Upgrading Mobo and CPU without formatting

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OGSnow

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Mar 24, 2016
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Hi. I am intending to upgrade some of my hardware. Mobo and CPU.
Honestly i'd preffer to only switch the CPU but can't be helped with the socket thing.

I did some google searches on upgrading major hardware without reinstalling windows/formatting and the results were mostly mixed.

I also found out that it too depends on the changes between model/manufacturer/chipset
So i decided to seek help here for it.

Currently i have these:

CPU = Intel Core i7 4770K @3.50GHz Haswell 22m, Technology (LGA 1150)
Mobo = ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. B85M-E

I'm pretending to upgrade to those:

CPU = Intel i7 8700K @3.70GHz Coffe Lake (LGA 1151 - BX80684178700K)
Mobo = ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. B250M-PLUS

#

So, while i am upgrading major hardware, they are of same manufacturer but i don't know
how much of a difference it is in term of chipset and all that.

Would i be able to make my upgrade without the need of formatting? Based on my research
it's kind of a game of chances. Some have no issue whatsoever, some have crashes, bsod,
and some cannot even boot. So i don't know what factors into making those issues surface
after upgrade.

I have Win7 x64, and gigabyte gtx 1070 btw.

Also, forgive my noobie-like question but, in case of needed formatting, i would only need to do
so where my windows is installed, right? i have 1 SSD (windows installed) and 2 HHDs, so i would
only need to format my SSD, right?

Thanks.

PS: i saw a article about it. Would anyone mind giving an expert opinion on this?
https://tinyurl.com/y886vske
 
Solution
R0GG
Going back to the "source of infection" with windows 7 64 (which I still run on my older rig as my main system out of familiarity and convenience despite having dual boot win7/win10 skylake and kabylake PCs) I would work on improving computer case ventilation / increasing proportionally under load CPU and especially GPU fan speed and improving GPU immediate surrounding airflow (adding extra fans by drive cage re-enforcing front case fan streams) while monitoring all temps and clocks (GPU/CPU) and fan speeds stay on the look out for thermal throttling as mentioned above. This is not to mention re-installing display drivers from scratch after performing driver cleansing with Display Driver Uninstaller in safe mode...
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Yes. You got it all right.
Change of motherboard without reinstall may result in:
  • everything works fine;
    everything kinda works, but you experience performance problems/crashes/BSODs;
    it doesn't work at all, you can't even boot the system.
All of this depends on multitude of things: settings in BIOS - boot mode, storage controller mode, compatibility of drivers with your old system.

That's correct. Make sure, you disconnect other drives during windows reinstall.
 
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On Windows 7 it's a complete crap-shoot as to whether it will work.

The change in the main chipset has the highest chance of being what causes Windows to fail to boot after the upgrade.

Also make sure to change the BIOS to Legacy boot mode. The Win7 install is almost certainly not UEFI. If you don't you will get a no boot device error if this is the case.
 
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Yes. I do play demanding games on a daily basis. This upgrade is mainly cuz of my CPU being outdated for modern day games that are more CPU demanding than GPU resulting into bad frames even with a good (i think) GPU.

But if my FPS is at risk regardless of no crash or bsod, then i'll have no choice but to format. I would love to avoid it but, oh well.
 
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Intel i7 8700K and B250M-PLUS are not compatible together. i7 8700k needs Intel 300 Series Chipset motherboard or the B250 Chipset motherboard needs 6th Gen Skylake or 7th Gen Kaby Lake CPU.

Windows 7 is only supported with a 6th Gen Skylake CPU on B250 Chipset motherboard. It is doubtful you will be able to get away with reusing an old installation.

7th Gen Kaby Lake CPU and i7 8700k don't support Windows 7 or 8. You need Windows 10 with those CPUs.
 
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I didn't know they weren't compatible. My apologies. I'm not really knowledgeable on those matters. I just game.

Okay then, so, i'm not willing to get out of win7 yet. And If it's not any trouble, could you recommend me a Mobo and a CPU that are compatible then? With win7 x64 i mean. And with each other ofc, with the chipset thing you said.

Forget about price. I care only for game performance. Sorry if i'm being rude or too forward with this request. It is not my intent.

Thanks.
 
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ddr3 as of now. might change depending on which components i end up buying.
 
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If you want anything that's 6th gen (i7 6700k) or newer you'll need some ddr4 ram. 6th gen seems to be the newest cpu generation with Windows 7 support. Some 6th gen z170 boards have ddr3 support, but good luck finding one. Maybe you should keep your 4770k until you can handle windows 10, as the 6700k isn't a huge upgrade (it's also a quad core with hyperthreading, just clocked a bit higher). Good luck with your upgrade!
 
