AMD to Intel

[TheCaptain53]

... I may have made a mistake.

After having a general browse on eBay, I found a new Intel i5-4690K, after a few back and forths, I bought it for £170.
After calling myself an idiot for buying such an expensive thing on a whim, I looked onward.

I'm currently running an AMD, so I'll have to change my motherboard. What Z97 boards do you guys recommend? Something that's not too expensive, but is relatively good for overclocking. I won't be overclocking immediately as I'm only running a GTX 960.

My other concern as that I think I may have to reinstall my OS because I've got a new motherboard and CPU. Am I correct? Or will data rich hard drives just work with the new setup?

[ZetZet]

There you go. Cheap, good.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z97p

[Aniallation]

I'm currently running an AMD, so I'll have to change my motherboard. What Z97 boards do you guys recommend? Something that's not too expensive, but is relatively good for overclocking. I won't be overclocking immediately as I'm only running a GTX 960.

My other concern as that I think I may have to reinstall my OS because I've got a new motherboard and CPU. Am I correct? Or will data rich hard drives just work with the new setup?

You'll have to reinstall Windows going from AMD to Intel (or vice versa). A great motherboard option for the money is the MSI Z97 G45 Gaming. However if you don't like red, we can pick one in another color for you.

[incarnate]

MSI PC Mate and Z97-A are great choices that are easy on the pocket. I prefer Asus to MSI personally and I can attest to the awesomeness of the Z97-A, but the MSI PC Mate isn't a bad choice either. Honestly motherboards aren't critical to intel builds like they are with AMD. You pay more for features, not stability improvements.

 

You will need to reinstall windows or you'll need to do some general trickery with drivers and uninstalling old hardware in device manager to get it to work without reinstalling, but i'd recommend reinstalling anyway, but that's just me.

[Lawliet93]

Well, almost any Z97 board will be good enough for you (i suppose on a tight budget), put a nice cooler (cooler master hyper 212) on the i5, overclock it to 4,2GHz+ and forget about it for several years.

 

P.S.: Nice buy, I myself found an i5 2500k for 120 euros and a z68 board for 50.

[TheCaptain53]

MSI PC Mate and Z97-A are great choices that are easy on the pocket. I prefer Asus to MSI personally and I can attest to the awesomeness of the Z97-A, but the MSI PC Mate isn't a bad choice either. Honestly motherboards aren't critical to intel builds like they are with AMD. You pay more for features, not stability improvements.

 

You will need to reinstall windows or you'll need to do some general trickery with drivers and uninstalling old hardware in device manager to get it to work without reinstalling, but i'd recommend reinstalling anyway, but that's just me.

Any online guides on how to do this? Would rather not reinstall Windows as I have downloaded a lot of games.

 

 

Well, almost any Z97 board will be good enough for you (i suppose on a tight budget), put a nice cooler (cooler master hyper 212) on the i5, overclock it to 4,2GHz+ and forget about it for several years.

 

P.S.: Nice buy, I myself found an i5 2500k for 120 euros and a z68 board for 50.

I've got a Cooler Master TX3 EVO due to space restrictions, otherwise I would have gotten the 212 EVO.

Thanks for the help guys. What features would I find on higher end boards as opposed to the lower end ones?

[Lawliet93]

Any online guides on how to do this? Would rather not reinstall Windows as I have downloaded a lot of games.

 

 

I've got a Cooler Master TX3 EVO due to space restrictions, otherwise I would have gotten the 212 EVO.

Thanks for the help guys. What features would I find on higher end boards as opposed to the lower end ones?

M.2. SSD, wifi, usb 3.1, more fans, better power delivery, etc... its not that big of a deal, especially if you are budget restricted.

 

I happen to have the same cooler, using it with two fans in push-pull, my i5 is running at 4,2GHz and never goes above 62°C, you might get slightly higher temperatures, due to haswell being hotter than Sandy Bridge.

[TheCaptain53]

M.2. SSD, wifi, usb 3.1, more fans, better power delivery, etc... its not that big of a deal, especially if you are budget restricted.

 

I happen to have the same cooler, using it with two fans in push-pull, my i5 is running at 4,2GHz and never goes above 62°C, you might get slightly higher temperatures, due to haswell being hotter than Sandy Bridge.

I already have an SSD for my OS, and I'm not enthusiast, so I don't think I'll benefit from an M.2 SSD. I already have a WiFi card and I never use USB drives, so 3.1 is irrelevant to me. However, that better power delivery sounds important.

I'm not totally restricted, but I also don't want to spend a huge amount.

I also think I'll just reinstall my OS. Would make more sense so I don't have the ballache of conflicting drivers down the road.

[Lawliet93]

I already have an SSD for my OS, and I'm not enthusiast, so I don't think I'll benefit from an M.2 SSD. I already have a WiFi card and I never use USB drives, so 3.1 is irrelevant to me. However, that better power delivery sounds important.

I'm not totally restricted, but I also don't want to spend a huge amount.

I also think I'll just reinstall my OS. Would make more sense so I don't have the ballache of conflicting drivers down the road.

It is not worth it... nit for you, Slick did a nice video series about z97 boards for around 100 dollars, get the one, that suits you the best:

[incarnate]

I already have an SSD for my OS, and I'm not enthusiast, so I don't think I'll benefit from an M.2 SSD. I already have a WiFi card and I never use USB drives, so 3.1 is irrelevant to me. However, that better power delivery sounds important.

I'm not totally restricted, but I also don't want to spend a huge amount.

I also think I'll just reinstall my OS. Would make more sense so I don't have the ballache of conflicting drivers down the road.

 

honestly, with a tx3, you will hit a thermal wall before a power wall anyway. if you are really concerned with power delivery, then the z97-A from Asus is a good choice, it is robust enough for all but the most extreme overclocking. still with a tx3 evo you'll run into temp problems before you push the vrms hard enough to make power delivery a concern.

 

Honestly going with a fresh install of windows is better, less prep before the upgrade, no chance of conflicting drivers or registry errors etc... 

[TheCaptain53]

honestly, with a tx3, you will hit a thermal wall before a power wall anyway. if you are really concerned with power delivery, then the z97-A from Asus is a good choice, it is robust enough for all but the most extreme overclocking. still with a tx3 evo you'll run into temp problems before you push the vrms hard enough to make power delivery a concern.

 

Honestly going with a fresh install of windows is better, less prep before the upgrade, no chance of conflicting drivers or registry errors etc... 

I wasn't going to put a massive overclock in anyway - maybe +0.4GHz. I shouldn't get huge rises in temp with that overclock. I won't even need a huge one with somehting like a GTX 970. I will be moving to watercooling before putting in a BIG overclock.

[TheCaptain53]

What about this? The MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intelsocket1150/z97chipsetatx/z97sslikraitedition.html

[CalumGiff]

... I may have made a mistake.

After having a general browse on eBay, I found a new Intel i5-4690K, after a few back and forths, I bought it for £170.

After calling myself an idiot for buying such an expensive thing on a whim, I looked onward.

I'm currently running an AMD, so I'll have to change my motherboard. What Z97 boards do you guys recommend? Something that's not too expensive, but is relatively good for overclocking. I won't be overclocking immediately as I'm only running a GTX 960.

My other concern as that I think I may have to reinstall my OS because I've got a new motherboard and CPU. Am I correct? Or will data rich hard drives just work with the new setup?

it really comes down to how much money you have/ are willing to spend, I myself bough a 90 pounds MSI gaming 3 motherboard for my 4690k because it was aesthetically pleasing and fit in with my build motif. But tbh any half decent z97 board will do if its from a reputable brand eg asus, gigabyte or msi