Switching out MOBO and CPU

[Lokordd]

Hey guys, Just finished my first build; FX-4100 (OC'ed 4.6), GA-990-FXA-UD3 MOBO, 120g ssd, 500gig data HD, 8 gig sniper 1600 ram, 1250w OCZ psu, 2 EVGA 2 gig 560's. Well suffice it to say I love the rig except for the proc. Great cpu, just not for gaming. It bottlenecks the hell out of my video cards. I have already ordered an I7 2600K. Was wondering any suggestions on a MOBO, and any tips on switching the mobo and cpu out on a hard drive that already has on OS installed on it, windows 7. Also I'll have to buy a new OS since I bought an OEM of win.7 and it's pinned to the mobo . I just can't live with the 100 dollar proc. limiting my 450$ worth of video cards.... So any tips on what to do or lookout for would be greatly apreciated.

 

[tlmck]

Get a good ASUS or Gigabyte z68 motherboard, preferably with PCIe 3.0 card slots for future upgrade ability. this is a highly rated one. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131790

 

[Lokordd]

I just ordered an ASUS MOBO, a level below this one. No PCI 3.0 but i will prolly be using these cards till my proc dies, and this mobo was 40 bucks cheaper. I was going to go gigabyte again but it seems the intel boards have had a bad batch or something, lots of bad reviews as of late. Any idea if there is anything i should look out for when installing? or should I just be able to plug and play with my new proc and mobo?

 

[tlmck]

I would back up your data and do a clean install, especially since you are changing architectures. I do not know about reusing the same copy of Windows though. Used to be you could call them up and tell them you upgraded the CPU and mobo and they would just give you a new key. I do not know about Win 7.

I know up to and including Vista, if it had been a year or so since the last install, you could do a new install on different hardware and it would accept the old product key. It would disable the old system though once it booted and connected to the internet.

 

[Lokordd]

Ok, here is a noob question... How do I backup my system and do a clean install? BTW thank you for the help and advice!

 

[Kane65]

Crap, has windows changed their policy? I am replacing enough parts that I'm going to get the invalid windows notification if I do a fresh install. If I do a fresh install with old windows still on the hard drive am I safe?

 

[tlmck]

Backing up your system largely depends on where you keep your data. I keep all mine in the library folders(images, movies, documents, downloads, etc...) For me, backing up is a simple matter of plugging in my external hard drive, and dragging the "libraries" icon over. It will ask me if I want to overwrite anything and I answer no. This way it will only copy over new files.

If you wanted to also backup your various settings and tweaks you have done to Windows, I would suggest using something like Windows Backup. there are also various other programs out there to do this so feel free to check around.

As far as doing a clean install, you would do a normal install the same way you installed it to the hard drive in the first place. When I do such things, I normally zero out the drive with something like Darik's Boot and Nuke. This basically destroys all the old data so you do not have any stray Windows data from the old install to potentially mess up the new one.

The drive maker's also have their own brand of this type software available for free download. They are generally faster than Darik's which itself can take several hours. When using Darik's, I just set it to run overnight and it's done when I get up.

You could do a normal format, but that does not completely wipe the drive. Essentially what you are trying to accomplish is like installing to a new hard drive.