Anyone here ever upgrade from nForce 4 SLI to nForce 590 SLI

[kb3edk]

I am currently running an Opteron 170 (basically an Athlon X2 4000+) on an Abit AN8 SLI board with a pair of GeForce 9600 GTs running XP.... I'm CPU limited on the newest games (no surprises there) and got an X2 5000+ Black Edition and an Abit AN9 SLI board today along with 2GB of DDR2 from the clearance rack at the local compu-store for just $250.

Wondering if any of you have made a similar upgrade and had to reinstall the OS... these two mobos are virtually identical except for the northbridge and I would think if I installed the latest nForce I wouldn't have to do a system rebuild... right? Or will Windows XP's nanny-ware rain on my parade...

Thanks in advance for any insights,

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

I would try uninstalling all the hardware drivers, then swap out the parts. Might work.

Have a HSF for the CPU?

 

[kb3edk]

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
I would try uninstalling all the hardware drivers, then swap out the parts. Might work.

Have a HSF for the CPU?

Sounds like a plan, thanks for the advice

As for the HSF, I am watercooling this rig now and it's a definite no-go on my waterblock fitting on the AM2 mobo. However the 4-heatpipe stock HSF that came with the Opty 170 clips quite nicely onto it so I will probably run with that for a while. Even OCed to 3GHz, these 65nm Black Edition chips are only supposed to give off ~75W. That's less than the Opty which is listed at 110W stock, so I think I'll be fine.

Thanks again,

 

[Fallen Kell]

Sorry, I have upgraded from a 680 to a 780, and in reality, didn't have to do much at all (and didn't need to do anything before the swap). But that is because the 780 is basically a 680 with an extra chip...

As has already been said, try uninstalling as many drivers as you can, and you might not have an issue with your Windows installation when you put the new board in. Don't forget to uninstall the drivers for things like IDE, and SATA controllers.

 

[taltamir]

ALWAYS reinstall the OS... can it be done without? YES!
Should it be done without? NO!

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: taltamir
ALWAYS reinstall the OS... can it be done without? YES!
Should it be done without? NO!

Often, it is not necessary to reinstall the OS when similar chipsets are used.