Changing MSI Motherboards

[Terminator_]

Changing my motherboard from a MSI H110M Pro-VD to a MSI Z170A Tomahawk. Is there anything I need to note or do when I am changing them? Thanks

 

[vapour]

Change MB -> reinstall OS. Back up your data before you reinstall

 

[Barty1884]

What are you looking to achieve by making the change? Outside of overclocking, RAID or (potentially) SLI, you're not going to gain much from the change.

If you just need to replace, then sure. You really should reinstall your OS though, or at the very least use the "refresh" functionality - make sure you've tied your Windows 10 install to a MS account before making the change though.

 

[Terminator_]

@Barty1884 I also bought a new CPU for overclocking and I do plan on using Crossfire GPUs. Also bought it since it was reduced by a lot.
With the refresh functionality do you mean the "Rest this PC" windows 10 provides in its settings?

 

[Barty1884]

At a minimum, yes - but a clean install is highly recommended.

With a change to both the CPU and motherboard though, it may not activate.
Windows 10 allows "significant hardware change(s)", but they do not expressly define what that is.

Realistically, it's a new CPU + Mobo combo may well go beyond a hardware "change"..... but the only way to know is to try.

The Windows 10 activation troubleshooter would allow you to talk to MS, who may force an activation for you, if it doesn't do so automatically.

 

[Terminator_]

@Barty1884 I did also check with micro soft (with a help chat) if changing the motherboard would require a reset, they said no, but I'd understand why it would be better. A clean install is harder for me to do at the moment since I have no access to a external storage I could use as a bootable USB, and with the reset they provide at least would have to backup everything, which I can't even do

 

[vapour]

Clean install -> no issue
reset -> expect potential weird issue/crash/BSOD
Your call