Which components can I safely switch?

[shinkairi]

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]

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

How To - How to Ask for New Build or Upgrade Advice

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[Colif]

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.

 

[Boon72]

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

 

[Colif]

3 results if you swap windows into a new PC
1. it works
2. it works but it has weird problems
3. It doesn't work at all

So op can try but I would backup anything on C before he does, just in case

 

[Boon72]

yeah, i forgot to mention i have Acronis backup on an external drive backing up weekly so can recover.

 

[Colif]

well, tbh I meant just copy anything off C you don't want to lose. How you do it is up to you.

I have a company I pay $6 every month to backup my drive.

I would ask them, if they already doing it they should know method to reinstall.

 

[COLGeek]

You can't just copy programs, but you can can copy saved documents/files. Depends on what you are trying to copy/move.

 

[Brian Boru]

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.

 

[Brian Boru]

disk imaging is a bit like the integrated restore points from Windows? But better?

Yes, that's a good comparison. Restore Points are good too, provided they're stored on a separate physical disk—preferably external.