BleepingComputer.com: Running a MOBO swap from Intel to AMD

So my current CPU the mobo fried. Of course now the processor is F Ked. So what I need now. Is a new mobo, new processor, and i've decided that my tower is just too bulky and big it's a Raidmax Samurai it's just a goliath. So i've decided to take it down a notch and get a mid-tower.

So today, off craigslist.com i've found a case-midtower and AMD Athlon64 x2 black edition. So I'm going to pick it up.

Down to the point of this thread:

I'm going from an Intel® Board and Intel Processor to a newer board i've yet to buy off craigslist, and an AMD Athlon64 x2.

My question COMPATABILITY CONCERNS!!!!

Will someone give me advice or a step by step on how to go about doing this swap and getting my computer back up and running. Some mobos don't run AMD chips, correct? and the one's that do, will I have to do a full backup of my HDD and reinstall the OS onto the new chip?

Or is it as easy as connecting it, turning my computer on, and everything will be the way it was just running on a new board and chip?



Main question:

Will someone give me a step by step of how to change out my intel ® board and chip, and putting in a new ATX Board with AMD chip, running the computer and getting it to go to the desktop like normal?

Simply changing the motherboard usually means reinstalling Windows.

If you change out the motherboard, you will need to reinstall Windows as fairjoe pointed out. When Windows first loads, it starts various drivers and software that is unique to your motherboard, if you simply turn it on after the swap, the PC will not load Windows. If you have an OEM edition of Windows running, replacing the motherboard with a different non-identical one will violate the license. You can still activate it and run the computer after installing Windows, though. Before attempting the upgrade, you should go check to see if the motherboard you're getting can run the CPU you want. Some AM3 and AM2+ boards cannot run every processor for their socket. Also, if you're reusing your existing RAM, make sure it will work on the new motherboard. Software wise, there are no compatibility issues going from Intel CPU's to an AMD CPU as they both run the same software. Replacing a motherboard is a fairly intensive thing to do, unlike installing new RAM or GPU. I suggest looking online for guides that tell you how to build a PC since that is basically what you are going to do.

fairjoeblue and DJBPace07 do make a fair comment on re-installing windows with a mobo upgrade, and technically you should for better cleaner performance, but in my experience it is possible to do the swap out and reboot to windows normally (which will look like it is running in safe mode as the drivers will need installing/re-initialising due to irq/hardware address changes). Uninstall any OLD motherboard software and drivers and install the new ones. I have done this around 100 times and only once has it failed. but there is that possibility. So backup first if you wish to try it.

But the safest route and the most efficient is to do a clean install, it will run smoother and fast with a lot of junk cleared out.

High500

if you were previously running windows xp, you can swap your HDD to the new motherboard without any real problems. you will need to run fixboot/fixmbr from the recovery console off your XP system install disk, see this article here: http://tinyempire.com/notes/ntldrismissing.htm

If using Vista, you can still do the same, but you will make use of the startup repair options from the Vista recovery disk which is fairly straight forward, boot from cd, select startup repair and let it do it's thing. however, most of your questions and concerns haven't been answered yet... i'll try to post again in a little bit with those...

FWIW: Changing a Motherboard or Moving Hard Drive - http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html AND Intel® Application Accelerator - Moving a Hard Drive to a New Motherboard - http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/sb/cs-009290.htm

Louis

not sure what i was saying about unanswered questions.... think i got my posts mixed up between boards... but s djbpace said, you'll need to find the socket for the cpu you're using and make sure the mobo supports that socket. intel boards are not usually interchangeable with amd boards as they use completely different sockets. this may also affect your ram compatibility, as newer sockets may only support newer ram and ram speeds

Things with AMD can be a little tricky. Here are a few things to keep in mind: AM3 processors work in AM3 boards and, if the BIOS supports it, AM2+ motherboards. AM2+ CPU's will not work with AM3 boards. Not all motherboards support all CPU's for a given socket, for instance, a board may support some of the less powerful AM3 CPU's but not the high performance CPUs. If you are using an AM3 motherboard, you will most likely use DDR3 RAM. Typically, AMD processors work only in AMD motherboards and Intel processors in Intel motherboards.