Switching from AMD to Intel machine

[BetaJedi]

Hi everyone. After much contemplation, I'm thinking about doing a total switcharoo from my AMD machine to an Intel machine.

My AMD machine currently has a GigaByte GA-F2A55M-DS2 mobo, and an AMD Athlon X4 750K CPU.

I'm going to be acquiring a little bit of money soon, so I was thinking about upgrading to a GigaByte GA-H97M-D3H mobo, and an Intel Core i7 i7-4790K CPU.

I've never moved over from AMD to Intel before, so a little help would be nice. I'm going to assume that it's not as simple as just plugging it all in and praying for it to work. I've read on other TH threads that some people have to reinstall their OS, some have had to format HDDs, etc.

Preferably, I'd like to keep my HDDs and avoid having to back them up and format them, etc. But, if this is a problem, I don't mind doing it.

Can you give me any guidance or recommendations that I should follow when migrating my entire machine from AMD to Intel?

Thanks very much in advance.

 

[shadows1234]

what is your total budget for the cpu and board because you got a overclockable cpu but a motherboard that doesn't support overclocking , also what is the rest of your rig like gpu , psu and cpu cooler?

 

[BetaJedi]

what is your total budget for the cpu and board because you got a overclockable cpu but a motherboard that doesn't support overclocking , also what is the rest of your rig like gpu , psu and cpu cooler?

I don't mind spending around about £500 ($740/684 Euros) during the process. The processor is around about £250ish on Amazon from what I can remember.

Edit: Didn't see your request for the other info, here they are.
GPU: Sapphire radeon r9 270x Dual-X (2GB, OC'd too)
PSU: Corsair Cx750m (750W, semi-modular)
CPU cooler: Corsair H80i.

If it matters, I've got 3x 1TB HDDs too. Two of them are WD (one is blue, one is green) and an old seagate one which was repurposed.

 

[shadows1234]

what is your total budget for the cpu and board because you got a overclockable cpu but a motherboard that doesn't support overclocking , also what is the rest of your rig like gpu , psu and cpu cooler?

I don't mind spending around about £500 ($740/684 Euros) during the process. The processor is around about £250ish on Amazon from what I can remember.

ok but do you have a cpu cooler because the one from the intel is crap if no i would add one to the build as well

 

[nondy]

To be honest migrating your files from your amd machine to your new intel machine without formatting your HD is a little bit of difficult. My advise to you is just back up all your files and transfer it to your new machine once your done configuring it

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/upgrading-hardware-tips-moving-windows-installation-without-reinstall/ incase if you still want to push to migrate your files without formatting your hardware ( caution its not 100% fail proof )

 

[BetaJedi]

what is your total budget for the cpu and board because you got a overclockable cpu but a motherboard that doesn't support overclocking , also what is the rest of your rig like gpu , psu and cpu cooler?

I don't mind spending around about £500 ($740/684 Euros) during the process. The processor is around about £250ish on Amazon from what I can remember.

ok but do you have a cpu cooler because the one from the intel is crap if no i would add one to the build as well

Didn't see your request for the other info, here they are.

GPU: Sapphire radeon r9 270x Dual-X (2GB, OC'd too)
PSU: Corsair Cx750m (750W, semi-modular)
CPU cooler: Corsair H80i.

If it matters, I've got 3x 1TB HDDs too. Two of them are WD (one is blue, one is green) and an old seagate one which was repurposed.

 

[BetaJedi]

To be honest migrating your files from your amd machine to your new intel machine without formatting your HD is a little bit of difficult. My advise to you is just back up all your files and transfer it to your new machine once your done configuring it

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/upgrading-hardware-tips-moving-windows-installation-without-reinstall/ incase if you still want to push to migrate your files without formatting your hardware ( caution its not 100% fail proof )

That's helpful. Do you think if I use the standard Windows backup tool to create a backup file and then restore it it will work?

