Can I swap 775 for 1155?

[ubercake]

I currently have a socket 775 motherboard with a dual-core 5300 processor. I want to turn this machine into a high-powered quad core (hyperthreaded) machine to be used as a digital audio workstation (DAW).

I'm looking at replacing the board and processor with a 1366 or 1155 processor (i7-950 or i7-2600).

I have 6GB of DDR3 1600 laying around. If all other parts (drives, video card, dvd, etc...) are compatible with the new CPU and motherboard, can I just swap out my motherboard and processor without having to re-install Windows? Will it work?

Thanks in advance.

 

[sadams04]

Yes. You should be able to re-use the drives, GPU and hopefully PSU. What power supply, drive(s) and video card do you have?

 

[COLGeek]

You should be able to do as you suggest. At worst, you'll have to re-activate Windows and maybe Office. Not a big deal. Good luck!

 

[ubercake]

Yes. You should be able to re-use the drives, GPU and hopefully PSU. What power supply, drive(s) and video card do you have?

The power and video will work with the new config no problem. This machine has a Radeon 5450 and this cruddy BFG power supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702010

I will consider replacing it with something more trusty if someone can tell me definitively whether my plan will work or not...

Has anyone out there actually performed a motherboard/processor swap and still been able to boot to Windows?

 

[COLGeek]

The power and video will work with the new config no problem. This machine has a Radeon 5450 and this cruddy BFG power supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817702010

I will consider replacing it with something more trusty if someone can tell me definitively whether my plan will work or not...

Has anyone out there actually performed a motherboard/processor swap and still been able to boot to Windows?

Yes, just did the same with my daughter's desktop PC. It was AMD based, but the process and results are the same.

 

[ubercake]

Yes, just did the same with my daughter's desktop PC. It was AMD based, but the process and results are the same.

Did you have to re-activate Office and Windows?

 

[COLGeek]

Did you have to re-activate Office and Windows?

Yes, both were done via on-line activation. I have also done the same in the past were I had to manually (call MS) to activate. Really not a big deal.

 

[ubercake]

Yes, both were done via on-line activation. I have also done the same in the past were I had to manually (call MS) to activate. Really not a big deal.

Thanks a lot. You've really helped me out.

 

[ubercake]

Best answer selected by ubercake.

 

[4745454b]

Keep the chipsets from the same company and you should be fine. You can't go from the Nvidia S775 9300 board to an Intel x58 or P67 chipset for example. But you shouldn't have issues going from a P45 to P67.

If you go into the device manager before you shut down for the last time you can remove the drivers for the "IDE", lan, audio, etc. Anything onboard. (don't reboot!) Once that is done windows will reload the drivers based on the new board.

 

[ubercake]

Keep the chipsets from the same company and you should be fine. You can't go from the Nvidia S775 9300 board to an Intel x58 or P67 chipset for example. But you shouldn't have issues going from a P45 to P67.

If you go into the device manager before you shut down for the last time you can remove the drivers for the "IDE", lan, audio, etc. Anything onboard. (don't reboot!) Once that is done windows will reload the drivers based on the new board.

Good info. Thanks.

 

[COLGeek]

Keep the chipsets from the same company and you should be fine. You can't go from the Nvidia S775 9300 board to an Intel x58 or P67 chipset for example. But you shouldn't have issues going from a P45 to P67.

If you go into the device manager before you shut down for the last time you can remove the drivers for the "IDE", lan, audio, etc. Anything onboard. (don't reboot!) Once that is done windows will reload the drivers based on the new board.

This is good advice here. The big one will be to make sure your BIOS settings for your SATA mode matches. For example, if the old rig is using SATA IDE mode, then set the new rig the same way at first. You can probably go the other way (old-AHCI to new-IDE), but the opposite will cause problems.

 

[ubercake]

This is good advice here. The big one will be to make sure your BIOS settings for your SATA mode matches. For example, if the old rig is using SATA IDE mode, then set the new rig the same way at first. You can probably go the other way (old-AHCI to new-IDE), but the opposite will cause problems.

Thanks again.

 

[COLGeek]

Thanks again.

You are welcome, again. Honestly, you should find the process fairly painless. If you have any difficulties during the process, just come on back and we'll work through it.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey