[SOLVED] Will I have any problems with switching my mother board?

[siddatsloth]

I recently have decided to upgrade my pc. I'm goin to switch out the motherboard, psu, case and cpu cooler. I was wondering if id have any issues switching the motherboard based on the fact that they are different brands. Do I have to wipe my ssd and reinstall windows or can I just put my ssd in the new motherboard and it will work upon boot? I'm not sure of the brand of my current mother board but the new board will be a msi mpg z490 gaming plus.

 

[Gam3r01]

Chances are you would need to do a reinstall of windows.
Even if it did end up working I would recommend a reinstall as part of the OS is tied to the motherboard itself.

 

[lvt]

What Windows are you using?

 

[siddatsloth]

What Windows are you using?

windows 10

 

[MeanMachine41]

Depends on motherboard differences such as chipset drivers.
System may not boot at all or result in a BSOD.
You may have your windows deactivated so you should obtain your licence details to reactivate your windows.

Best is to clean instal the OS and allow Bios determine best parameters and drivers correctly instal.

 

[lvt]

windows 10

Normally Win10 should boot right away with the new motherboard and it will update the drivers if neccessary, but it will run as non-activated version.

You can reactivate your Win10 installation if you have a retail license.

 

[siddatsloth]

Normally Win10 should boot right away with the new motherboard and it will update the drivers if neccessary, but it will run as non-activated version.

You can reactivate your Win10 installation if you have a retail license.

Normally Win10 should boot right away with the new motherboard and it will update the drivers if neccessary, but it will run as non-activated version.

You can reactivate your Win10 installation if you have a retail license.

Will I have to delete my current mother boards drivers before putting the ssd into my new motherboard?

 

[siddatsloth]

Chances are you would need to do a reinstall of windows.
Even if it did end up working I would recommend a reinstall as part of the OS is tied to the motherboard itself.

Is there any downsides of trying it?

 

[Gam3r01]

Is there any downsides of trying it?

If it flat out does not work, no real loss there.
The main concern is if it works mostly, because at that point you may or may not be willing to start fresh if you have a mostly working system, and who knows how long until you notice some issues.
Nothing worse than months down the line realizing a certain audio driver is causing your system to lock up and the only fix is a windows install.

 

[siddatsloth]

If it flat out does not work, no real loss there.
The main concern is if it works mostly, because at that point you may or may not be willing to start fresh if you have a mostly working system, and who knows how long until you notice some issues.
Nothing worse than months down the line realizing a certain audio driver is causing your system to lock up and the only fix is a windows install.

Makes sense. Could I move my games/apps to a hdd and then wipe the ssd to keep all my data without having a windows issue?

 

[Gam3r01]

Makes sense. Could I move my games/apps to a hdd and then wipe the ssd to keep all my data without having a windows issue?

Go ahead and move the games and files to the storage drive of your choice, unplug everything but the SSD, then wipe the drive during windows installation.
Once the OS is set and ready, reconnect the data drive and point your various game launchers to the file locations on the HDD.

You wont be able to transfer the applications out, typically they dont work quite right after.

 

[lvt]

Will I have to delete my current mother boards drivers before putting the ssd into my new motherboard?

No, just leave it as is.

 

[siddatsloth]

Go ahead and move the games and files to the storage drive of your choice, unplug everything but the SSD, then wipe the drive during windows installation.
Once the OS is set and ready, reconnect the data drive and point your various game launchers to the file locations on the HDD.

You wont be able to transfer the applications out, typically they dont work quite right after.

Sounds confusing but I'm sure ill be able to handle it, thank you!

 

[lvt]

No, just leave it as is.

Just add a missing phrase, don't delete anything on the SSD because in case you need to comeback to the old motherboard (yes it happens), everything will work fine just like before.

 

[USAFRet]

Normally Win10 should boot right away with the new motherboard and it will update the drivers if neccessary

Except for all the times it doesn't do that.

There is no "normally".
3 possible outcomes:

1. It works just fine
2. It fails completely
3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months. We've seen all 3.

Increasingly, #3 is becoming more common.

Please don't blow smoke about motherboard swaps. Often, it fails. Period.

 

[USAFRet]

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


For the OS install with the new motherboard:

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...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[lvt]

Except for all the times it doesn't do that.

There is no "normally".
3 possible outcomes:

1. It works just fine
2. It fails completely
3. It "works", but you're chasing issues for weeks/months. We've seen all 3.

Increasingly, #3 is becoming more common.

Please don't blow smoke about motherboard swaps. Often, it fails. Period.

Personally I didn't encounter any particular issue with swapping motherboards (except the reactivation process), my current Win10 installation has already been used on three different motherboards.

 

[USAFRet]

Personally I didn't encounter any particular issue with swapping motherboards (except the reactivation process), my current Win10 installation has already been used on three different motherboards.

And I've personally seen all 3.
Works fine
fails completely
works, but....


Prepare for total fail, be glad if that is not needed.

 

[Eximo]

Best advice is to do a re-install. Avoids problems and gets you a snappier OS without any bloat from old software.

I've done board swaps a few times with hardware that was very similar and with zero other changes, and had moderate success. Also good to note that I am a little obsessed and purpose build most of my computers. One for gaming, one for HTPC, one for work etc, so they rarely have anything to mess up. Also clone and backup before doing anything.

Success: X58 -> Z87, Intel Raid 0 to Raid 0
Fail: cloned old RAID 0 to NVMe SSD, didn't like that...
Partial: AMD E350 -> i3-4130T (hardware worked, OS license did not) (Exact same audio chipset, was surprised by working sound on boot up)
Success: Swapping Z270 to Z490, no other changes, just driver install and OS reactivated itself

 

[froggy8]

yes, i agree with the re-install as that is what il be doing when i order my new mobo. got everything transferred to my other hard drive already.

 

[InvalidError]

What is most likely to fail is the cached boot image needing to be invalidated due to hardware changes, which can be done by triggering a safe-mode boot. A fast-boot fail should also trigger a normal boot. Beyond that, it all depends on how cleanly stuff that shouldn't be loading anymore fails to load and whether drivers that are still needed but with different parameters handle the changes.