 3.

Also, I would like to buy and SSD and get a GeForceGTX 1070 graphics card as well.

My question is, do I need a new motherboard to make these upgrades work? Does the motherboard affect the type of graphics card I can run? Is DDR 4 RAM so much better than DDR 3 RAM that I should make the effort to upgrade?

Would this mean I would need a new processor? Is this part of the motherboard? Can I take my old processor from the old motherboard?

I also heard about something along the lines of activation issues with Windows 10 when I start changing things like these.

Sorry for all the questions in this post and my lack of knowledge. I am trying to read up on all of this, but I know you all really know your stuff and may be able to guide me on the right path. If any of you can provide me with some advice I would appreciate it. Thank you!

tl/dr: I want 16 GB of RAM, an SSD, and a Geforce 1070 card and I'm worried my motherboard can't handle it.

Hey, Aemon.
As Caledon Ken mentioned in his reply, you can't put DDR4 in DDR3 slot. And speaking of your question about how much DDR4 is faster, I have a few words to say.
Yes, DDR4 is faster and eats less power than DDR3, but it is not worth to change the whole rig because of DDR4. You can put 16 GB of DDR3 RAM to your current computer and it will wun just very good. All you need to know is that you should choose the same 8Gb DDR3 module to run your overall 16 gigs at dual channels.
GTX 1070 is okay for your motherboard. It will work well. And you can put any SATA SSD you want.

OP is running a single 8GB module of Crucial 1333 RAM IF nothings changed from previous post. Need some direction on how best to upgrade my PC - Page 2 - Windows 10 Forums

"Is DDR 4 RAM so much better than DDR 3 RAM that I should make the effort to upgrade?"
No, a very small factor indeed, and the price of DDR4 at the moment is high.

A new MOBO is a new PC as far as hardware goes, including the CPU along with DDR4 memory slots and probably a faster M.2 SSD interface rather than SATA.

A New Graphics Card can be used in the current one and be shifted to a new MOBO, should not be a problem.

A new MOBO plus RAM, CPU and an M.2 SSD is a large expense on hardware for little gain, at the moment.

A new Graphics Card can be used in the current MOBO and any new one. This upgrade is really for gamers.

Aemon:

I guess you have an i7-4770 processor. That's several generations old, but still quite potent.

You say you want to go with an SSD, a 1070, and 16 gb of DDR 3.

The SSD and the 1070 should be usable well into the future with a new motherboard and CPU. But the DDR 3 won't be usable--that money will be lost.

You have to decide how annoying or limiting 8 GB of RAM is for whatever tasks you require from the PC. If you have good reason (not just hope or a suspicion) that 16 GB will be a significant benefit, then buy it now (barring budget issues) even though it would be unusable with a current generation motherboard.

If you are NOT sure about that or if budget is a significant issue, I'd stay with 8 gb of DDR 3 and keep the money in my wallet--to be used in a year or two whenever you decide that you definitely want to do a major overhaul and get a new motherboard and new CPU.

In most use cases, a CPU upgrade will be more noticeable than a RAM upgrade from 8 gb to 16 gb. The SSD might not be as noticeable an improvement as you hope---it's most obvious effect is in boot time. Otherwise, not so much. Probably worthwhile, at least for a smallish SSD for a boot drive.

I've noticed that RAM and SSD prices seem to be weakening a bit in the last few months based on what I see at Newegg, but I have no idea if that will continue. It may just be a temporary seasonal factor.

Thank you all so much for these replies. I appreciate the help greatly. I feel a lot more confident moving forward now knowing that I don't really have to upgrade the motherboard to make some of these upgrades. I have the budget to do the SSD, RAM, and graphics card, but didn't want to put the money and effort into the motherboard and the CPU right now. I will look at those in a few years perhaps. I mostly use my PC for gaming (work too, but that is mostly just Microsoft Office), so I was really hoping for a bit more RAM and a better graphics card for newer games. The SSD would be nice for load times too.

I really appreciate your time with these answers! Thank you!

Agree with AddRAM, to me the single best upgrade anyone can do is get off spinner drives for OS and get on an ssd. The response time for ssd's is just so much faster.

There are plenty of low cost good ssd's out there.