Solved Mobo update Q's

Hi all, I'm toying with the idea of upgrading my mobo and have a couple of queries.
1/ Can it be done without formatting the OS drive?
2/ Is USB4 appreciably faster than USB3?
3/ If I get one with 2 x M2 ports will the second, (storage only), one be appreciably faster than the normal SATA hook up?
4/ I don't play performance games anymore.......got old!.......So, Is it worth getting another Nvidia video card or just rely on intel graphics?
The reasons I ask are, I do a lot of transfers from PC to flash drives, currently USB3 and I have an SSD which is not being used as no spare M2 port on my mobo.
Looking for a reasonably priced ie budget mobo. TIA
Harry

USB 4 is capable of going a lot faster than any of the USB 3 derivatives.

lffoar said:

Hi all, I'm toying with the idea of upgrading my mobo and have a couple of queries.
1/ Can it be done without formatting the OS drive?

Click to expand...

Yes. Windows may change the drivers as needed.
It's not guaranteed, though. And a clean install is preferable. (To me, at least.)

lffoar said:

2/ Is USB4 appreciably faster than USB3?

Click to expand...

Note that USB3 = USB 3.1 Gen1 = USB 3.2 Gen1 (5Gbps) USB 3.2 Gen2, 10Gbps. USB 3.2 Gen2X2, 20Gbps. USB4 defines a variety of data rates. Most are faster than 20Gbps. USB4 also has a relationship with Thunderbolt.

I regard both USB 3.2 Gen2X2 and USB4 external devices as rare. I have a couple of USB 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps) thumb drives.

lffoar said:

3/ If I get one with 2 x M2 ports will the second, (storage only), one be appreciably faster than the normal SATA hook up?

Click to expand...

In benchmarks, definitely. In real world performance, probably not so much.

lffoar said:

4/ I don't play performance games anymore.......got old!.......So, Is it worth getting another Nvidia video card or just rely on intel graphics?

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Depends on what you do with the PC. Some photo processing/editing software wants a GPU of recent design. (An nVidia RTX 5060 would be low-end for that.)

lffoar said:

The reasons I ask are, I do a lot of transfers from PC to flash drives, currently USB3 and I have an SSD which is not being used as no spare M2 port on my mobo

Click to expand...

lffoar said:

Looking for a reasonably priced ie budget mobo. TIA
Harry

Click to expand...

That's too vague a question for me to answer.

Are you willing to consider AMD CPUs?

Do you have a budget?

Are you limited in motherboard size (e. g., micro ATX) to fit you case?

What's your PSU?

PCPartpicker is good to play with.

Even if you get USB4 ports, the USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 devices are not going to be much faster. You need to buy a USB4 flash drive to see a huge difference. Same goes to the faster PCIe slots. If the card you put is an earlier version that the slot, it's not going to be any faster as by magic. That said and considering you don't play demanding games, you have to think if the upgrade is really worth the money.

lffoar said:

Hi all, I'm toying with the idea of upgrading my mobo and have a couple of queries.
1/ Can it be done without formatting the OS drive?
2/ Is USB4 appreciably faster than USB3?
3/ If I get one with 2 x M2 ports will the second, (storage only), one be appreciably faster than the normal SATA hook up?
4/ I don't play performance games anymore.......got old!.......So, Is it worth getting another Nvidia video card or just rely on intel graphics?
The reasons I ask are, I do a lot of transfers from PC to flash drives, currently USB3 and I have an SSD which is not being used as no spare M2 port on my mobo.
Looking for a reasonably priced ie budget mobo. TIA
Harry

Click to expand...

Hi,

Just some stuff to add.

With newer PCI-E you will most likely also get a higher bandwidth between the chipset and memory/CPU, which is sometimes a bottleneck for devices controlled by the chipset, which all have to communicate with the CPU/ memory. This may or may not matter to you, probably not.

1. I have upgraded my motherboard and CPU a number of times without doing a fresh install. You will need to install drivers for the devices on the Motherboard as the devices and CPU and chipset will have changed. These are available on the support website for your motherboard.

3. Yes, and NVME drive will be significantly faster than a SATA SSD.