[operation ivy]

hey everyone,

im planning on getting a new computer http://www.tigerdire...&Tab=0&NoMapp=0

but i see it does not come with a hard drive or GPU. this is no problem since i already have a great GPU (ATI radeon x850 pro) and two hard drives. my question is can i just straight up take my two hard drives from my current computer and put them in this new one? or will i have to modify stuff in the bios or something. keep in mind im changing everything from my RAM to my PSU. this is the first time i have had to deal with this so i need your guy's imput.

and any suggestions on the computer im buying would be welcome thats what the link is for, of course it will be a gaming computer.

thanks in advance

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I would go ahead and use your HD's and graphics card. Before installing into the new computer i would Fdisk and format the drives. Then, when installed in the new puter , install windows. You will have to re-activate windows for the new system. I have not had a problem doing this. It sure is nice to have a clean install of windows in that its speed is because you havent put all your junk on the puter thus slowing it down somewhat.

SRX660

[SRX660]

I would go ahead and use your HD's and graphics card. Before installing into the new computer i would Fdisk and format the drives. Then, when installed in the new puter , install windows. You will have to re-activate windows for the new system. I have not had a problem doing this. It sure is nice to have a clean install of windows in that its speed is because you havent put all your junk on the puter thus slowing it down somewhat.

SRX660

[warriorscot]

Yeah just plug them in and boot off the windows disk on the system disk no need for the other if its just a data disk.

[askjak2004]

if u dont reformat the drive, I highly dought your comp will start after putting those hhds in. Becuase of the fact that you have a whole new system, including the fact that I doubt Windows will pick up the mobo drivers and everything. You'd be way better off backing up what you want, and just reformatting the drive.

[warriorscot]

Yeah move everything over to the other drive you only need to reformat the drive that holds the operating system.

[operation ivy]

alrite so let me get this straight, i have one hard drive called C it has my OS and programs installed on it. my other drive Z has all my music pictures and original game downloads and files (iso's, exe's) drive Z is 80gb and drive C is 30 gb. if i take everything minus the windows folder from my drive C and put in on drive Z then clear drive C put it in my new comp then instal windows on it i can put my drive Z back into the comp and have everything exactly back to normal?

[warriorscot]

Yes its only the system disk that needs reformatted so you can do your fresh install of windows, i wouldnt move the program files or anything its better to reinstall fresh apps afterwards but all you docs and music etc. on your C move the over to the other drive and then reformat C. And everything should be fine, might want to get some more important stuff backed up onto cds or DVDs just in case (always a good idea anyway).

[operation ivy]

hmm, im more or less just worried about my games. everything else can be replaced but i have lost the backups of some of my games, plus installing all of them again would be a hastle. any ways around reinstalling all of my games?

[warriorscot]

No, if you dont have a backup then you are a muppet and if you dont have the original disks(eg you dont own them) we cant help you with that. You shouldnt keep all your games installed all the time anyway it clutters the machine only have a half dozen installed at any one time.

[operation ivy]

alrite sounds good, thanks for all the help i just have one last question. whats your opinion on these two mother boards.

http://www.tigerdire...4&sku=C460-1104

and

http://www.tigerdire...0&sku=M450-2018

thanks again.

[warriorscot]

Dont like either of them really, buy quality or expect to get fried, a good brand name board doesnt cost anymore most of the time and if the other board is very cheap there is a reason for it. Look for something MSI or ABIT or one of the other big companies. Chaintech boards have problems galore.

[operation ivy]

alrite cool thanks for the help i found a good mother board ABIT 1600mhz fsb http://www.tigerdire...&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

Edited by operation ivy, 14 December 2005 - 05:00 PM.

[warriorscot]

Would be better, and abit as far as i know have good reliable customer service as well if things go wrong.

Just double checking that you know that it is a 754 system and not a 939 system so its not going to last as long and you wont be able to upgrade to dual core without a new mobo.

[operation ivy]

hmm good point, but as far as i know you cannot get a 939 system with an AGP slot and since my new GPU is AGP im kind of stuck with AGP for a while.
unless i get this
http://canadacompute...a4b0b9b4bbbac86
does the price on this look reasonable? because im thinking this system would be upgrade friendly since its 939. the only thing i would replace is the PSU. what do you think?

[warriorscot]

Well if you allready have a new AGP card, its the AGP card that limits upgrading most becasue its obsolete and isnt made anymore in new cards. i wouold get the cheaper 754 system and then upgrade later but you kinda buggered yourself buying an AGP card in terms of upgrading.