[SOLVED] MSI B450 motherboard Regular to Max, need fresh OS install?

[thetechdummy]

I'm thinking of changing out my MSI B450 pro carbon regular to the Max variant, would I need a new fresh OS install? I read people said you need to have a fresh install when changing motherboards.
Have anyone switch their regular B450 to the Max version of the same model?

 

[jay32267]

I'm thinking of changing out my MSI B450 pro carbon regular to the Max variant, would I need a new fresh OS install? I read people said you need to have a fresh install when changing motherboards.
Have anyone switch their regular B450 to the Max version of the same model?

I've never done this personally with these boards so I don't know how well it would work...but I think anytime you do something like this and don't do a clean Windows install....there is always risk....and I wouldn't want to take the risk and I would do a clean install.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm thinking of changing out my MSI B450 pro carbon regular to the Max variant, would I need a new fresh OS install? I read people said you need to have a fresh install when changing motherboards.
Have anyone switch their regular B450 to the Max version of the same model?

That is a 100% maybe.

1:1 replacement, almost certainly no reinstall.
Changing chipset? Well, maybe.
Whole platform change? Yes.

You NEED to be prepared for a full reinstall, rather than just hooking everything together and hoping it works.
It might work, it might fail.

Also, the Win 10 license.
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

 

[Turtle Rig]

I'm thinking of changing out my MSI B450 pro carbon regular to the Max variant, would I need a new fresh OS install? I read people said you need to have a fresh install when changing motherboards.
Have anyone switch their regular B450 to the Max version of the same model?

Ok mods and gurus please take no offense for what Im about to say or tell me Im wrong because Im right on this note. To answer your question. If your using Windows 10 you can swap the motherboard and your PC will boot right up after detecting new devices and boot up right into Windows. So NO you do not need to install Windows 10 all over and your apps etc. I have tried this on 3 different machines. One of the machines was a Core 2 Quad system. I bought my cousin a 2700x AMD rig he assembelled it and Windows came right up. Also I have done this on my old x79 and another friends computer. It will work 100 percent without no issues. My cousin has not had a single issue with his PC and it has not crashed even once. People please don't jump on me as these are the facts. TLDR 🙈

In closing just change the motherboard connect your stuff to the machine and watch Windows 10 boot right up. Good Luck. So it is up to you to either do a clean install or to just swap mobos and your good to go and Windows 10 will boot right up which saves you the hassle of putting in a new OS then installing apps and putting your data on it. Once again admins and gurus do not take offense to this as I am simply telling the truth. Also Linus from LinuTechTips does this all the time in his hardware reviews so its legit my friend. Good Luck ✌👌💯👶

 

[bignastyid]

I'm thinking of changing out my MSI B450 pro carbon regular to the Max variant, would I need a new fresh OS install? I read people said you need to have a fresh install when changing motherboards.
Have anyone switch their regular B450 to the Max version of the same model?

One question, why?

Sounds like a waste of money. The main(and I think only) advantage of the Max version was it had the updated bios for 3000 series support, which most 4xx series board lacked at the time. Since it seems you already have the system up and running all you'd need to do is update the bios to for support of newer cpus.

 

[USAFRet]

Ok mods and gurus please take no offense for what Im about to say or tell me Im wrong because Im right on this note. To answer your question. If your using Windows 10 you can swap the motherboard and your PC will boot right up after detecting new devices and boot up right into Windows. So NO you do not need to install Windows 10 all over and your apps etc. I have tried this on 3 different machines.

And I've seen it fail.
On more than one system.

So.....there is no 100%.
Sorry.

 

[bignastyid]

Ok mods and gurus please take no offense for what Im about to say or tell me Im wrong because Im right on this note. To answer your question. If your using Windows 10 you can swap the motherboard and your PC will boot right up after detecting new devices and boot up right into Windows. So NO you do not need to install Windows 10 all over and your apps etc. I have tried this on 3 different machines. One of the machines was a Core 2 Quad system. I bought my cousin a 2700x AMD rig he assembelled it and Windows came right up. Also I have done this on my old x79 and another friends computer. It will work 100 percent without no issues. My cousin has not had a single issue with his PC and it has not crashed even once. People please don't jump on me as these are the facts. TLDR 🙈

It does not " work 100 percent without no issues". There are many examples on this foirum where transplanting went awry. The 3 most common occurrences when transplanting Windows.

