Replacing Motherboard/ Adding GPU

BiH115

BiH115

Gif Guy
Joined
May 12, 2011
Messages
9,327
Hey all,

so I've googled some of the probable scenarios on switching out a mobo, but I wanted a case-by-case scenario, for learning purposes.

So I currently have a Biostar H67 Mobo,

THIS one to be exact:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138309


I also have THIS video card, the GTX 560 Ti:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133384





I bought ANOTHER video card, the same one, for SLI. Thus I needed a mobo upgrade to a
different mobo that lets me use SLI. I purchased, and is on it's way, THIS one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157229


Now I read all over that you don't necessarily need to format and reinstall Windows 7 (64-bit, fyi) if it's the same chipset. Will I need to format to get the best possible experience, or will Windows 7 be smart enough to make "things work". Also will I need to clear out the H67's drivers I installed from the CD? And how do I go about doing this? What's the procedure for this type of thing nowadays? :confused:

Thank you so much! ;)







EDIT:::: Also please, super detailed responses if possible! I'm not exactly an, "expert" if you will. Thanks!
 
You should not need to reinstall Windows 7. It is very forgiving of hardware changes. When you get to the desktop for the first time, you may see it installing drivers for new devices, but it shouldn't be a biggie.
 
Ruoh said:
You should not need to reinstall Windows 7. It is very forgiving of hardware changes. When you get to the desktop for the first time, you may see it installing drivers for new devices, but it shouldn't be a biggie.
Click to expand...


Very cool. So what about the old H67's drivers? Will those affect my performance in anyway. If really necessary, I don't totally mind doing a format/reinstall of Windows.

And what about the second GPU I will be adding, I downloaded the latest nVidia drivers yesterday when I put the PC together, will I need some special SLI drivers or something? I'm new to multi-GPU stuff.

Thanks again!
 
I wouldn't worry about then H67 drivers. As for the SLI, you shouldn't need anything but the normal nvidia drivers, after booting into windows with the second card in, it should prompt you to setup SLI.

Of course, if it all goes horribly wrong (Which is always a possibility), just make sure you have your OS install disc handy. But, again, you really shouldn't have any problems.
 
I'm in the process of doing the same upgrade for battlefield 3. I have a GTX 560 ti which I want to go SLI with. I have Windows 7 and office 2010. Would I have to reactivate any one of those packages and if so how?

thanks
 
First of all insane, you will not need to reinstall Windows when adding a second GPU for sli. Peronaly I would because I'm an OS clean freak. Secondly, if you decide to go that route you should not run into any problems with re-activating Windows or Office 2010. I've been down that road many times as listed above and have not run into any issues unless you reinstall several times, then your product keys get flagged.

BiH115, I always perform an OS restore especially after replacing a motherboard. You will still be able to boot into Windows without doing so and you can reinstall the correct drivers however doing things like that almost seems sketchy imo.
 
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I went from a NF980 (nvidia chipset), Phenom II 965 with GTX 275 SLI to GTX 470 SLI with a 1090T with first a 790x motherboard, then a 890fx board. My recent hardware change went to a Core i7 920 with x58 and crossfire HD6950's. All without having to reinstall Windows, and all without any noticeable slowdowns.
 
h61,h67,p67,z68
I've taken a clone of windows 7 and run it on the different boards with no issues as they use the same drivers.
Now if you have additional addon items (marvel controllers, things like that) those you'll want to reinstall, but the base chipset swaps work great.

And of course if something isn't working right, then a reinstall is a good idea, but certainly worth a shot without it (or sysprep)
 
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