ATI to Nvidia - uninstall or full wipe?

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topslop1

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Switching from R290 to a 1070. Do I need to do a full system wipe / reformat? Or can I get away with just uninstalling the drivers and then installing the new drivers?
 
I went from a 280X to a 980TI and just used a driver cleaner. No issues here.
 
I'd burn the PC to be sure the 1070 is not contaminated by AMD.
Or just uninstall old drivers and install new. May be a good idea to run a driver cleaner.
 
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I would go so far to say even NOT uninstalling the other drivers wouldnt hurt anything.....wiping the drive be be just wast of time:)
 
I'd just use DDU and remove the drivers in safe mode. Thus far I haven't had issues with it.

I like reformating, but in the case of a GPU switch it isn't worthwhile imo. Unless you think a fresh windows would change anything.
 
When I moved up from my GTX 670 to my 290x I just plugged the card in and downloaded the AMD drivers then uninstalled the Nvidia drivers later when I got around to it. Been a few years now and never had a problem. Reinstalling the OS is way overkill.
 
Went from 290x/290 to 1070 - just uninstalled drivers. Then had a 1070 and 290x installation for mGPU testing. No issues in any case

So yes you can have both cards up and running on two different monitors and decide which one is your gaming card. I had no noticeable conflicts. Now I have a single 1070 with another one coming.
 
primetime said:
I would go so far to say even NOT uninstalling the other drivers wouldnt hurt anything.....wiping the drive be be just wast of time:)
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Yeap, done this a lot on my test bench. I'd have current drivers for both installed all the time since I'd switch cards whilst testing. The nvidia ones are more of a pain since they preferred to have their drivers reinstalled to initialize the new gpu where the amd drivers didn't need to do that.
 
topslop1 said:
Switching from R290 to a 1070. Do I need to do a full system wipe / reformat? Or can I get away with just uninstalling the drivers and then installing the new drivers?
Click to expand...

Maybe just buy a new HDD, don't want to take any chances....
 
topslop1 said:
Switching from R290 to a 1070. Do I need to do a full system wipe / reformat? Or can I get away with just uninstalling the drivers and then installing the new drivers?
Click to expand...
This isn't the wild west that Windows XP and before were. When AMD, Nvidia, and Microsoft finally got their shit together on WDDM sometime around Vista service pack 1 about 10 years ago is when most of this nonsense went away.

At most, you may run a driver cleaner program, but that shouldn't be necessary unless something is truly fouled up.
 
AMD still has a proper driver uninstall on their website. I'm not sure if it's still updated often but I used it for my upgrade from a 280x to a 1070 and it found a bunch of leftover files and registry items on the system. Of course I ended up formatting anyway after a borked Win10 Anniversary update. Oh well.

AMD Driver Cleaner
 
not the old days anymore. Never have had any issues for years now. uninstall and install away, you should be fine.
 
I'm not sure a disk wipe would be good enough. you might have issues

i would just go buy a tottaly new disk to install windows on.
Consider replacing the PSU as well since it has had direct contact to the cards as well. Motherboads are ussually ok.
 
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SvenBent said:
I'm not sure a disk wipe would be good enough. you might have issues

i would just go buy a tottaly new disk to install windows on.
Consider replacing the PSU as well since it has had direct contact to the cards as well. Motherboads are ussually ok.
Click to expand...

But think of the motherboard pci socket - worn out, stretched wide and a saggy slot?
 
I second SvenBent. You really have to replace the PSU, you see there were electrons moving between the old GPU and PSU that will likely cause instability with the new card since the electrons can still be around in the PSU.

Same with the hard drive, you REALLY don't wanna have any residue left of the old drivers, even if you wipe the HDD they can still flash your new video card bios without any notice. Be aware!

N4CR said:
But think of the motherboard pci socket - worn out, stretched wide and a saggy slot?
Click to expand...

Oh not to mention that, plus there may actually be entire ATOMS left from the old GPU!
 
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ha ha ... you had me at stretched wide saggy slot :LOL:

Just had this conversation with a good friend of mine. He gave me a Dell workstation with his old 560ti installed. Mentioned that I was going to upgrade with more recent Radeon card and he went through the usual green team fan boy musings - registry issues, et all.
 
Take the old drivers out for dinner, explain to them it isn't them, it's you, tell them you're just not ready to take the relationship to the level they want and you don't want to fake it anymore. Let them down gently but firmly. Change your locks just in case.
 
topslop1 said:
Switching from R290 to a 1070. Do I need to do a full system wipe / reformat? Or can I get away with just uninstalling the drivers and then installing the new drivers?
Click to expand...

Full wipe. I'd also consider swapping out the HD that had your old OS on it with a new one, can never be too sure. While you're at it, unplug all your components and put everything back together.

*edit, people beat me to the joke haha
 
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