New CPU, Motherboard and RAM

kevlon · 27 Mar 2008 at 16:06

I currently have a 939 mother board, AMD chip and DDR RAM. I am looking at a Intel 775 board, core 2 duo chip and DDR2 RAM. As I will keep my 8800gt, hard drive, power supply, case and optical drives how easy is the changeover?
Is it a simple bung in the new bits install the board software and away you go or will it take a hard drive format and reinstall of everything from scratch?

Kearney_1988 · 27 Mar 2008 at 16:10

pretty much but if you have an oem version of your OS you will need to buy a new version as they are tied to the motherboard

kevlon · 27 Mar 2008 at 16:14

Is that pretty much simple or pretty much start from scratch? My OS is unfortuanatly OEM. Thanks for the reply.

Kearney_1988 · 27 Mar 2008 at 16:20

to be honest ive never tried but i think it may just need reactivating but using a new product key

Lee

jak731 · 27 Mar 2008 at 16:21

you legally need a new OS if yours is OEM if you change MB

khrall · 27 Mar 2008 at 16:27

When swapping from AMD to Intel or Vice-Versa, you typically have to do a clean install.

Tried on systems in the past and usually get no end of problems even after having cleaning out all drivers and sys-prepping etc. Plus I like clean installs, gets rid of all the junk you never use.

As for OEM versions, it's a grey area.

kevlon · 27 Mar 2008 at 16:30

Thanks for the advice.

khrall · 27 Mar 2008 at 16:31

From the Microsoft License FAQ, question 11:

Rather than purchase completely new PCs, my organization performs in-place upgrades to the hardware on many of our computers. We often times only replace the motherboard, processor, and memory. Since the COA is still on the case and the OS is still installed on the hard drive, this computer is still licensed, right?

Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on your computer and maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the exception of an upgrade or replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade of the motherboard is considered to result in a "new personal computer." Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from one computer to another. Therefore, if the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect then a new computer has been created, the original license expires, and a new full operating system license (not upgrade) is required. This is true even if the computer is covered under Software Assurance or other Volume License programs.

Guess your old motherboard is defective and you had to replace it?