Question First time CPU/Motherboard upgrade

[Lasterrett]

I'm upgrading from an i7-7700k to a AMD R9 3900x tomorrow and I just need some people who have been there done that to help me out. I have Gigabyte 570x wifi motherboard coming in with the chip as well. I'm not concerned about putting it all together per say because youtube can pretty much walk you through anything. I'm nervous about the boot up. I have 2 samsung evo SSD's, Samsung M.2 drive and one HDD. My OS is on one of the SSD's but I have a 4th gen Nvme coming in tomorrow and I was thinking I should just put the OS only on that drive to eliminate issues during boot up but I'm not sure. I see a lot of people saying a fresh install is best but I don't want to lose any of my games and things on my other SSD's. Also is there anything in the bios that I should mess with? I have 2 16gb Ram sticks at 3200 hz. I'm learning the PC ways still so I'm trying not to sound ignorant. Any prep before on my intel setup that I need to do? I've already got my product key and my Microsoft account all good to go on my end. Anything I need to delete in my files or backup? I'm just trying to cover as many tracks as posiple because if I do run into a problem I have no experience in troubleshooting as I've never been in this position before. The more knowledge I can get on the issues the better I'll feel about taking on this task. I appreciate any help.

 

[Why_Me]

I'm upgrading from an i7-7700k to a AMD R9 3900x tomorrow and I just need some people who have been there done that to help me out. I have Gigabyte 570x wifi motherboard coming in with the chip as well. I'm not concerned about putting it all together per say because youtube can pretty much walk you through anything. I'm nervous about the boot up. I have 2 samsung evo SSD's, Samsung M.2 drive and one HDD. My OS is on one of the SSD's but I have a 4th gen Nvme coming in tomorrow and I was thinking I should just put the OS only on that drive to eliminate issues during boot up but I'm not sure. I see a lot of people saying a fresh install is best but I don't want to lose any of my games and things on my other SSD's. Also is there anything in the bios that I should mess with? I have 2 16gb Ram sticks at 3200 hz. I'm learning the PC ways still so I'm trying not to sound ignorant. Any prep before on my intel setup that I need to do? I've already got my product key and my Microsoft account all good to go on my end. Anything I need to delete in my files or backup? I'm just trying to cover as many tracks as posiple because if I do run into a problem I have no experience in troubleshooting as I've never been in this position before. The more knowledge I can get on the issues the better I'll feel about taking on this task. I appreciate any help.

What's the primary purpose(s) of your build ... because if this build is meant for gaming then you don't want the 3700x.

 

[Lasterrett]

What's the primary purpose(s) of your build ... because if this build is meant for gaming then you don't want the 3700x.

it is for gaming and other things as well. I looked at enough benchmarks and the difference between the 3900x and the i9-9900k wasn't enough for me. I wanted to switch to AMD to try something different. I canceled the order once I did more research and seen the i9 was better for gaming but reordered the ryzen once I seen the difference in a couple frames in truth isn't noticeable to our eyes anyway.

 

[Why_Me]

it is for gaming and other things as well. I looked at enough benchmarks and the difference between the 3900x and the i9-9900k wasn't enough for me. I wanted to switch to AMD to try something different. I canceled the order once I did more research and seen the i9 was better for gaming but reordered the ryzen once I seen the difference in a couple frames in truth isn't noticeable to our eyes anyway.

If you play any First Person Shooter games then it's all about smoothness of play RE Frames Per Second. The 3900x goes for nearly $500 here in the US yet gets beat like a rented mule by the $175 i5 11400F and the $300 Ryzen 5600x. I dare you to find the 3900x beating either of those cpu's in a game other than maybe the new version of MS Flight Simulator. If you're dead set on going AMD then look at the 5600x/5800x paired with 3600Mhz RAM.

 

[Lasterrett]

If you play any First Person Shooter games then it's all about smoothness of play RE Frames Per Second. The 3900x goes for nearly $500 here in the US yet gets beat like a rented mule by the $175 i5 11400F and the $300 Ryzen 5600x. I dare you to find the 3900x beating either of those cpu's in a game other than maybe the new version of MS Flight Simulator. If you're dead set on going AMD then look at the 5600x/5800x paired with 3600Mhz RAM.

To late for that unfortunately. The deed as been done.

 

[USAFRet]

I have 2 samsung evo SSD's, Samsung M.2 drive and one HDD. My OS is on one of the SSD's but I have a 4th gen Nvme coming in tomorrow and I was thinking I should just put the OS only on that drive to eliminate issues during boot up but I'm not sure. I see a lot of people saying a fresh install is best but I don't want to lose any of my games and things on my other SSD's

For this level of hardware change, you NEED to do a full OS reinstall. This is not an option.
OS and everything else.

 

[Lasterrett]

For this level of hardware change, you NEED to do a full OS reinstall. This is not an option.
OS and everything else.

Not even my ssd’s will transfer over after the full OS reinstall?

 

[USAFRet]

Not even my ssd’s will transfer over after the full OS reinstall?

Non-OS drives, probably no problem.
Depends on exactly what is on them.

But the OS and ALL the software on it....reinstall.

