Gaming rig mobo/cpu/gpu upgrade - should I wipe the disk first or just remove drivers?

[tonechild2000]

Hi all,

So I'm working on a low budget and also I'm trying to play me some DOOM 2016! My current PC has a first generation i7, 32gb ddr3, and an old radeon HD card - honestly I can't remember exactly how old this stuff is, but I'm thinking around 6 years or so??

So without extensive research it looks like the old PSU, RAM, and SSD hard disks will fit with the upgrade. If anything is suspect it would be the psu/ram, since the ssd hard disks are relatively new. The psu is old but its like a 1200 watt modular ULTRA with lifetime warranty (went overkill back in the day) so I figure it should be OK. The ram though, I might have to get me some new ram (its DDR3 but I need to double-check the MHZ I think)

So I have a copy of windows 8.1 retail and windows 10 installed on the hard disk.

I'm just wondering, if I swap out the hardware and fire this up how will windows react? I imagine the resolution will drop to something really low for one.

What would be easier? Wiping the hard disk and fresh install 8.1 then upgrade to 10 --OR-- swapping hardware before uninstalling AMD catalyist drivers. I'm just not sure if I'm 100% comfortable with NOT wiping because I cannot remember all of the drivers that are installed on the PC, I could just look through and uninstall everything that looks like its for the mobo and driver i guess...

Sorry to ramble, but what do you think would be easier, assuming there's nothing important on the computer to back up (there isnt) - wiping the hard disk and fresh install or removing drivers ?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

anytime i change motherboards i always format the OS drive. can lead to serious conflicts, driver and other problems.

download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from MS and install anew.

According to Gabriel Aul, Vice President of Engineering for the Windows & Devices group at Microsoft, you can then contact support from within Windows 10, explain the situation, and they’ll activate Windows 10 for you.
or reinstall Windows 8 with serial and re-upgrade by running the install media from within Windows 8 where 10 will automatically be activated.

 

[smorizio]

from the last windows 10 iso that was dropped if you have a windows 7/8 key you can register windows 10 with a windows 7/8 key. if your ddr3 ram is 1333 or faster use cpu-z to read it then go with a haswell cpu and mb. the speed diff between haswell and skylake is not that much. if you can get a micro center combo deal on cpu and mb then go with kurby lake that dropping in a few weeks. with older power supply they have an issue if the cpu haswell or newer goes into low power c states. the power supply 12v rails cant go that low of output. check to see if your is haswell ready or not. if not you cant put your pc to sleep with the old power supply. on gpu there the newer nvidia that are dropping and the newer amd. if you can wait till end of june/july for both to come out and then buy the one thta fit your build funds.

 

[tonechild2000]

from the last windows 10 iso that was dropped if you have a windows 7/8 key you can register windows 10 with a windows 7/8 key. if your ddr3 ram is 1333 or faster use cpu-z to read it then go with a haswell cpu and mb. the speed diff between haswell and skylake is not that much. if you can get a micro center combo deal on cpu and mb then go with kurby lake that dropping in a few weeks. with older power supply they have an issue if the cpu haswell or newer goes into low power c states. the power supply 12v rails cant go that low of output. check to see if your is haswell ready or not. if not you cant put your pc to sleep with the old power supply. on gpu there the newer nvidia that are dropping and the newer amd. if you can wait till end of june/july for both to come out and then buy the one thta fit your build funds.

Thanks! I was actually planning on buying FX8320E mobo combo and GTX 960 combo at microcenter this friday, but if there is a price drop coming in june I might wait! I am jonsing to play doom though 😉

I wasn't going to get a haswell though, I was looking at an MSI mobo that has 4.5 stars on microcenter, I cant remember what it was called and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to it or not so I wont for now. The PSU point you brought up I haven't thought about, but I dont want to spend too much, I was thinking of getting a high quality but cheap 500W one if I needed to.

 

[tonechild2000]

anytime i change motherboards i always format the OS drive. can lead to serious conflicts, driver and other problems.

download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from MS and install anew.

According to Gabriel Aul, Vice President of Engineering for the Windows & Devices group at Microsoft, you can then contact support from within Windows 10, explain the situation, and they’ll activate Windows 10 for you.
or reinstall Windows 8 with serial and re-upgrade by running the install media from within Windows 8 where 10 will automatically be activated.

Thanks for the link, I will definitely reinstall the windows.