I apologize for my inexperience on the matter and this question may seem somewhat unorthodox. My liquid cooling system dripped on my video card and motherboard, killing both instantly. Naturally I seek to replace them with the same exact models. What my inquiries are as follows: Are there any significant issues that may arise with replacing them with the same models? What are the necessary steps that must be undertaken to successfully replace them? The Video Card is a Palit GeForce® GTX 560 Ti 2GB and my Motherboard is Sabertooth x58. My operation system is Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit.
- I assume I have to tweak my Windows 7 OS, considering a New Motherboard is essentially a new PC. Do I use my re-installation disk or contact Microsoft?
If it were me I would just put it in there and try to boot it up. It may decide that it's found new hardware (even if it's identical to the old stuff). Let it do it's "new" hardware installation and whatever reboot(s) are necessary. I would pay close attention to attaching everything in the same ports/slots etc as it was on the old board.
You may have to do the robocall to Microsoft for activation. The key here is to (honestly) say "no" if it asks you if the copy of Windows is installed on any other computer.
My MB (a Gigabyte EX58-UD3R) croaked after just under a year of use and I replaced it with the same model just over a year ago. Everything I described above is how it went for me when I replaced it, including booting from the original hardware with Windows already installed. After the phone activation I have had no problems, either with the new board or with Microsoft pertaining to "Genuine Software" issues.
(And I'm curious to know if you get the "Windows did not properly shut down" message when you start it up for the first time.)
If you swap in identical hardware I wouldn't do anything. I went from an ASUS M2N68 to a M4N68 and all I had to do was switch the audio drivers. One was RealTek and the other was VIA. Windows didn't even blink or prompt to activate. You shouldn't have to do anything other than get out a screw driver.
My Computer
At a glance
Windows 10 Education 64 bitAMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 MemoryZotac NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built
OS
Windows 10 Education 64 bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
Motherboard
Asus M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
Memory
8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
Graphics Card(s)
Zotac NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
Sound Card
VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