1. Performance is not what it should be and or there a stability issues
2. OS won't boot, black screen blinking cursor or bsod
3. It works

1 is the most common one we see. Many claim victory early till the issues start or benchmarks show the system is not performing as it should.

2 was alot more common in older versions of windows, but since win 7 that hasn't been as common as the HAL has been more forgiving.

3 usually occurs when the hardware being replaced is being replaced with the same or very similar hardware. In OP case option 3 is likely since the boards are all but identical.

 

[USAFRet]

1 is the most common one we see. Many claim victory early till the issues start or benchmarks show the system is not performing as it should.

Indeed.
My wifes system, moving from a G840 to in i3-8100 was exactly this.
It booted up, but never worked quite right.

 

[punkncat]

I am not sure why you would swap a motherboard for the "same" motherboard if there is no issue.
The "Max" designation was only in response to a BIOS update for incoming CPU. This would be a waste of money, time, and possible expenses if you damage something in process. Technically you could also lose your OS license activation.

 

[thetechdummy]

Why I'm changing things, my relative want a new computer. I'm thinking of giving them the cpu and motherboard I have and just upgrade my system at the same time.
I want the same model motherboard, because I don't want to reinstall stuff again (lazy). My win10 license is link to my MS account so I can think I'm okay.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Changing motherboards when you're using Windows 10 does NOT work "every time", as has already been stated here, however, it will USUALLY work fine if you are switching from one board to another that has the exact same chipset, BUT, even then, "every time" can't be claimed either because in some cases there are significant enough differences between various integrated components like the secondary storage controllers to cause problems. I'd certainly try it first, just to see, if the boards are from the same chipset family like those are, but I would not be unexpectedly surprised to find there are issues.

Just today I spend a half day trying to figure out what the heck the problem was on an installation where I replaced a board with the exact same board and it would go into the BIOS perfectly fine, time after time, but the second it tried to boot Windows, it would get one single dot of the circle and bluescreen, every time. I thought for sure it was a memory issue since I had changed out the 8GB memory kit for a 16GB kit while I was changing out the board but after hours of trying to tweak the memory configuration, and even going back to the original memory didn't change anything, I did a clean install and "poof", fixed. So, try, but be aware.

Anytime you make any major change, even when it might not technically really even qualify as a "change", you may have to reinstall. And then I've also seen a Windows 10 installation that had been around for years, work perfectly fine after going from Haswell to Ryzen 3000 series. Ended up doing a clean install on that too, just because it had been around for so long, but it was working fine when I whacked the installation just to play it safe.

 

[Darkbreeze]

because Im right on this note.

Mmm. Ummm, no. You're not. Sorry.

 

[bignastyid]

Why I'm changing things, my relative want a new computer. I'm thinking of giving them the cpu and motherboard I have and just upgrade my system at the same time.
I want the same model motherboard, because I don't want to reinstall stuff again (lazy). My win10 license is link to my MS account so I can think I'm okay.

Even with the near identical board things can still go wrong. If you truly don't want to risk having to reinstall then use the new board on the relatives computer. But if you really want a new motherboard you might aswell get a B550, that way you'll have the option for Zen 3 as it looks like B450 isn't going to work with the upcoming 5xxx series Ryzens(Zen 3).

 

[Darkbreeze]

They will work, just not at first. They (Obviously) want to be able to extend and expand the sales of all 500 series boards as much as they can, milk it like a cash cow, before offering to allow the new CPUs to work on the older chipsets. We'll see if motherboard manufacturers go along with that or not, but likely they will because they are the ones standing to make the most off sales of 500 series boards.

AMD originally announced it wouldn't provide Zen 3 support for 400-series motherboards, but due to concerns from the enthusiast community, the company reversed course. Now AMD will also provide support for 400-series chipsets, but the BIOS updates are under development the first beta BIOSes will be available in January of 2021.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/a...specifications-pricing-benchmarks-all-we-know