Steps to take before upgrading CPU and Mobo?

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thepittzo

Mar 16, 2018
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To start: yes, I have looked at a lot of the other forums, but I just want to make sure I do this right according to my context, that’s why I’m opening a new thread.

So, I’m upgrading my CPU and Mobo soon, I just ordered the parts and they should arrive within a week. I’m just curious as to what I personally need to do before I install my new hardware.

I’m upgrading from an i3-6100 and an ASRock H110M-HDS to an i5-8600K and an ASUS Prime Z370-A. I definitely need the upgrade as I’m sporting a GTX 1080, and the bottleneck is painful.

My question is with what do I do to prepare for the new installation? I have 3 drives each partitioned separately. And that’s where I’m most confused. I have a 240GB SSD with my Windows 10 OEM license on it, another 1TB FireCuda HDD, and a 3TB BarraCuda HDD. The SSD has a few games and some files from school (like essays and stuff on it). The FireCuda has mainly games and photos on it. And the BarraCuda has just games on it.

So, I’m confused about what I need to do with all my drives? Can I just unplug my HDDs and plug them back in after I do the fresh install of Windows on my SSD? Or do I need to back those up as well?

For the most part, I understand all the other steps, I’m just concerned about the stuff on my HDDs.

Also, in terms of my games (which are all from Steam and Origin), will I need to back up those saves to be able to continue where I left off later? Or, could I just move all the files to the HDDs (ASSUMING: I’m right in that I can just plug in my HDDs afterwards?)

Link to old system: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7YvVYT

Link to new system: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7MC9WD
 
Solution
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Well, since no one answered my post, I’ll answer it myself, because I did the switch today and it went better than expected. Here’s what I did:
1. I backed up the important files of mine onto a PNY 64GB flash drive just in case things might go wrong.
2. I bought a Windows 10 product key and was ready to put it in when need be. NOTE: I did not uninstall anything from the actual computer (like drivers, programs, etc. I literally just unplugged everything and did the switch).
3. I went through the process of taking out the old motherboard and CPU and put the new one in. Fairly easy, all you need to know is how to physically do this part. Not hard to learn.
4. Plugged everything in and fired it up. I was expecting it to ask me for the...
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T

thepittzo

Mar 16, 2018
2
0
20
Well, since no one answered my post, I’ll answer it myself, because I did the switch today and it went better than expected. Here’s what I did:
1. I backed up the important files of mine onto a PNY 64GB flash drive just in case things might go wrong.
2. I bought a Windows 10 product key and was ready to put it in when need be. NOTE: I did not uninstall anything from the actual computer (like drivers, programs, etc. I literally just unplugged everything and did the switch).
3. I went through the process of taking out the old motherboard and CPU and put the new one in. Fairly easy, all you need to know is how to physically do this part. Not hard to learn.
4. Plugged everything in and fired it up. I was expecting it to ask me for the product key right then and there, but nope. It just booted right into Windows.
5. Checked in Windows to see if it recognized the new hardware, which it did. Even restarted and went into the BIOS to see if it recognized it there as well: yep, it did.

I had no issues just doing a quick swap of the CPU and motherboard. In fact the only issue I did run into was my monitors not displaying anything on them when they were plugged into the graphics card. However, I quickly found out it was just because I hadn’t plugged the power cable in far enough for it. Problem solved.

I did in fact use the new product key for Windows, but when I first booted up it never mentioned that I needed to activate Windows nor did it ask for a new license. Not quite sure why this was, but I still put in the product key because I already bought it.

EVERYTHING on my drives were still there. Nothing was lost or corrupt from the process of swapping.

Hope this helps anybody who has the same question.
 
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