You probably can get away with just hooking everything up and booting but I usually prefer to back up the data and do a clean install of windows every time I change the board.

I have a 13700k with a 240 AIO and temps are fine and manageable in games. They are only hard to tame on all core loads.

I think you should always go with a fresh install when changing boards.

Truthfully, I would like to convert my NAS to SSDs as well.

You need to get your main windows on a SSD. Even an ancient CPU like a 4790k will feel snappier with a SSD than a fast CPU without one.

Disk info? I hope you have windows installed on a SSD. IMO in this day and age, I do not see the reason to use HDDs in anything other then a NAS. Hell, I do not even use SATA SSDs in my builds any more.

Every couple of years but I really enjoy building and tinkering with PCs. I also trickle down my old parts to family builds.

If you have plans to use it for Plex, I would definitely get the iGPU version. I just swapped my 5800x for my nephew’s 12600k mainly for iGPU support for Plex trans-coding.

I am using a 240 AIO on a 13700k. It handles it fine. It does get very close to the throttle point during all core bench marks but it in all real world usage it has been fine.

It really depends on the board and silicon lottery. My 13700k works with 7200 cl34 xmp on my Z790 carbon board. I think most CPUs can handle 6000s easily.