What to do before and after upgrading motherboard

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
T

TRBAsado

Commendable
Feb 4, 2017
12
0
1,510
So I am thinking of upgrading my Alienware Area 51 mother board to a asus z170 a but since this is my first time doing this I am not sure what am I supposed to do am I supposed to format the drive before installing the motherboard or do I just replace it with the new mother board and I'm good to go or what do it do ?
 
Solution
O


The question I would ask is why are you changing only the motherboard but keeping as much as everything else as possible? As an 'upgrade' it doesn't sound worthwhile.

As for Windows installation you'd be formatting before you can install it. You need to be referencing guides rather than just...
Sort by date Sort by votes
O

Obakasama

Distinguished
Apr 30, 2014
3,427
193
18,090
A quick check suggests there are various different configurations of the Alienware Area 51 - at least three different chipsets and therefore socket types. So before you consider proceeding I suggest you double check what your current hardware specs are before looking for a new motherboard if you intend to keep your CPU and RAM.

The OS of a prebuilt tend to be linked with the motherboard. So if the motherboard is changed you lose it. I've seen some mention that with the way Windows 10 works you may not need a new licence. At the very least you'd need to fresh install the OS to avoid performance complications.

Prebuilts, like Dell, could use proprietary hardware. There are situations where people have bought components but can't change them due to how prebuilts are designed not to accept standard parts. Again, this would need to be checked somehow.

Others with more experience can advise further, but those are what come to mind.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Kerry Lourash

Kerry Lourash

Reputable
Jul 18, 2015
12
1
4,520
Too much involved to cover everything. You might want to search the 'net for how-to's and read up a bit.

One thing that will let you recover from software mistakes is to buy another drive and make a copy of the disk (not just a partition) so you'll have all your original files and can just plug the drive into the old setup if you need to retreat & rethink. Or use a disk dock to hook the copied drive into your system to copy files to the new system. Aomei PA works for me to copy drives. Whether you want to get a better drive or just a used one to hold the data temporarily, it's best to swap the drive into the old system and be sure the copy is good before starting MB replacement.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

TRBAsado

Commendable
Feb 4, 2017
12
0
1,510
I am thinking of changing the case as well because I am not sure about the case if it would fit the motherboard I'm buying but I am keeping the CPU ram and other stuff but I'm not sure if I have to format my hard drive before changing motherboards or is it okay to just change the motherboard ? I am pretty new to building pcs and I don't really know what to do after changing the motherboard like after booting the computer what do I do?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Kerry Lourash

Kerry Lourash

Reputable
Jul 18, 2015
12
1
4,520


You are talking about building a new PC then, which will require buying a new OS (unless you decide to go with a free OS such as Linux or Ubuntu). Microsoft will not let you reuse the OS. And you will have to re-install the OS from scratch, since the underlying software (drivers, etc) will need to be completely different. Even if you put your old drive in and it worked somehow, it would not work well.

There are basically 3 sizes of MB's: ATX, Micro-ATX, and ITX. Rough guide is that ATX = 7 slots, MITX = 4 slots, ITX = 1 slot. The Z170 is an ATX, so you need a case big enough.

As I said before, you really need to read up on this; there are many things to consider when building a PC.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

TRBAsado

Commendable
Feb 4, 2017
12
0
1,510
I am going to use windows but I am not sure what am I supposed to do after booting the pc like do I format my hard drive before booting the pc or am I better off using a new hard drive and how do I install windows after booting ?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
O

Obakasama

Distinguished
Apr 30, 2014
3,427
193
18,090


The question I would ask is why are you changing only the motherboard but keeping as much as everything else as possible? As an 'upgrade' it doesn't sound worthwhile.

As for Windows installation you'd be formatting before you can install it. You need to be referencing guides rather than just asking questions on a forum. Something like this will give you some idea: https://www.howtogeek.com/197559/how-to-install-windows-10-on-your-pc/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
T

TRBAsado

Commendable
Feb 4, 2017
12
0
1,510
I am just changing the motherboard now because I really don't need any more ram I have 32gb and don't need a better CPU i7-8700k so will basically be a waste of money but the only problem is the motherboard not sure what is wrong either it's broken or something but the gpu isn't detected when I launch the pc so might be broken or smth
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
O

Obakasama

Distinguished
Apr 30, 2014
3,427
193
18,090
If those are your specs, then it suggests the PC is fairly new. It must surely still be under warranty for you to get it fixed or replaced for free rather than having to buy a new motherboard yourself (which makes more sense now).

As mentioned, changing the motherboard of a branded prebuilt can have its drawbacks - proprietary hardware, and OS locked to the motherboard. Worst case scenario is you end up having to spend more than you originally planned, so proceed with caution.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom