motherboard Motherboard Compatibility

[chezzisdab]

Hello,

 

My current motherboard is not working and I'm trying to get my hands on a new one. Since the rest of my pc is working fine I'm trying to find a motherboard that will work with my current setup. The problem is that I'm not entirely sure which one to get. I'm afraid that the BIOS wont work with my CPU.

 

My pc parts are as following:

 

CPU: i5 6600K

GPU: ASUS Geforce GTX 970 3gb

RAM: Corsair 2x8gb 2133mhz

COOLER: be quiet! Pure Rock

 

I appreciate all the help! 

 

Thanks, James.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Any Z170 or Z270 board will work.

[chezzisdab]

Thanks for the quick answer!

 

I have another question relating the motherboard. I'm assuming since I'm getting a new motherboard, am i going to have to reinstall windows 10? I still have the product key, and if so will the key still work if I use it once more?

 

Weird question, but since the windows is already downloaded on my harddrive. Will it be duplicated or what exactly happens when I reinstall.

 

Thanks!

 

[Livin]

4 hours ago, chezzisdab said:

Thanks for the quick answer!

 

I have another question relating the motherboard. I'm assuming since I'm getting a new motherboard, am i going to have to reinstall windows 10? I still have the product key, and if so will the key still work if I use it once more? 

 

Weird question, but since the windows is already downloaded on my harddrive. Will it be duplicated or what exactly happens when I reinstall.

 

Thanks!

 

If you're switching to a new motherboard your Windows install may just fire up if you let it try and boot, especially if you're sticking to the same generation chipset.  You may get some funny driver problems though so generally I'd recommend a fresh install regardless.

 

Windows will definitely deactivate after a motherboard swap.  It may not change the activation status until you've rebooted once or twice, so don't get excited if you see it activated on first boot.  Depending on your Windows 10 license (retail box vs. OEM) it may or may not be eligible to reactivate using the new hardware.  Worst case you can punch in the code and give it a try, if it doesn't activate no harm done.  This applies on moving over your existing install or a fresh install.

 

As for BIOS compatibility, it shouldn't be an issue with Z170 or Z270 boards.  Your chip came out with the Z170 chipset and should be supported from day 1 on both that Z270 (which came out with the 7th gen Kaby Lake processors).