New motherboard. Do I need to reinstall Windows 8?

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Platinum Era

Platinum Era

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Jul 22, 2013
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Simply put, I am going for a black/white/silver build and am swapping out some stuff.
I am replacing a "disgusting" gold/brown Z87-A for a Z97-AR (Before anyone says im wasting money, I have a buyer for my Z87 board at 120$, AR is costing me 150$).

Will I need to do a fresh install? I currently have a 1TB backup I did right before disassembling the pc (got a new case for the build).
 
Solution
geofelt
I suspect not.
Z97 and Z87 are very similar.
If you can boot with the Z97, all you need to do is install the new drivers that come with the Z97 motherboard.

I did such a change and was prepared for a clean install, but it was not needed. This was with windows 7, and I suspect that W8 is even easier.

If you have not yet done so, consider upgrading to a SSD. Clone your os drive to the ssd, assuming that your used space will fit. It makes everything you do feel so much quicker. Keep the 1tb drive for storage and backups. Samsung EVO is good and seems to be on sale.
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geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
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I suspect not.
Z97 and Z87 are very similar.
If you can boot with the Z97, all you need to do is install the new drivers that come with the Z97 motherboard.

I did such a change and was prepared for a clean install, but it was not needed. This was with windows 7, and I suspect that W8 is even easier.

If you have not yet done so, consider upgrading to a SSD. Clone your os drive to the ssd, assuming that your used space will fit. It makes everything you do feel so much quicker. Keep the 1tb drive for storage and backups. Samsung EVO is good and seems to be on sale.
 
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Platinum Era

Platinum Era

Honorable
Jul 22, 2013
465
0
10,960


m running a 128gb Kingston SSD Now (wish I knew about the the performance change before I got it) and a 1tb WD blue for storage. I am hoping it is even easier considering that I'm swaping Asus for Asus.


 
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