Motherboard swap-er-roo -- with Windows 7

[BonzaiDuck]

It wasn't my plan to "use" the RC1 Windows-7 64-bit I'd put on the boot-drive for this system -- I was going to use another OS, and never mind the details.

Now, I've swapped the motherboard 680i for a Gigabyte EP45-UD3R. I was actually going to overwrite the boot drive with the new OS and dump Windows 7, but I made a mistake in the initial hardware setup (reversal of floppy cable), so the system actually booted into Windows 7 when it was supposed to load MEMTEST86+ from a floppy.

It looks as though the Win-7 OS is still totally operable, even for swapping the motherboard. Yet, for established retail/OEM OS releases, I and others would recommend just reinstalling the OS from scratch when making a change of motherboard-chipsets. The only exception would be moving from an nVidia 680i to nVidia 780i, or a comparable upgrade for an Intel OS.

But I don't recall installing chipset drivers for "Windows 7" with the 680i board. Because -- I don't think there WERE any chipset drivers available for Windows 7.

Is there something I'm missing here? Can I assume this RC1 Windows-7 is still "reliable" on the P45 motherboard?

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Can I assume this RC1 Windows-7 is still "reliable" on the P45 motherboard?

My best *guess* is yes...

I don't know anybody that has needed to install drivers in 7.

My *hunch* is MS is using some sort of mega-shotgun scheme now.

The fact that your board even booted in the first place is a sign that a fresh install isn't needed.

Why don't you stress it for a few hours, running benchmarks, and see if you can break it? 😀

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
Can I assume this RC1 Windows-7 is still "reliable" on the P45 motherboard?

My best *guess* is yes...

I don't know anybody that has needed to install drivers in 7.

My *hunch* is MS is using some sort of mega-shotgun scheme now.

The fact that your board even booted in the first place is a sign that a fresh install isn't needed.

Why don't you stress it for a few hours, running benchmarks, and see if you can break it? 😀

Good thought, there. I'd installed all the benchtesting software when I first installed the RC1 64-bit OS.

At that time, I had it over-clocked (E8400 3.0Ghz @ 3.6). The over-clocking with the nVidia chipset was much easier than these newer Intel chipsets, and I must "approach with caution." [I found an article the other day somewhere, suggesting that the P45 and more formidable Intel chipsets say "goodbye" to the days of easy OC'ing, or that tweaking certain features besides voltages are necessary to achieve the high FSB's for the new memory and mobo's].

But I'm still intent on just using this system as a file-server with WHS. It's hardware overkill, but these are the only parts I have. There is only one computer left in the household that is "P4 vintage." And it's not "my" computer . . . .

Despite all the advice about pre-release versions of Windows 7 (or any new OS, for that matter), I'm debating whether to implement WHS under VMWare or some similar virtual machine software. The RC1 gives me the chance to defer purchasing an OS outright until I abso-freakin-lutely have to do it . . .

 

[Raduque]

I did this on accident with Vista. I installed the HD from my HTPC in my main PC and reversed the cable on the drives, and it booted into Vista.

HTPC is an AMD/nForce combo and my main PC is an Intel/965P combo.