Upgrading

[Anonymous]

I was thinking of getting a better processor for my PC. Is it possible to just switch out the processor and motherboard for new ones without having to reformat/reconfig/whatever?

[MetalMilitia]

Not really. Well you *can* but its kind of dodgey because of motherboard drivers and whatnot.

[Alive]

Just by a cpu/motherboard bundle, or what i like to do (and is cheaper than a whole new setup) buy a "bare bones" setup. cpu/motherboard/ram/3.5 drive/card reader (sometimes) and case. just add your hard drive/video card and plug your monitor/keyboard/mouse in and your ready to go with a new computer for (usualy) around $150-200 wheareas a cpu/motherboard combo would only set you back about a $100.

[MetalMilitia]

For the purposes of this thread that would be exactly the same as just getting a new mobo and processor.

oh, btw i shoudl have mentioned in my last post. When i put my new mobo in i didn't format but they where both nforce based boards and i dont think i had any drivers installed at the time. But it worked fine :/

[Alive]

Oh well, this way then. no you dont have to reformat. today's bios "auto-detect" at post -boot. so you would still be ready to go after windows detects your new toy(s) (motherboard/cpu ect..)
have fun!

[AChimp]

I've swapped CPUs before without any problems. Just make sure that your motherboard will support the new speed. If you have a relatively new motherboard, too, there shouldn't be any jumper switching, either.

[whoreable]

although ive never tried it, aparently if you remove the pci bus in safe mode then reboot with your new mb and proc it might work.

[executioneer]

lol that didnt mean anything:lol