[SOLVED] Installing new CPU (with a different brand), what do I need to know?

[Elementalfury]

I'm switching from my old i5-4690k to a new Ryzen 9 3900x (once they come back in stock), so what do I need to do/know throughout, before, and after the switch? Any advice is welcomed!

 

[AllanGH]

Well, you will need a motherboard that supports AMD processors....

 

[Elementalfury]

Well, you will need a motherboard that supports AMD processors....

Of course, ordering the a Gigabyte Aorus Pro x570 combo Newegg's selling (again, once it comes back in stock).

 

[sdedu77]

First of all, whatever motherboard you currently have won't be compatible with the new CPU. There are mb sockets that support Intel or AMD cpu's, not both. Second, Intel measures TDP at base clock while AMD at boost clock. i5-4690k has a TDP of 88w and Ryzen 9 3900x 105w. Though a 17w difference, in a real case scenario they would be quite closer. This means that your power supply should hande it just fine.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Also, you will need ddr4 ram. At least in a 2 stick config at 3600mhz.

 

[AllanGH]

...ordering the a Gigabyte Aorus Pro x570 combo...

LOL...OK. You didn't say as much, initially, so I felt it merited at least a mention.

Just check the QVL published by Gigabyte for that MB, and restrict your component selections (mainly memory) to what has been tested with that MB. That will assure you that you have the best chance of things working as desired from the get-go.

 

[Elementalfury]

First of all, whatever motherboard you currently have won't be compatible with the new CPU. There are mb sockets that support Intel or AMD cpu's, not both. Second, Intel measures TDP at base clock while AMD at boost clock. i5-4690k has a TDP of 88w and Ryzen 9 3900x 105w. Though a 17w difference, in a real case scenario they would be quite closer. This means that your power supply should hande it just fine.

Got a planned mobo+3900x combo I have my eye on, and I've checked with pcpartpicker for incompatibilities, so I'm not too worried there. Any redownloading or software issues I should be looking into?

 

[Elementalfury]

Also, you will need ddr4 ram. At least in a 2 stick config at 3600mhz.

Planning to buy this set of RAM

 

[sdedu77]

If you have CCleaner installed you can get a list of all programs in your computer. Go to Tools->Uninstall and on the bottom-right corner should be the "Save to text file" button. Once you got the file, open it in a text editor like MS Word. Go to Insert->Table->Convert text to table and hit OK. Now you got a table of all you have installed so far and you can do a clean install safely.

 

[Elementalfury]

LOL...OK. You didn't say as much, initially, so I felt it merited at least a mention.

Just check the QVL published by Gigabyte for that MB, and restrict your component selections (mainly memory) to what has been tested with that MB. That will assure you that you have the best chance of things working as desired from the get-go.

Yea I probably should have been a bit more descriptive, my mistake. I'll check the QVL for the mobo to triple check everything, thanks for the advice!

 

[mitch074]

Got a planned mobo+3900x combo I have my eye on, and I've checked with pcpartpicker for incompatibilities, so I'm not too worried there. Any redownloading or software issues I should be looking into?

Get the very latest BIOS version for your future motherboard on a USB stick : there has been a lot of bug fixing taking place these last few weeks about Ryzen 3xxx.
Backup your data - switching a Windows install from Intel to AMD can result in an unbootable system. You can reduce this by removing all drivers and low-level stuff from your Windows install - it should be able to boot in "safe mode" (inasmuch as it still exists in Win10) and re-detect/install all your new stuff.
I would recommend a fresh Windows install anyway.

 

[jsmithepa]

CPU dictates what Mobo.
Mobo dictates what RAM.
Intel/AMD CPU mounting different so probably a new cooler unless u got one of them which can do both.
Must install OS from scratch.

That's about it.

 

[USAFRet]

Assuming Win 10...
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
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/windows-build-1607-and-activation.2786960/


Then:

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...

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