Which components can I safely switch?

Nov 17, 2020
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Hello,

I need some help. I want to upgrade my PC but am not sure which components I can safely switch without causing any issues to my system and to be able to boot to my desktop as usual.

I only want to switch CPU, Motherboard, and RAM. Not GPU and not storage drive. Am I good to go? Or will RAM and motherboard replacement cause some issues?

Thanks.
 

Brian Boru

King of Munster
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Our experts will need a lot more info. Please see here:

 
I only want to switch CPU, Motherboard, and RAM. Not GPU and not storage drive. Am I good to go? Or will RAM and motherboard replacement cause some issues?
You are essentially getting a new PC at that point. MB & CPU are the most important parts of a PC, you are likely to have to reinstall windows to get it to work on new PC so backup anything on C you don't want to lose.
 
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Oct 2, 2020
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I have just replaced my i5-8500, Z370 board and 2666mhz ram over to a 12500, Z690 board and 3600mhz ram and had no issues. (i didnt reinstall windows for several years and hardware changes) i just had to reactivate windows 10
 

Brian Boru

King of Munster
Moderator
I thought you can not copy paste items from C: drive
You can copy files you made or got yourself—eg text files, spreadsheets, images, game saves etc etc—from any drive, C: included, to any other drive, C: included.

You can't copy OS or program files and have them work elsewhere. What you must do for those is called a disk image.

It looks like you will be installing Windows afresh, so you don't want a disk image. Install Windows, install your programs, adjust any settings you want—then make a disk image. That will be your fallback 'restart' position if anything goes wrong—you spend ~30 minutes restoring that image.

Ideally you want your personal files on a different drive than where the OS and other programs are located. It's just better organized and easier to manage that way.
 
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