Turning 2 computers into 1

[Messymess66]

I have recently bought a "used" rig from a friend that had a better MOBO, RAM, and Video Card. I wish to keep my HD's, Power Supply and Tower.

1. What are some issues I may run into?
2. What are some of the best complete backup options out there?

I assumed I'll need to hook my monitor directly into new MOBO to run graphics directly from that until I can get all drivers downloaded for Video Card.

I am open to all suggestions, please and thank you!

Cheers~

 

[Cycloid Torus]

Start with download and reading of both motherboard manuals.
Compare systems (I use Belarc Advisor) and determine what you will want in the 'better' system.
Confirm components are compatible.
Maintain good practices - ground out before touching components - follow an orderly disassembly plan
Re-assemble in accordance with motherboard manual instructions.

I use iDrive for backup. It allows me to backup personal files with version control to an encrypted cloud based storage and to make local file and image backups using flash or DVD.

"I assumed I'll need to hook my monitor directly into new MOBO to run graphics directly from that until I can get all drivers downloaded for Video Card." Probably not - universal drivers allow you to use video card if set up in settings/bios.

Read The Manual.

 

[Axeia]

Do a fresh install of windows as it is likely to throw a hissy fit when a lot of hardware (or just the motherboard) changes and in general it's recommended to start afresh anyhow.

If you're using a big tower-cooler make sure your case has the clearance for it (can usually be found on the case manufacturer site). Shouldn't be any need to connect the monitor to the onboard first. Even without AMD/NVIDIA drivers, the cards still work they just do so on a really low resolution but good enough to visit the AMD/NVIDIA site and download their drivers .

Everything else should be trouble free unless you're trying to cram an ATX motherboard into a mini-ITX case but going by your post you're tech-savvy enough to already realise that wouldn't quite work out .

 

[Verrm]

Do not do any fancy backup mate. I understand that from 2 pcs you have 2 HDDs at minimum, right?
So do it like that: *assuming you have 1 HDD in each PC*
1. Take out the HDD from your friend's rig and pop it into your pc as a second drive
2. Format friend's HDD and backup to it all the data you want
3. Shutdown your pc and start building your new hybrid rig
4. Once you're done install only your old HDD - format it and install windows on it from scratch
5. Then do all the normal driver installation etc
6. Once you got everything done turn off the new pc and hook in as 2nd drive the backup HDD
7. Start the PC and copy over what data you want.
8. Profit.

 

[Kitsune Aoi]

Do not do any fancy backup mate. I understand that from 2 pcs you have 2 HDDs at minimum, right?
So do it like that: *assuming you have 1 HDD in each PC*
1. Take out the HDD from your friend's rig and pop it into your pc as a second drive
2. Format friend's HDD and backup to it all the data you want
3. Shutdown your pc and start building your new hybrid rig
4. Once you're done install only your old HDD - format it and install windows on it from scratch
5. Then do all the normal driver installation etc
6. Once you got everything done turn off the new pc and hook in as 2nd drive the backup HDD
7. Start the PC and copy over what data you want.
8. Profit.

This is what I do every time I rebuild my machine pretty much. Transfer all my stuff I want to keep from my system drive over to the extra drives then do a fresh install on the "cleaned" system drive

 

[Jollyriffic]

Along with the new motherboard, snag the network driver.
like the others have said, do a fresh install after grabing the pics, music, text/doc, or other files that aren't "installed/program" items.
once you do your fresh install, install your network driver and then use this to update everything else https://sdi-tool.org/download/
that program is a dream for anyone that constantly reinstalls or works on computers.

I even use that with new computers, since they all dump their bloatware into the system, I simply do a fresh install, then run that and get all the chipset/driver updates without all the crap that comes along with the manufactures downloads.