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AMD to Intel CPU/Mobo, Is a format needed?

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I recently made a decision to switch from an AMD Motherboard/CPU to an Intel Motherboard/CPU.
The new components arrive in a week.

Question1:
With this change, do I need to reformat my Solid State Drive (reinstall Windows 7), or will the new components work correctly with the present OS and file system already setup?

Question 2:
Will I have to reinstall my Graphics/Sound Card drivers as well?

I have been an avid fan of the experts here at Toms Hardware and appreciate any feedback.

My Previous build was as follows:

Motherboard: M4A79XTD EVO AM3
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965
GPU: EVGA nVidia GTX 580
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH
SSD: (2) OCZ SATA II Vertex 2 60GB
HD: WD SATA II 7200RPM 2TB
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD PCI Express x1
PSU: Antec 650 Watts
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit

New Build will be identical except for CPU and Motherboard:
Motherboard: Intel DZ68BC
CPU: Intel 2nd Gen i7-2600K
GPU: EVGA nVidia GTX 580
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH
SSD: (2) OCZ SATA II Vertex 2 60GB
HD: WD SATA II 7200RPM 2TB
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD PCI Express x1
PSU: Antec 650 Watts
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64 bit

More about : amd intel cpu mobo format needed

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Homebuilt system Expert
CPUs Authority
Motherboard Authority

You would need to remove all drivers for the AMD mobo chipset at the minimum and install the new drivers for the Intel mobo. There may be complications however and a format may still be required.

beenthere said:
You would need to remove all drivers for the AMD mobo chipset at the minimum and install the new drivers for the Intel mobo. There may be complications however and a format may still be required.


Ahh, I forgot about the chipset drivers... I am glad you mentioned that!

Do you think the system would at least boot up for file transfer purposes?

One of my SSDs has the Win 7 Pro installed on it, the other is empty.
Sounds like I will have to unplug the old SSD with AMD chipset drivers and load up the new SSD with a fresh copy of Windows 7.

I just hope the "Upgrade" version I purchased as a student will let me do that without a prior OS on there.


CPUs Expert

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this, as I'm going from memory. In short, no. Windows loads a CPU profile/driver during installation and will basically gear itself to that processor architecture afterward. I have been able to move hard drives between builds for the same company (Athlon 2600 to Athlon 64) with completely different chipsets with no issue other than needing to swap out the generic drivers for official ones. Going from AMD to Intel, however (Athlon x2 to Core 2 Duo) on Windows 7 failed completely. It would BSOD and crash as soon as it could.

That being said, I can't promise this is accurate. It's been my experience I've never seen it work without a format, but you might be able to pull something off. Then again, most of the time if I do a build swap I format anyway to clear out old junk. If you could change the CPU profile and strip the drivers, it might work.

Best solution

I'd save some time and tears and do a fresh windows load on the clean SSD with all your drivers and then do the OS upgrade. From there you can plug in the old SSD and pull your files off of it to the fresh OS load. Just make sure when you start it back up with both SSD/OS, make sure to go into the BIOS, make sure it's going to boot from the right SSD/OS (fresh load). PS. If your original OS is an OEM copy, you'll have to do a fresh OS load no matter what. Save yourself a lot of headache and know you have a clean fresh OS load with no leftover BS from the AMD build.
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