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Question about switching from AMD to Intel

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  • Power Supplies
  • Storage
Last response: in CPUs
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July 21, 2014 4:11:15 PM

Hey guys I'm considering buying an i7 4790k and Asus z97-A motherboard to replace my FX-6300 and MSI 970A-G43. I'm wanting to have a somewhat future proof system and I just ordered an R9 290 Tri-x Sapphire card and I know the FX-6300 will be a bit of a bottleneck with that GPU. I have two questions:

First is there a way to change platforms without reformatting and reinstalling Windows? I have a boot SSD and an 1 TB HD full of Steam games and I'm dreading the thought of having to start all over again.

Second question is my PSU is a 600 watt Corsair CX600M (80+ Bronze), will I have to upgrade that as well? I'm guessing the answer is yes, I just want to make sure before I have to shell out another $100 or so on a PSU on top of everything else. Thanks for any advice guys, hope this post is in the right section...

Thanks,
TheFinder

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July 21, 2014 4:20:35 PM

thefinder808 said:
Hey guys I'm considering buying an i7 4790k and Asus z97-A motherboard to replace my FX-6300 and MSI 970A-G43. I'm wanting to have a somewhat future proof system and I just ordered an R9 290 Tri-x Sapphire card and I know the FX-6300 will be a bit of a bottleneck with that GPU. I have two questions:

First is there a way to change platforms without reformatting and reinstalling Windows? I have a boot SSD and an 1 TB HD full of Steam games and I'm dreading the thought of having to start all over again.

Second question is my PSU is a 600 watt Corsair CX600M (80+ Bronze), will I have to upgrade that as well? I'm guessing the answer is yes, I just want to make sure before I have to shell out another $100 or so on a PSU on top of everything else. Thanks for any advice guys, hope this post is in the right section...

Thanks,
TheFinder


I would format Windows and reinstall everything from scratch. Way less problems and you're 100% sure it's not a software problem if something is not working properly when you install the system
I think your 600 watt PSU is enough for what you have.

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July 21, 2014 4:22:16 PM

1) No. You WILL have to start from scratch so make sure you back everything up.

2) I would go for a good 750w PSU. That video card can jump up to 300 Watts if you push it all the way.
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July 21, 2014 4:30:19 PM

Yes you have to reinstall the OS. there is no getting around this because of the switch from AMD to Intel. Some times you cna get away with not reinstalling if staying AMD or Intel but many time doing so produces performance issues.

As for the PSU the Corsair CX series is very unreliable and I recommend changing the PSU just on that basis. I did find this benchmark http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_290X_Tri...

the Intel is a lot more power efficient so the 600 may be enough but that is just a guess as I can't find any hard evidence to the contrary.
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July 21, 2014 4:31:10 PM

Quote:
First is there a way to change platforms without reformatting and reinstalling Windows?


Just to chime in.....no.
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July 21, 2014 5:10:03 PM

Well I guess I'll just have to suck it up then, thanks for the answers guys. My final question definitely doesn't belong in this section but does anyone know if there's a way around redownloading all the 98 games in my steam library that are on the 1 TB HD? The issue here is the stupid 300 GB per month limit that Comcast imposes on me, which I almost go over every month. If there's no way around redownloading all those games I'll just have to do a few at a time I guess, and then reinstall.
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July 21, 2014 5:11:38 PM

Also what PSU would you guys recommend? I thought the Corsair CX series had a decent rep but I guess I was wrong there. I'm seeing an EVGA SuperNova that seems somewhat affordable, but if you guys have other suggestions I'd definitely be glad to hear them.
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a b ) Power supply
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July 21, 2014 5:11:54 PM

You can almost certainly move the Steam games around as needed, without having to redownload them.

Moving a Steam Installation and Games

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July 21, 2014 5:12:23 PM

all you should have to do is reinstall Steam and try to launch the game from where steam installed the folder and it should run just the installer and relink the game. no need to redownload the games.
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July 21, 2014 5:14:36 PM

Great news on the Steam games!
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July 22, 2014 1:10:26 AM

Not that anyone cares, but I just sprung for it (all that money.......) and got the 4790k, Asus Z97-A, and Noctua NH-D14. Hope it all goes well with the PSU I have now, as if I spend another dime (just ordered a R9 290 Tri-x yesterday) I'll jump off a bridge. If anyone has a suggestion for a good affordable PSU to go with this build I'd appreciate it, I may try to get one next month after rent and insurance etc.
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July 22, 2014 1:29:32 AM

I've heard the EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 is an awesome PSU. I don't personally own this PSU, but it has a lot of good reviews and I heard it's one of the best PSU's Corsair has to offer. Also it's very affordable and modular!

Here's a link to it for a good price: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IKDETOW/ref=olp_pro...
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July 22, 2014 1:32:22 AM

Sorry, I meant it's one of the best PSU's 'EVGA' has to offer not 'Corsair' lol.
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July 22, 2014 3:21:45 PM

Matthew-san said:
Sorry, I meant it's one of the best PSU's 'EVGA' has to offer not 'Corsair' lol.


Nice, thanks for the recommendation. Looks like a reliable and affordable PSU.

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July 22, 2014 3:26:00 PM

I switched from AMD to Intel, and I retained the same Windows installation.

Delete every driver that has to do with the motherboard - the SATA driver, the audio driver, the ethernet driver, etc. and then you will be able to switch. I would try it, as there's nothing to lose. If it screws up, you can just reinstall Windows anyway, nothing lost.

You will have to call Microsoft after and re activate Windows though. It's an easy process though.

I think your current power supply will do fine, but an upgrade may be a good idea.
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July 22, 2014 4:21:44 PM

Zircoben said:
I switched from AMD to Intel, and I retained the same Windows installation.

Delete every driver that has to do with the motherboard - the SATA driver, the audio driver, the ethernet driver, etc. and then you will be able to switch. I would try it, as there's nothing to lose. If it screws up, you can just reinstall Windows anyway, nothing lost.

You will have to call Microsoft after and re activate Windows though. It's an easy process though.

I think your current power supply will do fine, but an upgrade may be a good idea.


Thanks for the response, you make a good point, might as well give it a try. I saw a number of pre-builts from a company (can't remember the name) with the same CPU/GPU combo as me with my exact PSU so I'm guessing it'll work fine for the short term, but eventually I'll hopefully be able to get that EVGA SuperNova as an upgrade. Which CPU did you have and which one did you switch to might I ask?

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July 22, 2014 4:33:46 PM

thefinder808 said:
Zircoben said:
I switched from AMD to Intel, and I retained the same Windows installation.

Delete every driver that has to do with the motherboard - the SATA driver, the audio driver, the ethernet driver, etc. and then you will be able to switch. I would try it, as there's nothing to lose. If it screws up, you can just reinstall Windows anyway, nothing lost.

You will have to call Microsoft after and re activate Windows though. It's an easy process though.

I think your current power supply will do fine, but an upgrade may be a good idea.


Thanks for the response, you make a good point, might as well give it a try. I saw a number of pre-builts from a company (can't remember the name) with the same CPU/GPU combo as me with my exact PSU so I'm guessing it'll work fine for the short term, but eventually I'll hopefully be able to get that EVGA SuperNova as an upgrade. Which CPU did you have and which one did you switch to might I ask?



I had an AMD A10-5800K and I switched to an Intel i3-4330. Different CPUs, but the same concept.

"CPU, SATA driver, and ACHI driver should go. Ethernet and audio won't prevent boot, but you might as well get rid of seeing as they will be different on the new board. All others shouldn't make a lot of difference. Might want to get rid of your USB drivers on second thought as well.

Remember it will tell you to reboot to make the change, but tell it later. Once the drivers are gone, shut down and pull the board. Swap over, and then see if windows loads. If it does, great. You saved your build. If not, you tried, and just reload windows which you would have done anyways. " (from when someone helped me with it)

Also the AMD USB drivers and stuff should go.

Don't let it reinstall them. Disconnect from interent wihile you do this, and don't reboot. Turn it off, then switch the mobo.
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July 22, 2014 5:07:47 PM

I have done this also but most times I have run into performance issues when doing so. So back everything up before swapping the parts out just in case you run into performance issues.
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July 22, 2014 5:12:34 PM

bgunner said:
I have done this also but most times I have run into performance issues when doing so. So back everything up before swapping the parts out just in case you run into performance issues.


What do you mean by 'Performance issues." ?
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July 22, 2014 5:18:15 PM

The systems just ran slow, no crashes but ran slow. performance issues. every time you swap to a different Motherboard model the OS should be reinstalled. Yes it can be done sometimes the way you say but many times I have run into performance issues. Trying to track down all these drivers and stopping windows from installing them on its own is very difficult as windows has a repository of them built into the OS and once it detects them missing it will try to reinstall them even with out being connected to the net.

EDIT: on top of these things when installing new hardware you want to be sure the software is not causing issues otherwise if issues arise then you are looking at 2 possible problems. software and hardware not just hardware.
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July 22, 2014 5:29:44 PM

bgunner said:
The systems just ran slow, no crashes but ran slow. performance issues. every time you swap to a different Motherboard model the OS should be reinstalled. Yes it can be done sometimes the way you say but many times I have run into performance issues. Trying to track down all these drivers and stopping windows from installing them on its own is very difficult as windows has a repository of them built into the OS and once it detects them missing it will try to reinstall them even with out being connected to the net.

EDIT: on top of these things when installing new hardware you want to be sure the software is not causing issues otherwise if issues arise then you are looking at 2 possible problems. software and hardware not just hardware.


Interesting... I am running on an OS now that was installed with an AMD CPU, and I did what I said and I am now using an Intel CPU, so it does work. So it isn't like the thing is having a lot of CPU use or anything, just something is buggy and lagging it down?
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