 

[Lasterrett]

Non-OS drives, probably no problem.
Depends on exactly what is on them.

But the OS and ALL the software on it....reinstall.

I’ll save my new Nvme for that fresh install then. Will I need a flash drive to boot?

 

[USAFRet]

Give us a clear description of what is on each drive, and we can probably recommend a way forward.

 

[USAFRet]

I’ll save my new Nvme for that fresh install then. Will I need a flash drive to boot?

Yes, 8GB or larger.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

Additionally:
For the OS activation, read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

 

[Lasterrett]

Yes, 8GB or larger.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

Additionally:
For the OS activation, read and do this before you change any parts:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/20530/windows-10-reactivating-after-hardware-change

Already got my product key and verified my Microsoft account so I’m good on that end

 

[Lasterrett]

Give us a clear description of what is on each drive, and we can probably recommend a way forward.

I have a HDD with just photos and videos and just lose ended stuff on it. My SSD’s have all my games on it and one ssd has my windows on it. Is there anyway to get rid of windows and just have my games and data left?

 

[USAFRet]

I have a HDD with just photos and videos and just lose ended stuff on it. My SSD’s have all my games on it and one ssd has my windows on it. Is there anyway to get rid of windows and just have my games and data left?

The HDD is fine.

The other drives...not so much.

What platform games are these?
Hopefully Steam...?

 

[Lasterrett]

The HDD is fine.

The other drives...not so much.

What platform games are these?
Hopefully Steam...?

Mostly steam. But have some battle.net, rockstar and epic games

 

[USAFRet]

Mostly steam. But have some battle.net, rockstar and epic games

Those are also mostly fine.

Ideally, though....you move that game data to some other drive (the HDD?) temporarily.
Then, wipe that drive completely. All partitions.
Then, move that data back.
Then, tell the NEW Steam/Epic client where those game installs are.


So, new OS install.
And all your applications, drivers, etc.
Including a new Steam/Epic client.

 

[Lasterrett]

Those are also mostly fine.

Ideally, though....you move that game data to some other drive (the HDD?) temporarily.
Then, wipe that drive completely. All partitions.
Then, move that data back.
Then, tell the NEW Steam/Epic client where those game installs are.


So, new OS install.
And all your applications, drivers, etc.
Including a new Steam/Epic client.

Why would I want to move them to the HDD the SSD have smarter technology in them from my understanding and the new motherboard will just in a perfect world recognize this when put in?

 

[USAFRet]

Why would I want to move them to the HDD the SSD have smarter technology in them from my understanding and the new motherboard will just in a perfect world recognize this when put in?

That drive currently has the old OS on it, correct?

That is to have that data in a safe place, while you remove ALL the stuff from that drive.
Then move it back.

 

[Lasterrett]

That drive currently has the old OS on it, correct?

That is to have that data in a safe place, while you remove ALL the stuff from that drive.
Then move it back.

Copy that makes sense. When would I need to wipe the OS off the drive? Obviously after everything is moved off that drive but right before I shut my computer down for the swap?

 

[USAFRet]

Copy that makes sense. When would I need to wipe the OS off the drive? Obviously after everything is moved off that drive but right before I shut my computer down for the swap?

After.
You can't remove that OS while it is still running.

Move your desired data OFF the current OS drive, to the HDD (or elsewhere)
Install the OS on the drive you desire, with ONLY that drive connected.

Later, reconnect the others.
Wipe the old OS drive completely.
Then, move the data around as desired.

 

[Lasterrett]

After.
You can't remove that OS while it is still running.

Move your desired data OFF the current OS drive, to the HDD (or elsewhere)
Install the OS on the drive you desire, with ONLY that drive connected.

Later, reconnect the others.
Wipe the old OS drive completely.
Then, move the data around as desired.

Sounds good dude. Now I just need to get windows on an flash drive. Once I boot up the new computer with the flash drive do I need to immediately go into bios? Or will windows allocate it onto the new Nvme drive?

 

[USAFRet]

Sounds good dude. Now I just need to get windows on an flash drive. Once I boot up the new computer with the flash drive do I need to immediately go into bios? Or will windows allocate it onto the new Nvme drive?

This (and linked above) walks you trough the whole OS install.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[sonofjesse]

Not my first preference, but most likely you can move it over wholesale and it will just work. I have seen quite a few builds that way, no issues even from intel to amd.

Now my preference is fresh install of windows 10 21h1 on the fastest NVME you got.

 

[Lasterrett]

Not my first preference, but most likely you can move it over wholesale and it will just work. I have seen quite a few builds that way, no issues even from intel to amd.

Now my preference is fresh install of windows 10 21h1 on the fastest NVME you got.

that's what I'm gonna do I just don't want to lose my games on my other ssds that don't have my OS on them. Shouldnt be a problem but I have slow internet and losing all my games could be a pretty <Mod Edit> situation for me.

 

[alexbirdie]

Look at my signature.

My son and me do have the identical systems since Jan. 2020, and both systems are running without a glitch, simply rockstable. He is a hardcore-gamer and really good, and I am a casual gamer. If you combine your 3900x with a RTX3070 or higher GPU, you should be very pleased with that. For sure, 5900x would be faster, but do you really need that ?