Different BIOS

[Killgore]

I previously had an Intel SE440BX and Pentium II 350. I just upgraded my mobo to an Abit KT7 (Award BIOS) and a Tbird 800. I checked the Windows System Information and it says my system uses the Phoenix BIOS (which was the BIOS on the SE440). This is the same in Sandra. In Norton Utilities' System Info, it detects the Award BIOS. I did not reformat and reinstall Windows after my upgrade. Ijust ported the hard drive directly. I'm reluctant to reinstall Windows because everything's running fine. Should this give me any problems later? Is this a problem at all? Any ideas or suggestions as to what I should do? Thanks.

AMD Thunderbird 800 with GlobalWin FOP32
Abit KT7
256MB PC100 RAM
250W Enlight casing
20GB IBM Deskstar 7200 HDD
6.4GB Seagate Medalist 5400 HDD
Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
SB Live
Creative Vibra 128
Iwill SCSI PCI card
LG 32x CDROM
Kodak 4424 CDRW

 

[TomBilliodeaux]

I believe that AWARD and PHOENIX are the same now. Phoenix bought Award.

 

[Killgore]

So I should not have to reformat my HDD and reinstall Windows right?

 

[Supergax]

While Phoenix owns Award, Award BIOS's are still reported as an Award BIOS, and Phoenix ans Phoenix, since they are quite different. I think that it may just be cached someplace on the system saying you have a Phoenix BIOS. The two BIOS's (not sure of the plural for BIOS) do have their differences, since the Phoenix BIOS is not as popular or for the most part tweakable, something that would not help in the process of o/c'ing, which Abit boards are known for.

You may want to reformat, see if you notice any problems with the system though. Whenever I have attempted to swap motherboards without a reformat, it was on temporary (like I was out of CD-R's or no spare time), because I would notice a few problems with the performance and operation of the system which would clear up after reformating.

 

[AndyHui]

It's always best to do a reformat and reinstall if you change motherboards, particularly when they are of different chipsets....ie Intel -> VIA.

It minimises problems as you don't have old drivers floating around to cause problems; a reinstall allows the OS to correctly allocate resources and rearrange everything that it needs. It also helps to get rid of 'OS rot' and get everything running at top speed.