Possible switch from AMD FX-8120 to Intel i7 4790k

SammChisnall · Jan 3, 2015

Hi guys, so i have had my current rig for about 2 years now and i am seriously regretting getting my FX-8120, running games such as ArmA is just pathetic. I am considering switching to an i7 4790k next month but i have read that you will have to do a fresh Windows install in order to do so. My question is will this be necessary? I only have an OEM copy of Windows 7 and so i would have to buy another copy. Also if you guys could recommend any other CPU/Mobo setups that would run well in my rig i would greatly appreciate it. (I have about a £500 budget)

PC Specs are:
AMD FX-8120
Asus M5A97 R2.0
MSI Radeon R9 290x Lightning
750w EVGA Gold
16GB Corsair (no idea what model) DDR3 ram
125gb Sandisk SSD
2x 1TB Seagate Barracuda
NZXT Phantom Enthusiast Full Tower.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, Cheers.

RiditDo2 · Jan 3, 2015

You won't need to do a fresh install of Windows and the i7-4790K http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i7-4790K-Processor-Cache-BX8064... would be a huge upgrade from the FX-8120 which is a very slow processor with poor per core performance. You will, however, need to run a program to remove or manually uninstall all of your current drivers for your motherboard since you will need to reinstall drivers for your new board.

xtoolbearx · Jan 3, 2015

you will not need to touch your hard drive and dont worry i have regrets about my 8670m gpu. a good mobo i could recomend is http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157500 but if it collides with your colors then i would go with http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132125 they are both a little pricey but you will really thank yourself later if you go to do anything more in the future

USAFRet · Jan 3, 2015

I'm not sure what the above people are thinking, but switching hardware, especially going from an AMD platform to an Intel platform.....
Using the original HDD with the original OS install is NOT a guaranteed 'Yes it works'.

That is a very much "sometimes" thing. The farther apart the hardware, the less likely it is to work.

2 considerations:
1. Will it boot? Maybe, probably not
2. Licensing. As you have an OEM license, that is indeed licensed to that original motherboard.
MS is often quite lenient in allowing that original license to be used on a new motherboard, but they are under no obligation to do so.

TechyInAZ · Jan 3, 2015

4790K will be way faster, i personally have the i5 4690K and build pcs with the i7 4790K and both are extremely fast (at stock, ocing makes them more than overkill for your average user).

LookItsRain · Jan 3, 2015

In this case the OP has to buy a new copy of windows as he stated he has an OEM license, which is bound to his amd mobo.

So, backup the files you need/want and wipe the hdd then upgrade your platform.

SammChisnall · Jan 5, 2015

LookItsRain :

Thats what i thought i would have to do, im thinking about getting a bigger SSD to cope with windows anyway as the one i have now keeps falling down to about 16GB free and slowing the system down. So wipe my old SSD, Install windows and all the drivers on the new 250GB SSD?

Also im thinking about pairing the i7 4790k with the MSI Z97 Gaming 7 for OC potential (along with my R9 lightning) and the Corsair H100i mounted below my two 200mm case fans. You guys think this would work well?

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Possible switch from AMD FX-8120 to Intel i7 4790k

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