Motherboard / Chipset upgrades and existing installations

[BonzaiDuck]

While any may beg to differ and attribute my disaster to something else, I've concluded that you can really strain a 680i Northbridge or related components by OC'ing from 1,333 to 1,600+ FSB.

Whatever the case, by swapping components, I've concluded that my Striker Extreme is dead-in-the-water. The symptoms are identical to an old Pentium II INtel SE440BX motherboard I had around 2001. That one -- I replaced with an SE440BX-2. The chipset on the new board was essentially the same -- with some updated features. So I was able to plug in my hard-drive and Windows installation, and I was good to go.

I could just let this Striker project go, but now that I have the processor and more than one memory kit for it, seeing DDR3 on the horizon and no end in sight to the leak in my wallet, I decided to get a 780i board.

What prospects do I have for jump-starting my RAID0 (nvidia on-board controller) array into VISTA 64, and installing the new chipset drivers for the 780i board?

If I have to start from scratch, I guess I've had enough experience trying to get it right. I had the pre-SP1 VISTA-64 installation.

 

[cmdrdredd]

That's a good question because XP always barfed back a blue screen and/or numerous errors if you tried to swap motherboards on a windows install. I wonder how Vista handles the same thing.

If you attempt it let us know what you find out.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'll do that.

This has always been of great interest to me, and not just for being lazy.

With the old SE440BX Intel board, very little would've changed with the -2 revision.

IN my current circumstances, the 680i will be replaced with a 780i, and people have noted that the latter simply adds -- what was it? nForce 200 chip or something? -- to what was basically a 680i chipset.

I'm pretty sure that disk controllers are downwardly compatible, no less for RAID controllers. So my RAID0 should be "available" even if I reinstall VISTA 64, and if I do a complete reinstall, I COULD simply install to the existing array.

The other option is to add a third drive to the configuration; reinstall VISTA 64 on it; dump all the file downloads and the service-pack executable, and then once the entire configuration is restored, use a utility like Partition Commander 10 to move the single-drive installation to the RAID0 after dropping the partition to the latter. I did this when I build the first 680i machine last year -- from a single drive to a RAID5 -- without a hitch.

But it would be easier if I could just get VISTA 64 to boot into a Safe Mode, and then install the chipset drivers for the 780i board.

I remember at sometime seeing a blog or article about this dilemma. And I had thought it possible to uninstall the old chipset drivers, rebuild the system and then install the new ones. But it may have been an imagination of mine. Most info-tech people I know advocate doing a complete reinstall. That is, if something goes wrong -- whether or not hardware replacement is necessary -- the comprehensive disk-backup utilities are less favored -- it is better to have a good backup system for DATA files and downloaded installation executables. then, you simply reinstall the OS and go through an inventory of program installations so that you can install them from CD/DVD or the download files.

For the 680i to 780i migration -- I'll come back here and report my triumphs or disasters, however it follows through.

 

[Cybercraig]

Vista is pretty sharp with that. I migrated from a P5N-E-SLI 650 & a 6300 to a 6550 and a P5N32-E-SLI plus 650+570 with virtually no hassle. Now Ive melted my Northbridge and will try migrating to the 680i version of the same board. I noticed the driver disks were virtually identical. Good luck.

 

[Mango1970]

I hate RAIDS... so I wont go there but going from a 680 to a 780 is not much difference as you said. I did that exact upgrade for a friend and it worked like a charm but we used XP.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
What prospects do I have for jump-starting my RAID0 (nvidia on-board controller) array into VISTA 64, and installing the new chipset drivers for the 780i board?

Originally posted by: Cybercraig
Vista is pretty sharp with that. I migrated from a P5N-E-SLI 650 & a 6300 to a 6550 and a P5N32-E-SLI plus 650+570 with virtually no hassle. Now Ive melted my Northbridge and will try migrating to the 680i version of the same board. I noticed the driver disks were virtually identical. Good luck.

Originally posted by: Mango1970
I hate RAIDS... so I wont go there but going from a 680 to a 780 is not much difference as you said. I did that exact upgrade for a friend and it worked like a charm but we used XP.

Well, Folks!! I may have intuition, but I'm cautious to get second opinions!! Others may find this both interesting and encouraging:

E-mail received today from: eVGA Tech-Support
If the RAID0 installation from the 680i motherboard was still intact then you should have no issues with the RAID0 on the 780i. Before attempting to boot to Windows, make sure RAID is enabled in the BIOS for the 780i. The layout is just about the same as the 680i so if you are familiar with the setup then please do so. It is located under ?integrated peripherals? -> ?RAID Config?. The MediaShield BIOS utility should report the RAID as healthy and be able to boot into Vista safe mode or even normal mode.

 

[Cybercraig]

Yup. I just jumped to the 680i version of the P5N32-E-SLI. No problems at all. Vista wanted to reactivate because I was down for a week but poof, all fine now! ;-)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: Cybercraig
Yup. I just jumped to the 680i version of the P5N32-E-SLI. No problems at all. Vista wanted to reactivate because I was down for a week but poof, all fine now! ;-)

Well . . . . Let me quote an episode of the '80s crime-drama series -- "Crime Story."

RAY LUCCA [to G-man Richard Farina]: [sitting at a table in a Las Vegas casino penthouse]: "Ah'm back! Ah'm bad! Ah'm on top! You wing-tip bozos ain't got nuthin' on me!!"

That's the "up-side." RAID0 is IN . . TACT. VIST 64 is bootable in "Normal mode."

The downside: I attempted to install the eVGA drivers from the CD menu. Upon reboot, the system BSOD'd. Reboot into "boot menu" -- selected "Last known good configuration." Voila, and saved again.

But the driver installations still show up on the Control-Panel "Programs" database list.

I may uninstall all drivers including nVidia GeForce, and circumvent letting the CD-menu select or choose among Vista 32, Vista 64, etc.

I probably should make an emergency disk, back up all the downloaded software and licenses, make a slip-streamed VISTA 64, and be ready for brute-force if the driver-reinstallation makes the system go belly-up.

ANOTHER OBSERVATION: high temperatures on the newly-added E8600 (replacing the E8400 used with the dead Striker motheboard . . . . couldn't help myself.) This suggests that there is a BIOS revision that will correct this problem, but there is absolutely no chance that there is a "problem with the heatsink mounting." None whatever.

UPSIDE ON THE EVGA BOARD: Not a lot to say, so far.

DOWNSIDE: STRIKER (ASUS) was a Cadillac. I miss the thermal sensors and Q-Fan control. While all 680i BIOS features can be found in the BIOS setup for the EVGA 780i, -- too many colors -- you know -- red, yellow, blue . . . And one of the fan sensors does not seem to be showing any rpms, but all fans are spinning.

I suppose I could take up golf, surfing or any number of other pursuits . . . . but "DIS . . . . IS DA BIDNIS . . . . WE'RE IN." [And that's a line from the Jewish crime-lord Hyman Roth: Godfather II.]