Mass PC Upgrade, Fresh installs? Need advice.

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Vespecci

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Nov 6, 2015
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Good afternoon everyone,

Current rig: GA-970A-UD3, GTX 960 4gb, FX8320, Win 7 64bit, 8gb ddr3, EVGA supernova 750 G2 gold rated psu, in a Rosewill blackhawk atx mid tower case.

I've just purchased 16gb Ddr4 ram, and a GA-Z170X-UD3 mobo. In January, I'll purchase the new kaby lake i5 7600k processor. And to top it all off, eventually next year I'll pick up a GTX 1070. I've never done a system upgrade on this scale before, so this is new to me.

I've heard both yes and no that I'll need to do a fresh install. Some have said Win 7 will automatically recognize a new mobo and boot up so i can install the new mobo drivers from the website etc, other people have said it absolutely will not work without a fresh install? If I HAVE to do a fresh install, I was considering jumping to Windows 10 from 7 (I dont have my old win 7 disk anymore, I dont know where it went).

What do I NEED to know for the process when I upgrade my PC?
Thanks a lot for any help!

 
Solution
Barty1884
A system *might* boot to your OS without a clean install, but it's not recommended as it can be buggy as heck and you can run into all sorts of conflicts along the way. New system = new install, no doubt about it.

If you stick with W7, do you have a retail copy of the OS? If not and it's OEM, it's tied to the motherboard and can't be moved anyway (at least not with a legit activation).

As an FYI, unless something major has changed, Kabylake (and Zen from AMD) won't officially support older OS's:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3112663/software/microsoft-made-em-do-it-the-latest-kaby-lake-zen-chips-will-support-only-windows-10.html

A new system, especially Skylake, Kabylake or Zen is really geared towards W10 anyway. With a 7600K...
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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A system *might* boot to your OS without a clean install, but it's not recommended as it can be buggy as heck and you can run into all sorts of conflicts along the way. New system = new install, no doubt about it.

If you stick with W7, do you have a retail copy of the OS? If not and it's OEM, it's tied to the motherboard and can't be moved anyway (at least not with a legit activation).

As an FYI, unless something major has changed, Kabylake (and Zen from AMD) won't officially support older OS's:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3112663/software/microsoft-made-em-do-it-the-latest-kaby-lake-zen-chips-will-support-only-windows-10.html

A new system, especially Skylake, Kabylake or Zen is really geared towards W10 anyway. With a 7600K and 1070, I assume a gaming rig? DX12 will become more & more relevant as time goes on for a gaming rig, and is only supported via Windows 10. It's time to upgrade & purchase a new OS.,
 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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its in the middle--sometimes it will work sometimes it wont with out a fresh install

even if it works you will probably need to go through the phone activation since changing motherboard,cpu,etc

main thing you NEED is the drivers for internet access for your new motherboard as windows which ever version doesnt always have them built in

with net access everything else can be downloaded
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Changing parts (primarily the motherboard), sometimes requires a fresh install.
There is no 100% either way.

Going from old AMD to new Intel leans more towards a fresh install.

Be 100% prepared for if it does not boot up. Be thankful if it does.
As always, have a fall back plan.
 
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V

Vespecci

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Nov 6, 2015
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Thats good advice! I guess it's a trip to Windows 10 for me then. So one last question then. How does a fresh install work when my old SSD and HDD that I'd be keeping in the PC work? Do I need to wipe them both prior to the hardware change? Never done it.

Thanks a lot!
 
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mcnumpty23

mcnumpty23

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you can wipe them during windows install

though its best to only have the drive windows will go on connected

you can then connect the second one afterwards and format it in windows

 
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Barty1884

Barty1884

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You'd only need to 'wipe' the OS drive if going the clean install route. I assume the HDD is bulk storage and can be 'plug & play' once you're up & running.

At the screen for "select where to install", you can delete any partitions (and format if you like) before you proceed. You don't have to do it before the hardware change.
 
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