Hello all,
I am upgrading some of my PC hardware soon and I plan to install a fresh copy of Windows 10, but I have some questions first.
Namely, I am upgrading the motherboard, cpu, and gpu, and I currently have Windows 7 installed on my boot drive. My current hardware is as follows:
ASRock Z97 Extreme4 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-4670K Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.4 GHZ
MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
I'm upgrading to the following:
Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 2-Way SLI ATX DDR4 Motherboards GA-Z170X-Gaming 7
Intel Boxed Core I7-6700 FC-LGA14C 3.40 GHz 8 M
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070
I've built a PC from scratch before, but I've never upgraded a motherboard and CPU. Since I will be getting rid of Windows 7 in favor of Windows 10, I presume that a clean install would be best, right? Should I format my current boot drive prior to swapping out the hardware, or should I attempt that after installing the new components? I've read a few guides that suggest updating all drivers, and others that suggest uninstalling the current motherboard software and drivers--though I imagine those suggestions are moot if I format the drive first.
Also, is there anything I should worry about regarding the second HDD (the one I use to install software and personal data)? I will make an image of it for backup, but otherwise, I suspect I can just leave it be?
Essentially, I want windows 10 to install as smoothly as possible. I'm not sure if I should just keep the boot drive intact and attempt to install the copy of Windows 10 over the old Windows 7 or not though.
Thanks for any help!
I am upgrading some of my PC hardware soon and I plan to install a fresh copy of Windows 10, but I have some questions first.
Namely, I am upgrading the motherboard, cpu, and gpu, and I currently have Windows 7 installed on my boot drive. My current hardware is as follows:
ASRock Z97 Extreme4 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-4670K Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.4 GHZ
MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760
I'm upgrading to the following:
Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 2-Way SLI ATX DDR4 Motherboards GA-Z170X-Gaming 7
Intel Boxed Core I7-6700 FC-LGA14C 3.40 GHz 8 M
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1070
I've built a PC from scratch before, but I've never upgraded a motherboard and CPU. Since I will be getting rid of Windows 7 in favor of Windows 10, I presume that a clean install would be best, right? Should I format my current boot drive prior to swapping out the hardware, or should I attempt that after installing the new components? I've read a few guides that suggest updating all drivers, and others that suggest uninstalling the current motherboard software and drivers--though I imagine those suggestions are moot if I format the drive first.
Also, is there anything I should worry about regarding the second HDD (the one I use to install software and personal data)? I will make an image of it for backup, but otherwise, I suspect I can just leave it be?
Essentially, I want windows 10 to install as smoothly as possible. I'm not sure if I should just keep the boot drive intact and attempt to install the copy of Windows 10 over the old Windows 7 or not though.
Thanks for any help!