 

[ohim]

Do get a Z97 MB ..buy a decent MB as well for that 4790k and you should at least get a 212 Evo cooler for it ... And after you build it just don`t be like other guys coming from AMD from that very cheap Athlon to this expensive 4790k and say how galaxies away is Intel from AMD. I came from FX 8350 and there is improvement but not twice the price improvement

Anyway, you`ll enjoy your computing boost from that X4 CPU

 

[shadows1234]

also to answer your other question you will have to format and reinstall a new os unless it is windows 8, windows 8 can just be reinstalled and the files will still be there in another folder

 

[shadows1234]

ok well Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard should be what you need and the cpu will work with this motherboard without a issue this board supports overclocking too

 

[BetaJedi]

Thanks a lot guys. In terms of my other component's compatibility (specs listed below), is there going to be an issue with any of it? In terms of drivers too (most importantly, the chipset-related drivers), what should I go about doing?

OS: Win 8.1 (x64) Pro
HDD: 1TB Seagate (unsure of specifics), 1TB WD Blue, 1TB WD Green.
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 270x Dual-X 2GB
CPU (current): AMD Athlon x4 750K
Mobo (current): GIGABYTE GA-F2A55M-DS2
PSU: Corsair Cx750m (750W, semi-modular)
CPU cooler: Corsair H80i.

 

[shadows1234]

Thanks a lot guys. In terms of my other component's compatibility (specs listed below), is there going to be an issue with any of it? In terms of drivers too (most importantly, the chipset-related drivers), what should I go about doing?

OS: Win 8.1 (x64) Pro
HDD: 1TB Seagate (unsure of specifics), 1TB WD Blue, 1TB WD Green.
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 270x Dual-X 2GB
CPU (current): AMD Athlon x4 750K
Mobo (current): GIGABYTE GA-F2A55M-DS2
PSU: Corsair Cx750m (750W, semi-modular)
CPU cooler: Corsair H80i.

nope should run fine and is fully compatible

 

[BetaJedi]

nope should run fine and is fully compatible

Thanks a lot I'll post back to let you all know how it goes when I do it in the future, and so that if anybody else googles this they'll have an end result.

 

[tsuneo6]

what will the PC be used for(didnt read through all the comments)

if for gaming, which is what i'm expecting, it might be more wise to get an i5 4690k with a z97 motherboard and save some money, or invest the money you save in a better or second graphics card or ssd.

I myself have an i7 4790k on a gigabyte z97x-sli motherboard. (cheapest SLI compatible motherboard out there and from decent quality)

 

[Gracodana]

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WQh2nQ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WQh2nQ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£261.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£65.52 @ Aria PC)
Total: £416.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-27 09:55 GMT+0000

I would suggest a psu change as well the cx line is pretty low quality. This should be well in budget, what you might even consider is trying to sell your gpu and drop down to an i5 and then getting a gpu upgrade too.

 

[BetaJedi]

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WQh2nQ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WQh2nQ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£261.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£65.52 @ Aria PC)
Total: £416.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-27 09:55 GMT+0000

I would suggest a psu change as well the cx line is pretty low quality. This should be well in budget, what you might even consider is trying to sell your gpu and drop down to an i5 and then getting a gpu upgrade too.

Also a good idea! Do you have any recommendable websites that I can sell old hardware on? Or is it just an eBay job?

 

[Gracodana]

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WQh2nQ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/WQh2nQ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£261.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: XFX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£65.52 @ Aria PC)
Total: £416.51
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-27 09:55 GMT+0000

I would suggest a psu change as well the cx line is pretty low quality. This should be well in budget, what you might even consider is trying to sell your gpu and drop down to an i5 and then getting a gpu upgrade too.

Also a good idea! Do you have any recommendable websites that I can sell old hardware on? Or is it just an eBay job?

I guess ebay probably would be the main one to look at, perhaps you might have a friend in your area who is in the market for a new one.