Planning to upgrade motherboard + processor - Help!

[tedmann12]

Hi guys,

I decided to dust off my old gaming pc as it has been in the closet for a year.

I currently have:

GA-78LMT-S2 motherboard
FX 6300
Radeon R9 280x
8 Gigs DDR Ram
630W Enermax Gold Certified PSU.

I just bought 16 GB of DDR4 ram, not realizing I needed a compatible motherboard and CPU. I'm thinking what the hell, why not just go in on an i7 + motherboard.

Currently I am thinking about buying this: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Deskto..._rd_wg=4p1Mk&refRID=J19JFFY0QC6J5PFECWAT&th=1

Can anyone tell me what I need to be aware of before replacing my motherboard and CPU?

Like will I need a motherboard that is compatible with my computer case? Or do they all follow a similar lay out? I don't want to run into any expected problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Johan45]

Your current mobo is micro ATX so it'll depend really on your case whether or not the Hero will fit. You could likely get away with a cheaper motherboard as well. On top of that you'll need a compatible cooler for the i7

 

[tedmann12]

Ok thanks,

I have a hyper 212 evo cooler. Will that work?

Also, this is a picture of my case. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883258078

Any way to find out what motherboards will fit in it? And I am definitely down to get a cheaper one if you have any suggestions.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Johan45]

Try these two together, if you're mainly gaming you can save again with the 7600K only thing it's missing is the HT
mATX board should drop in the case https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132940
7600k https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117728

This will save you $200 that you can put toward a GPU when you get to it.

 

[tedmann12]

Thanks man, that was really helpful.

So basically I need a micro ATX mobo?

Is the i7 7700 compatible with this mobo?

and how different is the i5 7700k vs i7 7700k?

 

[tedmann12]

I mean the i7 7700k vs i5 7600k.

 

[Blaylock]

Do you know what case you have?

 

[trents]

You'll need to get DDR4 RAM also.

 

[Blaylock]

I just bought 16 GB of DDR4 ram...

You'll need to get DDR4 RAM also.

He mentioned in his OP that he has DDR4

 

[tedmann12]

Well here is a link to the computer when I bought it.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16883258078

Not sure if it lists the model of the case, but thats a picture of it.

I have that same case and processor, mobo and RAM, otherwise I've upgraded PSU, HDD to SSD, and GPU.

 

[Alaric]

And then we move on to the OS. Kaby Lake chips are NOT supported by anything but Windows 10 in the M$ stable. Judging by the gear you're upgrading I'm going to guess this is suddenly an issue. If you already have W10, it won't be happy with the mobo change.

 

[tedmann12]

Ok boys,

I plan on doing this mobo Johan found me: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...7702X1552850Xbb46017e38cc564d3537cdcd7a1b04bd

with this i7 7700k. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...9117726&cm_re=I7_7700K-_-19-117-726-_-Product

I have 16 GB of DDR4. This should all check out correct? I have a hyper evo 212. My old mobo was a micro atx, they look very similar.

- - - Updated - - -

I have windows 10. What do you mean in the M$ stable?

 

[Johan45]

The motherboard change will make it so you need to reactivate windows. When I switched mine out I used the old HDD and removed any drivers that were motherboard related and then installed the new parts. If windows gives you grief you can trouble shoot activation and it'll show an option of changed HW. Select it then sign in with your normal windows password and it should then activate.

 

[Alaric]

Stable=Microsoft's collection of operating systems. As in where livestock is kept. LOL
And Windows 10 usually locks to the motherboard. This is currently a gray area, as there have been reports of Windows 10 installing willy nilly throughout the binary ecosystem. You'll want to do a clean install anyway, so you can go from there. Try using your W8.1 product key when you install the OS. There is a chance everything will go smoothly. There have been a lot of reports that W10 is installing with a lot less hassle than it used to. M$ really wants everybody on it.

 

[tedmann12]

Ok cool,

Thanks a bunch guys, you have been so helpful.

 

[tedmann12]

One last question,

When I hook up my motherboard and everything, do I just turn on the computer and business as usual? Or do I need to reinstall drivers? Install motherboard software?

 

[Alaric]

Or do I need to reinstall drivers? Install motherboard software?

Yes. The disc that comes with the mobo will have the necessary drivers for it.

 

[Blaylock]

Well here is a link to the computer when I bought it.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16883258078

Not sure if it lists the model of the case, but thats a picture of it.

I have that same case and processor, mobo and RAM, otherwise I've upgraded PSU, HDD to SSD, and GPU.

Your link shows page not found.

 

[wingman99]

I mean the i7 7700k vs i5 7600k.

The i7 7700k is Simultaneous multithreading So it has 4 cores 8 threads. Also the L3 Cache is 8 MB, clock speed is 4.2GHz to turbo boost 4.5GHz

The i5 7600k has 4 cores 4 threads. also the L3 Cache is 6MB, clock speed is 3.8GHz to turbo boost of 4.2GHz.

i7 7700k vs i5 7600k performance. LINK: