• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 14:50
CET 20:50
KST 04:50
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Finals Preview: Sweet Victory!12[ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror6[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5
Community News
Weekly Cups (Oct 26 - Nov 1): MaxPax, herO, Solar win0Weekly Cups (October 19-25): Clem triples first in 5.0.175Evil Geniuses - shutting down23ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier7Weekly Cups (October 12-18): 5.0.17 era begins1
StarCraft 2
General
No more SC2 streamers on team liquid? StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon [D] Hacker peak in sc2 ? Liquibets sc2 season 30 Evil Geniuses - shutting down
Tourneys
SC4ALL: II Venue Change Announcement! Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament WardiTV Mondays ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[G] How to playtest arcade maps Starcraft 2 Advance [D] the control group Simple Questions/Answers
External Content
Mutation # 551 Robotic Revival Mutation # 550 Graveyard Shift The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 549 Endless Sparkles
Brood War
General
List of top players active on ShieldBattery Rollback Netcode in Brood War Sagi.gg Launcher Released BW General Discussion [Megathread] Daily Funny Videos
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [$1250] International ShieldBattery League Small VOD Thread 2.0 KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 4
Strategy
50,000-Word Terran Builds Memo 2026-10-22 Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Stratus: Battle for the sky now on steam Early acc Deus Ex 3!?
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25!
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
Fan Club Resource Thread Reynor Fan Club The Flash Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Why I built Repalyzer (1.1.…
BlueStar
Innovate or Game Over?
TrAiDoS
ShieldBattery on Mac
Kraekkling
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 7588 users

[H] Upgrading a PC

Blogs > Spartan
Post a Reply
Spartan
Profile Blog Joined July 2005
United States2030 Posts
June 10 2009 22:45 GMT
#1
What parts can you upgrade on a PC without having to reformat and reinstall the OS? I know you can change RAM and add more HDs, but can you upgrade the processor to a new one of the same brand?

# http://nkspartan.com (web engineer)
# TL member since July 2005; CEO of Vile Gaming; President of Team Vile
b3h47pte
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
United States1317 Posts
June 10 2009 22:46 GMT
#2
Erm. I'm pretty sure you can do anything. if you go above 4GB of ram you should get a 64-bit OS but that's about it...
DragoonPK
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
3259 Posts
June 10 2009 22:51 GMT
#3
A PC's upgrade limitation is nearly non existent. You could literally change every piece of hardware except as b3h47pte said the switch from 32-bit to 64-bit.
dyodyo
Profile Blog Joined December 2005
Philippines578 Posts
June 10 2009 22:53 GMT
#4
On June 11 2009 07:46 b3h47pte wrote:
Erm. I'm pretty sure you can do anything. if you go above 4GB of ram you should get a 64-bit OS but that's about it...

Thats also what I know. The only issue I have encountered before is moving/upgrading windows from a Intel-based machine to an AMD-based one (or vice versa). It wouldn't boot for me so I had to reinstall the OS.
TeamLiquid CJ Entusman #26
Etherone
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States1898 Posts
June 10 2009 23:14 GMT
#5
did no one read the question?

"What parts can you upgrade on a PC without having to reformat and reinstall the OS?"

if you swap CPU's you don't need to reinstall your OS, but keep in mind that DRM locked software will recognize it as a new PC so, you may want to.

basically anything that isn't the Mobo, and swapping out your HDD for a new one, will not require OS reinstall. unfortunately for me my mobo is probably the next part i have to upgrade T.T
Manit0u
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
Poland17872 Posts
June 10 2009 23:25 GMT
#6
Basically, if it's not the motherboard you don't need to reinstall your OS, just the drivers. But personally I'd suggest OS reinstall with mobo/proc changes, anything else is fine.
Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
R3condite
Profile Joined August 2008
Korea (South)1541 Posts
June 11 2009 00:15 GMT
#7
gpu, ram, hd, psu, anything but mobo is fine

CPU would allow the computer to work but depending on from wat to wat you are upgrading make fuk stuff over

also it's recommended taht u just redo the whole thing if u change either the cpu or the mobo (mobo is kind of forced, not just recommended)
ggyo...
Flow.of.soul
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States210 Posts
June 11 2009 02:29 GMT
#8
Like people said you can pretty much swap out anything except for the motherboard (and the harddrive with your OS on it obviously). Its general rule of thumb though to reinstall the OS. Everything runs alot smoother that way and if you have not reinstalled your OS in a while it will get rid of alot of bitrot, speeding up your machine.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
IPSL
02:00
Ro24 Group D
Azhi_Dahaki vs ggnore13
Double vs WIZARD
Airneanach135
Liquipedia
IntoTheTV X SOOP
20:00
Premier - Final Day
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech127
BRAT_OK 59
MindelVK 33
EmSc Tv 19
IndyStarCraft 10
Ketroc 0
StarCraft: Brood War
Hyun 45
ggaemo 13
yabsab 13
LuMiX 0
Dota 2
qojqva3170
Counter-Strike
pashabiceps2220
gobbtv128
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox430
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu450
Khaldor99
Other Games
tarik_tv6061
summit1g5024
Grubby2509
Liquid`RaSZi2133
FrodaN1579
singsing1576
PiGStarcraft228
Fuzer 179
QueenE113
Mew2King84
NeuroSwarm35
Railgan32
Organizations
Other Games
EGCTV1231
gamesdonequick713
Counter-Strike
PGL90
StarCraft 2
angryscii 32
EmSc Tv 19
EmSc2Tv 19
[ Show 19 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 41
• maralekos11
• Reevou 11
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• Pr0nogo 28
• FirePhoenix10
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV468
League of Legends
• Nemesis2488
• Jankos1996
Other Games
• imaqtpie1064
• Shiphtur235
• tFFMrPink 16
Upcoming Events
BSL
10m
Cross vs Puma
Artosis vs Spine
Replay Cast
3h 10m
Replay Cast
1d 3h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 14h
WardiTV Invitational
1d 16h
YoungYakov vs Lambo
SHIN vs TBD
Percival vs Shameless
Solar vs TBD
PiGosaur Cup
2 days
The PondCast
3 days
KCM Race Survival
3 days
WardiTV Invitational
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
5 days
[ Show More ]
IPSL
5 days
TerrOr vs IJ_Terran
rasowy vs Hazorath
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
IPSL
6 days
Art_Of_Turtle vs KameZerg
Radley vs George
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-11-06
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HCC Season 3

Ongoing

Acropolis #5
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 4
International ShieldBattery League
BSL Season 23
IPSL Winter 2026-27
Calamity Cup Div. A Season 8
IEM Beijing 2026
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026

Upcoming

Sector 951
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Underdog Cup 2026 Div 2-3
PGL Bucharest 2027
BLAST Bounty Winter 2027
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.