Upgrading CPU and MoBo questions

[andrewace15]

Hello everyone,

 

So quick backstory: I bought a gaming PC from newegg about 4 years ago and it had basic stuff and recently i decided to learn about adding new PC components and so i recently added a new graphics card, psu, and cpu cooler 

 

Current set-up:

CPU: AMD FX-6300

GPU: EVGA GTX 970

PSU: Thermaltake 600w 

Cooler: Hyper Evo 212

MoBo: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 (Thats all i could gather from what it says on the motherboard itself) 

 

But unfortunately, since i bought it pre-built from newegg and the specifications were kinda vague, i dont know the model for the HDD or the RAM (although its 16GB)

 

It appears to be the general consensus of the pc gaming community that the 970 pairs really well the an Intel i5 processor, so i was thinking about upgrading to that

 

Since its my first time doing this i had a few questions:

 

1) If i swap out the motherboard and the processor will my Operating system and my data on my HDD be fine? will everything just transfer over fine? (im running windows 10)

2) if not, would it protect my data if i backed everything onto an external hard drive first? or is everything going to be deleted and i have to buy windows 10?

3) If i game on one monitor, at 1080p 60fps, is it really necessary to go through this financially costly endeavor? or if i overclock the one i have now, will that suffice for the time being?  

 

Thank you to anyone that reads this, and if you could help me out, that would be greatly appreciated 

[comicsansms]

Get a Z97 motherboard and i5 4690k.

 

You may need to reinstall windows, or reactivate it, since it is a completely different CPU and Motherboard.

Your data should be fine!

 

BTW, what was your old GPU?

[andrewace15]

Get a Z97 motherboard and i5 4690k.

 

You may need to reinstall windows, or reactivate it, since it is a completely different CPU and Motherboard.

Your data should be fine!

 

BTW, what was your old GPU?

 

My old GPU was a MSI GT 630 hahaha it did fine a guess but now i see the light hahaha 

 

Thank you! 

[-rascal-]

@Comic_Sans_MS is bang on.

 

Re-installing the OS is not completely necessary, but I would advise doing it. Some of the registries and Windows system files take the hardware ID / information of the motherboard during the Windows installation process. When you swap out the motherboard, the register values and such no longer match. In most cases it does not cause any severe issues, but it does not mean you are 100% safe. I had ran into those issues in the past -- uncommon, but CAN happen.

 

CPU-Z should be able to detect the make (brand) and model of your Memory.

"Memory" tab shows the Memory capacity, DRAM frequency (actual speed, not effective), and timings

"SPD" tab shows the Manufacturer (i.e. Corsair), Part Number (model), and JEDEC and XMP timings programmed into the Memory sticks.

 

Spoiler

Screen capture on the left: 1070 MHz actual ~= DDR3 2133 MHz effective. 8GB installed. 9-11-11-28-38 timings.

Screen capture on the right: 4GB Memory sticks (4GB X 2). Manufactuer is G.Skill. Model/Part Number is F3-17000CL11-4GBXL. All the JEDEC and XMP timings and voltage.

[Dabombinable]

@Comic_Sans_MS is bang on.

 

Re-installing the OS is not completely necessary, but I would advise doing it. Some of the registries and Windows system files take the hardware ID / information of the motherboard during the Windows installation process. When you swap out the motherboard, the register values and such no longer match. In most cases it does not cause any severe issues, but it does not mean you are 100% safe. I had ran into those issues in the past -- uncommon, but CAN happen.

 

CPU-Z should be able to detect the make (brand) and model of your Memory.

"Memory" tab shows the Memory capacity, DRAM frequency (actual speed, not effective), and timings

"SPD" tab shows the Manufacturer (i.e. Corsair), Part Number (model), and JEDEC and XMP timings programmed into the Memory sticks.

 

Spoiler

Screen capture on the left: 1070 MHz actual = DDR3 2133 MHz effective. 8GB installed. 9-11-11-28-38 timings.

Screen capture on the right: 4GB Memory sticks (4GB X 2). Manufactuer is G.Skill. Model/Part Number is F3-17000CL11-4GBXL. All the JEDEC and XMP timings and voltage.

Windows 7 in my experience can be a bit of a pain in the ass when you change motherboards after activating it-and even sometimes before activation. The most common symptom of the 'lockdown' to a specific motherboard is a BSOD loop-with the BSOD not popping up long enough for you to get any information off it.

[Nena Trinity]

Hello everyone,

 

So quick backstory: I bought a gaming PC from newegg about 4 years ago and it had basic stuff and recently i decided to learn about adding new PC components and so i recently added a new graphics card, psu, and cpu cooler 

 

Current set-up:

CPU: AMD FX-6300

GPU: EVGA GTX 970

PSU: Thermaltake 600w 

Cooler: Hyper Evo 212

MoBo: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 (Thats all i could gather from what it says on the motherboard itself) 

 

But unfortunately, since i bought it pre-built from newegg and the specifications were kinda vague, i dont know the model for the HDD or the RAM (although its 16GB)

 

It appears to be the general consensus of the pc gaming community that the 970 pairs really well the an Intel i5 processor, so i was thinking about upgrading to that

 

Since its my first time doing this i had a few questions:

 

1) If i swap out the motherboard and the processor will my Operating system and my data on my HDD be fine? will everything just transfer over fine? (im running windows 10)

2) if not, would it protect my data if i backed everything onto an external hard drive first? or is everything going to be deleted and i have to buy windows 10?

3) If i game on one monitor, at 1080p 60fps, is it really necessary to go through this financially costly endeavor? or if i overclock the one i have now, will that suffice for the time being?  

 

Thank you to anyone that reads this, and if you could help me out, that would be greatly appreciated 

If your motherboard is UEFI then no you wont have to re-install just get a new chipset driver...

Also I think a i5 is needed if you aim for 144FPS gaming on a 60Hz I personally do not think it is needed but some think it is, mostly depends on what you feel!

I would wait for 7th gen Intel or Zen to see what they have to offer first!