Swapping motherboard - need guidance

TrickyTris

TrickyTris

TrickyTris

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Joined
15 Feb 2016
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27
Location
London
Hi all,

I've got a built to order gaming PC by Overclockers and have decided to change case to improve airflow and upgraded the motherboard due to a snapped card clip. -_-

I want to just swap everything over but change the motherboard in the process.

Current: Asus H81M-P Plus
New: Asus Z97-PRO Gamer

PC Specs:
Windows 10
Asus R9 390X
Intel i5 4460
500GB SSD
1TB HDD

As above I'm running Windows 10 currently (want to stick with 10) and need some guidance as to how I go about this.
Note: I have no CD Drive. Have a USB compatible for Win10 install though.

Is it just plug and play or do I need to start fresh to avoid errors?
If I need to start a fresh, where do I start with this? What order do I do things?

If anyone can offer help or point me in the direction of a walk through for "dummies" it would really be appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Why did you buy a mid-hi end Z board for your midrange LOCKED i5? That makes no sense whatsoever. An H series board would have been fine.

Also swapping boards due to a snapped PCIE clip is pretty silly IMO.
 
Borealis said:
It's a different chipset, so you'll need to start from fresh with a clean install of Windows.
Click to expand...

Thanks for confirming this.

Would this be the correct procedure for first boot after I've changed the motherboard?
- Turn on and go into BIOS
- Change boot disk to USB and install fresh Windows 10 to SSD (deleting old version on SSD in the process)
- Change BIOS to boot from SSD when complete and load windows
- Install Asus Z79 windows 10 motherboard drivers (linked here)
- Install GPU drivers/software
- Install optional software etc.

Wrt. why the upgrade, I wanted something that would allow me to upgrade CPU later on and that would also fill my new case, as the micro board would look tiny inside it.

Thanks for the help!
 
That is pretty much how I would do it.

If Win 10 is anything like 7 or 8.1, then you should be able to reinstall Windows without any issues. If Win 10 hard-locks your licence key to the motherboard, then unless you're running a retail copy, you might have problems.
 
Cheers for the quick response!

I'll give the above a try and pray that it all works as planned! Believe I have an unused key for Windows so hopefully that won't be an issue.

Quick question, on first boot what should I connect my monitor via? Am I okay to carry on using the display port on the graphics card or do I need to use a VGA on the mobo before I install GPU drivers?

Sorry for the noob questions!
 
Last edited:
Just so I am 100% confident before I start this task..

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z97PRO_GAMER/HelpDesk_Download/

I assume I only need the latest driver from each category? (Except BIOS & Utilities which are optional software, yes?)

So I need to install:
- Hotfix "APRP Utility V1.0.030 for Windows Win10 64bit."
- Chipset "Intel Chipset Driver V10.1.1.7 for Windows Win10 64bit ---(WHQL)"
- Audio "Realtek Audio Driver V6.0.1.7581 for Windows Win10 64bit"
- VGA "Intel Graphics Driver V10.18.15.4248 for Windows 10 64bit---(WHQL)."
- LAN "Intel LAN Driver V20.1.2019.0 for Windows Win10 32bit & 64bit."
- SATA "Intel RAID/AHCI Win10 32bit&64bit V14.5.0.1081--(WHQL)"

If this is correct, any particular order I should be doing them in?

Thanks again! :D
 
I always do the chipset first then proceed with the rest in any order u might want to look on the ASUS support section for the Z170 boards for newer drivers
 
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