FROM TOP4 3.8GHZ QX6850 3.0GHZABIT AA8XE ABIT I35ATI X850XT ATI HD2900XT2 GIG RAM 4 GIG RAMWindows XP Professional Service Pack 2Would I be able to boot up with my present hard drive with no problems?I realize, I have to install the updated drivers for the new HD2900XT.Am I missing something?Thanks.Abe

Hey Abe,Booting up will go fine if your current one is IDE, if its SATA you might or might not have to install those drivers first, however since you are upgrading from scratch, I would definatly after having backed up the things needed, do a complete reinstall of windows in order to have no conflicts chipset driver wise with your new motherboard.Do not use your old Windows installation containing your old chipset drivers with this new motherboard.

Thanks Davis.Last time I did an upgrade I booted up with the XP CD and that seemed to have installed or corrected whatever was needed. Is this time any different?Thanks.Abe

Hey Abe, This just from own experience, don't rely solely on the XP cd to install all that is needed. What it installs is not always the right driver, sometimes its installs a driver that works fine, but is a multipurpose driver that runs for example lets say more than one brand of network card. Again it will work fine, but its just not the native made driver.After the install go to each designated hardware maker and download their drivers of their side.One reason is you get the driver that is actually designed for your component, and two if your not into slip streaming updater drivers onto your install CD, you end up with out dated drivers.With a reinstall, start as fresh as you can, definatly when it comes to chipset drivers.