Newly Built PC

[Shazam89]

New to the site here!

I just finished building my first PC last night,

Specs:
Corsair 600t case
Intel Pentium G3258 CPU 3.2 Ghz (will soon OC)
Asrock Fatal1ty Z97x Killer Mobo
Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB 1600Mhz
EVGA Geforce GTX 660 SC 3GB
Corsair h100i GTX water cooler
Ultra 750w PSU Bronze 80+
'08 HDD from Dell that I transferred over
(Graphics card is a few years old as well as PSU)

I attempted to boot up system and seem everything is running properly except Windows won't load. Keeps asking to repair and I do that, it just goes back to boot screen where I can access BIOS. I have read some reviews about needing a new HDD and re-installing the OS but if I do this, can I then plug in old HDD after Windows has loaded and have everything there at my finger tips? Or will plugging in the old HDD mess with the new HDD with the same OS installed along with same key and cause an issue?

Thanks for your help!

 

[EarthDog]

Welcome!

Try to find an option in the bios to set your SATA ports to IDE instead of AHCI and see if that works... this is assuming boot order is correct etc. But if the OS is from an 08 Dell, it may never work without a completely fresh install of windows.

As far as a new hdd and your old. It wont mess things up if you install your new windows without that one powered up. Otherwise, it will have a boot manager and an option to boot to it. You will be able to access it as a data drive, yes.

 

[TheQuadFather]

Did i understand correctly that the current windows install was made on a different pc? and older one? if so transferring windows from platforms to platforms can cause countless issues, if im right what were the specs of the other pc?

 

[Shazam89]

Welcome!

Try to find an option in the bios to set your SATA ports to IDE instead of AHCI and see if that works... this is assuming boot order is correct etc. But if the OS is from an 08 Dell, it may never work without a completely fresh install of windows.

As far as a new hdd and your old. It wont mess things up if you install your new windows without that one powered up. Otherwise, it will have a boot manager and an option to boot to it. You will be able to access it as a data drive, yes.

Thanks EarthDog!

I figure it's probably time for an upgrade of the storage, maybe a 1TB HDD. the 320GB from the Dell has just about reached its capacity.

 

[EarthDog]

Why not an SSD? Grab a 256GB for your OS and favorite games, then wipe out that Dell HDD and use it as storage. It would be a shame to stick a platter into that shiney new PC to be honest...

 

[Shazam89]

Dell XPS 420
q6600 @ 2.4ghz
Dell Mobo =/
320GB HDD
nothing fancy

OS 7 64bit had been on this PC and trying to transfer old HDD to new computer with new everything basically, was thinking I will just get a new HDD hook it up, install windows 7 again and then plug in old HDD so I have all my files.

yeah an SSD would be nice, but with double or more the price of standard HDD. IDK is an SSD a massive difference that will suffice making such a purchase? Not opposed to it but just wondering.

 

[EarthDog]

As I already said, it would be a shame not to have one in your brand new build. Its not meant to take up your entire storage, that is why I said you OS and a couple of games on a 256GB drive, the repurpose your current 320GB platter for additional storage.

 

[Janus67]

Dell XPS 420
q6600 @ 2.4ghz
Dell Mobo =/
320GB HDD
nothing fancy

OS 7 64bit had been on this PC and trying to transfer old HDD to new computer with new everything basically, was thinking I will just get a new HDD hook it up, install windows 7 again and then plug in old HDD so I have all my files.

yeah an SSD would be nice, but with double or more the price of standard HDD. IDK is an SSD a massive difference that will suffice making such a purchase? Not opposed to it but just wondering.

an SSD gives one of the largest noticeable improvements in OS operating that you can buy. Largely decreasing boot time (to 10-20 seconds instead of a minute+ for a mechanical) as well as overall snappiness of windows and loading applications/games/levels/etc.

 

[tachi1247]

Agree that an ssd is the singles best upgrade you could make to your computer. HDD really hasn't had any significant speed improvements since early 2000s while every other part of the computer has been drastically improved. An ssd is Luke upgrading from a 2005 processor to a 2015 model.

 

[Shazam89]

So is there any big difference between going to Best Buy and getting an Intel SSD or PNY vs. getting Samsung or Corsair? or is that just like anything else, more money for the name?

 

[tachi1247]

The prices on all of them are pretty similar. The 850 evo is probably the fastest drive for the money but most any new ssd will be fine. The difference between the best and average probably won't be noticeable in normal usage. That said, there are a lot of older ssd I the market, like 3+ year old models being produced. There is no reason to get one of those, stick with one of the newer options which you can tell based on a Google search and the reviews for that drive.

A good price for an ssd now is about $0.30/gb . An 850 evo, crucial mx200, ocz vertex, are all good choices. Intel's drives are also good, but slightly slower in performance and more expensive, however their reliability is impeccable.

I wouldn't go to best buy unless you need a drive today.