There's something I still don't quite understand.....
I hate to replace questions with questions, but if you can fight fire with fire......
With my Intel boards the BIOS is not processor specific.
So, can't you update the BIOS from within Windows, BEFORE removing the old processor? (Does Asus provide an executable version of BIOS updates)? This would make update the BIOS step 1.
I'm a big fan of drive scrubber software. So, couldn't you do this as step 2.
Unless you have Windows on it's own partition you'd lose all you data on the drive anyway.
So if I were going to do this, I'd probably do it in this order:
1. Flash the BIOS
2. Scrub the drive
3. Change the CPU
4. Check the boot order in BIOS, making sure the optical drive is first in boot order.
5. Install Windows, allowing it to do a full format on the drive. Yes, not a quick format.
6. Update the drivers
Is there anything wrong with this sequence of events? It is in point of fact a "clean install".
I'm still missing the point about the BIOS being processor specific. If it were, you'd never be able to build a new computer without buying a motherboard either with a processor installed, or a processor specific motherboard, would you? Then again, that question might have been brought on on by me being an Intel person in board and in processor.
I suppose some of my confusion could be alleviated by explaining which version BIOS is in the computer, and what is the minimum update number the new processor requires.