Putting togther a pc for the first time advice needed

[JohnnyTheFox]

I have put in numerous video cards, memory, power supplies and hdd's but that's the extent of it. I want to upgrade my AMD FX 8350 to an Intel 4790 K and have never done a motherboard swap before.
Any advice or tips?

 

[burmafrd]

I have put in numerous video cards, memory, power supplies and hdd's but that's the extent of it. I want to upgrade my AMD FX 8350 to an Intel 4790 K and have never done a motherboard swap before.
Any advice or tips?

why? Can you really save much money anymore doing it this way?

 

[CyberB0b]

Be prepared to wipe your existing Windows installation. Most of the time it's fine, but occasionally, a complete wipe and reinstall is best with a mobo swap.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

why? Can you really save much money anymore doing it this way?

You mean by doing it yourself?
Most of the local shops here want around 100$ or so for the job.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Be prepared to wipe your existing Windows installation. Most of the time it's fine, but occasionally, a complete wipe and reinstall is best with a mobo swap.

Yes I don't mind that at all. I have a pretty fast dl speed and shouldn't have trouble getting every thing fairly quickly, that is except windows updates.

 

[hairic]

I last had to do a motherboard swap for XP long ago and was lucky enough that uninstalling previous drivers worked while getting a working boot in safe mode.

This is probably what you're after: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh824938.aspx
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/135077-windows-7-installation-transfer-new-computer.html

 

[gmoney112]

why? Can you really save much money anymore doing it this way?

I build all my desktops (every 3-4 years) and save around 400$, which equates to about 100$/hr when it's all said and done. PC's are simple to install now, everything's basically plug and play, and if you do any kind of work/gaming on your desktop where you may need additional power for the future, it's easily customizable.

To OP, back up everything important and start your OS from scratch. Last thing you want is conflicting drivers giving you blue screens when you could have just done it right the first time. I'd probably just fdisk my entire C drive and reinstall from there, all of this is easily youtubed/googled.

Never done an AMD->intel swap but just make sure your mobo is compatible with all your accessories(ram/videocard/etc.) Also, you probably already did this, but you may want to splurge on your mobo a bit. Upgradability/customization that seems overkill now may be extremely beneficial 1-2 years down the road with the way tech's advancing. I remember when 512mb of ram was a lot.

 

[Jenky]

I have put in numerous video cards, memory, power supplies and hdd's but that's the extent of it. I want to upgrade my AMD FX 8350 to an Intel 4790 K and have never done a motherboard swap before.
Any advice or tips?

Why did you decide to go from an 8 core processor to a 4 core processor? Other than Intel kicking AMD's *** lol.

Looks like both support dual DDR3 so you should be able to re-use your ram.

But as another person has said. I'd backup the data, do a fresh windows install with the new motherboard and get the right drivers. Other than that, if you know which form factor you want, you can search for a motherboard with specific features that you might need: bluetooth, m.2, # of pci-e buses, blah blah blah.

 

[Jenky]

I build all my desktops (every 3-4 years) and save around 400$, which equates to about 100$/hr when it's all said and done. PC's are simple to install now, everything's basically plug and play, and if you do any kind of work/gaming on your desktop where you may need additional power for the future, it's easily customizable.

To OP, back up everything important and start your OS from scratch. Last thing you want is conflicting drivers giving you blue screens when you could have just done it right the first time. I'd probably just fdisk my entire C drive and reinstall from there, all of this is easily youtubed/googled.

Never done an AMD->intel swap but just make sure your mobo is compatible with all your accessories(ram/videocard/etc.) Also, you probably already did this, but you may want to splurge on your mobo a bit. Upgradability/customization that seems overkill now may be extremely beneficial 1-2 years down the road with the way tech's advancing. I remember when 512mb of ram was a lot.

I've honestly had my Intel 3930k for 3-4 years now and I still don't plan on upgrading. Intel processors are just that good and as you said, I'd go for premium motherboard. That should have you set for YEARS.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Why did you decide to go from an 8 core processor to a 4 core processor? Other than Intel kicking AMD's *** lol.