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Thanks for the good wishes. But to be totally honest i was quite comfortable with the set up i have until a few weeks ago. For no apparent reason, i received a significant FPS drop in many (not all) of my games. I put the blame on my cpu for it being my oldest hardware and could be starting to show signs of age. Otherwise this thread wouldn't have been created. Games where i had constant 60+ fps with maxed out graphics like dishonored 2 now is having 30-45s constantly regardless of area of game or lowering of graphics settings. Hitman, Far Cry 5 and AC Origins were affected by this strange phenomenon as well. But oddly enough, Dragon Age Inquisition, Witcher 3 and the Mass Effect Franchise were not affected and my FPS always stays between 54-60 with ultra graphics. I was thinking of creating a thread about it but, i get some many weird-ass issues that make no sense and very rarely there is a solution for it. or workaround even. so this thread is kind of a "waving the white flag" move on my part.

Oh, and lastly, i can handle windows 10, sort of. Thing is, i heard way too many bad things about win8 and above and it's the reason i want to stay with win7 as it the closest OS compared to good ol' winXP

But anyway, end of rant.
 
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Hmm, maybe try a clean install of windows? I wouldnt bother upgrading from your 4770k unless you're going current gen for the +2 cores +4thread upgrade. Are your temps high? Maybe thermal throttling, but I don't see why only some games would be effected. Check temps and clockspeeds while in game and if all else fails why not reinstall Windows before upgrading.
 
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Pre-Fucking-Cisely. Those words summarize almost all of my PC problems. Why would a problem affect only
some games and not others? And no, my temps and all else are the same way they always were. As i remember, this strange phenomenon started right after i updated a certain game. So to test it out, i completely uninstalled said game, rebooted, and there was no change whatsoever. Like i said, makes no sense!

I will wait it out a bit. As of now, while i do suffer from bad FPS, the games affected by this thing are still in a playable condition. I did mention that the FPS does not change regardless if graphics are on ultra or very low, didn't i? Another very strange thing if you ask me.

But anyway, chances are, i will upgrade both mobo and cpu cuz i find it very unlikely this strange issue will just go away.

I would love to get current gen cpu and stuff. but like i said, i heard tons of bad stuff about win8 and above. Have a friend who works in IT and has a win10 laptop and says it's a nightmare.
 
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No. It's a procedure i dislike greatly. I want to avoid doing it without a really, really good reason, like upgrading major hardware. I will do some more research on win10 and see. I'll either end up going to win8 or 10 plus mobo and cpu upgrades or if turns out cannot let go of my fear of win8 and above i will upgrade for a 6th gen cpu and another mobo like the ones you suggested. Even it not being a HUGE upgrade, it'll be an upgrade still. Regardless of which happens i'll need to format so everything will be fresh and clean.

Going back to the main reason of the thread, seems it's not worth the risk of doing a major upgrade without formatting.
While it everything could work perfectly normal. it also could not. I'm not a risk taker. So, formatting it is, then. Oh well.

Thanks for the suggestions and help, bud!
 
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It's really not hard at all and could be a free fix, you should try reinstalling with Windows 7 so you dont have to bother upgrading and if the low fps problem persists try windows 10 over 8, I did not like 8 and have no real problems with windows 10.
 
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Going back to the "source of infection" with windows 7 64 (which I still run on my older rig as my main system out of familiarity and convenience despite having dual boot win7/win10 skylake and kabylake PCs) I would work on improving computer case ventilation / increasing proportionally under load CPU and especially GPU fan speed and improving GPU immediate surrounding airflow (adding extra fans by drive cage re-enforcing front case fan streams) while monitoring all temps and clocks (GPU/CPU) and fan speeds stay on the look out for thermal throttling as mentioned above. This is not to mention re-installing display drivers from scratch after performing driver cleansing with Display Driver Uninstaller in safe mode (http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html) or with just selecting "clean drivers" while installing Nvidia drivers ( I would do both), coupled with double checking game options in Nvidia GeForce experience panel and Nvidia control panel, not forgetting re-installing the games in questions (after clean uninstall).

Installing windows 7 64 and drivers on skylake, kabylake could be a complicated operation with a wide learning curve/research with a lot of bios and drivers tinkering and back and forths , not to mention porting it to a coffee lake machine would most likely be very far from a walk in the park, starting with - on the older set-up uninstalling all previous motherboard manufacturer utilities, then drivers and chipset while making sure disabling windows 7 automatic drivers re-installtion, then booting in compatibility mode on the new motherboard Bios hoping no issues with CPU compatibility with i7-8700k or with USB3.0 on boot (might be worked around by using PS2 mouse and keyboard if applicable and/or working on USB bios settings).

Also depending on the game title, the gain in FPS could be minimal going from i7-4770k to i7-8700k even @1920x1080 (where most FPS improvement is noticed)(i7-8700K vs i7-4770K - Gaming Comparison >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPMjkFTmz9g)
 
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