Changing Motherboard - Reformat?

popcorn1

I have an Asus X58 P6T Deluxe motherboard. Im going to be switching to an Asus x58 Rampage II Gene motherboard.

Since theyre both using the x58 chipset, can I just load up the windows default drivers and download the new drivers? I REALLY dont want to reformat.

Will it cause problems?

Anarion · 04-10-2010, 10:45 | posts: 9,152 | Location: Finland

Quote:

Originally Posted by popcorn1

I have an Asus X58 P6T Deluxe motherboard. Im going to be switching to an Asus x58 Rampage II Gene motherboard.

Since theyre both using the x58 chipset, can I just load up the windows default drivers and download the new drivers? I REALLY dont want to reformat.

Will it cause problems?

When I did a upgrade from ASUS P5B to P5Q PRO I didn't have to reinstall Windows. So it will most likely work just fine in your case too. Though, you will most likely have to reactivate Windows when it notices that you changed motherboard but that's not a big deal.

KizilejdeR · 04-10-2010, 10:47 | posts: 47 | Location: Turkey

I don't suppose it would be the problem.I think no need to format

popcorn1 · 04-10-2010, 10:58 | posts: 187 | Location: A house bigger than yours

Also, Im running Windows 7 64 bit.

Helios1234 · 04-10-2010, 16:04 | posts: 102 | Location: Somewhere out there

It shouldn't be a problem. I went from a Bisotar x58 to a P55 maximus III Extreme, back to my Biostar, then to a Rampage III extreme and chipset drivers were never an issue.

The only thing is that you might need to reactivate windows but one phonecall to Microsoft and everything is sorted.

ShadowMyth · 04-10-2010, 16:40 | posts: 3,396 | Location: West Chester, PA

I recently switched am2+ motherboards & cpus without formatting to see if there would be an issue. Later I formatted to test the difference in performance & for me there wasn't any performance loss. You may need to run Windows Repair or boot into safe mode if you get BSOD during start up, other than that you shouldn't have any issues. I'm running Windows 7 x64.

inklimited · 04-10-2010, 18:36 | posts: 6,140 | Location: NSW Australia

You don't have to.

When I switched from an Athlon XP Asus to a Asrock Core 2 Duo, my PC would not shut down, just sit there all night "Shutting Down", so I had to reinstall the OS.

But, when I switched the Asrock Core 2 board for a Gigabyte X38, I did not have these same problems. Just uninstalled the old drivers, switch boards and fire it up.