Looks like both support dual DDR3 so you should be able to re-use your ram.

But as another person has said. I'd backup the data, do a fresh windows install with the new motherboard and get the right drivers. Other than that, if you know which form factor you want, you can search for a motherboard with specific features that you might need: bluetooth, m.2, # of pci-e buses, blah blah blah.

I may be mistaken but the AMD is actually 4 cores but has hyper threading so that each core acts as two.
A vast majority of gaming benchmarks will show the 4790K to be superior in every way except cost. Heck even the 4690K is superior. Add to that the much less power consumption and I think its a no brainer given you have the extra cash. I remember the days when AMD used to own Intel but that has been a good 5-6 years ago.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

I've honestly had my Intel 3930k for 3-4 years now and I still don't plan on upgrading. Intel processors are just that good and as you said, I'd go for premium motherboard. That should have you set for YEARS.

I have a friend with a 2700K and it as well as the 2600K still get pretty good marks. Good luck finding one for less then around 300$ too.

 

[Jenky]

I may be mistaken but the AMD is actually 4 cores but has hyper threading so that each core acts as two.
A vast majority of gaming benchmarks will show the 4790K to be superior in every way except cost. Heck even the 4690K is superior. Add to that the much less power consumption and I think its a no brainer given you have the extra cash. I remember the days when AMD used to own Intel but that has been a good 5-6 years ago.

The AMD is 8 core.

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD8350FRHKBOX-FX-8350-FX-Series-Processor/dp/B009O7YUF6

Hyper threading is exclusive to Intel. The 4790k has 4 cores and 8 threads, so it will simulate 8 cores in the OS.

It doesn't surprise me that the Intel processor's gaming bench mark is better. It's been like that for years. Intel is just on whole other level.

 

[Jenky]

I have a friend with a 2700K and it as well as the 2600K still get pretty good marks. Good luck finding one for less then around 300$ too.

I had the 2600k before. Another great processor from Intel with lots of overclock headroom!

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

The AMD is 8 core.

http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD8350FRHKBOX-FX-8350-FX-Series-Processor/dp/B009O7YUF6

Hyper threading is exclusive to Intel. The 4790k has 4 cores and 8 threads, so it will simulate 8 cores in the OS.

It doesn't surprise me that the Intel processor's gaming bench mark is better. It's been like that for years. Intel is just on whole other level.

Well to be technical the 8350 has 4 physical cores and 2 logical cores per each physical.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-8350+Eight-Core

 

[Jenky]

Well to be technical the 8350 has 4 physical cores and 2 logical cores per each physical.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core

I see what you are saying now.

http://charlieguan123.com/2014/02/17/amd-fx-architecture-explained/

This has a good explanation of it. It's conventional cores vs clustered integer core.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

I see what you are saying now.

http://charlieguan123.com/2014/02/17/amd-fx-architecture-explained/

This has a good explanation of it. It's conventional cores vs clustered integer core.

That's a good article. I know I see 8 cores In my task manager although 4 of them are parked. I have "unparked" the remaining 4 cores and noticed zero difference in performance.
Have you/anyone else been keeping track of the Nvidia 970 memory issue? I almost pulled the trigger and bought one until I heard of this. Nvidia advertised the card as having 4GB Vram but when it hits the 3.5 limit games become unstable with everything from crashes to stuttering.
The last I heard Nvidia did apologize and said it was a "communication error" but I believe lawsuits are coming.

 

[Jenky]

That's a good article. I know I see 8 cores In my task manager although 4 of them are parked. I have "unparked" the remaining 4 cores and noticed zero difference in performance.
Have you/anyone else been keeping track of the Nvidia 970 memory issue? I almost pulled the trigger and bought one until I heard of this. Nvidia advertised the card as having 4GB Vram but when it hits the 3.5 limit games become unstable with everything from crashes to stuttering.
The last I heard Nvidia did apologize and said it was a "communication error" but I believe lawsuits are coming.

I only heard it doesn't really have 4GB of memory and yes, I think lawsuits are following.