Upgrading Gaming PC Advice

[SonickPlauge]

my system as is:
Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3P LGA775 socket.
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
Geforce GTX260
4gb RAM
Corsair 650w

So im upgrading to a AMD FX8320 with an ASUS M5A99X Evo R2.0

So FOR NOW i'm going to be using all my original components with this hardware. (besides the cpu and motherboard)

I know i'm not going to see much out of my gtx260 but im fine with that for now. What i need to know is what do i do after i install my components. Once i turn on the computer do i go into the bios and mess with that? i know its now as easy and installing your components turning on the pc and having it ready to go. This is going to be my second pc build you can say. So i just want to make sure i have everything up and running. The Asus motherboard has Windows 8 Ready - Assured Compatibility. Can you guys tell me what that means.
So i plan on using the same Harddrive as well so i don't know if i need to format the hdd or what? I need advice on what i need to do to have everything running great. I don't need advice on what else i need to upgrade. Unless its the HDD. Your guy's advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[ACTechy]

You're going to need to reinstall your operating system (as long as you have a retail version, you'll be set), so be prepared for that.

Once you turn your machine on and it posts, then you can throw the OS disk in, boot from disk and start installing Windows. After that you need to install important drivers from the motherboard driver disk (network, USB, etc).

"Assured compatibility" just means it will have no problems running Windows 8, as opposed to 7.

 

[SonickPlauge]

Ok yes i have a windows 7 disc. So once i install the operating system will everything be ready to go beside updating the drivers? I dont have to go and back up any files or get a new harddrive right?

 

[ACTechy]

Ok yes i have a windows 7 disc. So once i install the operating system will everything be ready to go beside updating the drivers? I dont have to go and back up any files or get a new harddrive right?

When you install the OS, it's going to format your hard drive, so yes, you need to back up any files you want to some other drive. Then when the OS is installed, you can transfer your files back to the OS disk.