Core2duo to i3/I5 upgrade?

Well it looks like it's the extreme 4 that I will get since I get the ram with it. Will do either the 3470 or the 3570. 14$ don't seem bad to get an extra 300mhz as long as both can overclock equally

 

The Core i5 3470 will overclock to 4.0ghz maximum. The Core i5 3570 will overclock to 4.2ghz maximum.

 

uhm are you trolling? all i did was called microshaft's automatic activation center and reactivated it
fact is that it happens.

 

Because you didn't change the motherboard that is okay You only need a new licence if you change the motherboard and it isn't very similar to what you already had.

 

I know, that would have been a problem if i had an OEM license. luckily i dont buy oems, otherwise i would have been sh1t out of luck

 

When I upgraded my phenom II to a 2500k, I reinstalled win 7 with the same oem license and it activated fine.

 

Not if you have Retail version.

@OP - don't get i3 and replace it in 6mths just wait and get an i5...

 

I don't know how many people actually have retail licences, OEM was an assumption of mine because I would presume most people would have OEM licences, not retail

I am very surprised that worked for you, because it wasn't meant to! In any case, even if you may get lucky at times it's not something you should assume should be fine, otherwise you may hit the budget 'brick wall'. I'm not sure exactly how the OEM licence is determined, I did read a while back it is a similarity thing based on motherboard components (I'm not bothered to check it up only to have people argue again the facts!), so the only reason why you could go from a Phemom II to a 2500k is either a stuff up by Microsoft, or that when you upgraded you got board with similar features, such as the same networking controller (apparently this is a big part of the OEM 'index'), same audio chip etc, maybe same manufactuer? etc.

In any case, do not just assume an OEM licence is transferable, because it is not meant to be, it is designed not to be, and in most cases it won't work. People can disagree with that much as they like, but keep my 'warning' in mind when you can't activate your transferred OEM licence and have to fork over more money above your budget! (unless you get lucky).

If you have a retail licence you will be fine as Agent-01 and Pill Monster have also stated.

Sorry for sounding argumentative, I just don't want you to get caught out!

 

If you go by the letter of the EULA you would be correct but anyone that does a lot of upgrading knows all you have to do is call M$ and you can activate.I have used oem licenses through 4 or 5 board changes and if it has been long enough in between changes you usually don't even have to call.I have done this from XP on through 7 with no issues.I haven't had 8 long enough to test it out yet.Nothing lucky about it.

 

No, I'm joking, there's a slight difference. Reactivating your copy of Windows isn't the same as getting a new copy. You're just reusing the one you already had. Getting a 'new' copy implies that money is being exchanged. Semantics I know, but when it can lead to someone unnecessarily throwing down £50-100 I figured it worth pointing out. Although that has been cleared up later in the thread.

 

I know a couple of people in the last few years who had Microsoft refuse to allow activation because they had upgraded with an OEM licence, maybe they were just unlucky... But if it is the case that you can simply re-use an OEM licence, that would mean everybody who has purchased a retail licence are stupid idiots who have wasted money unnecessarily? Even a retail licence has it's limits, but most people wouldn't run into that (the limits are such that the copy would have to be pirated).

 

I wasn't talking about OEM licences in that respect. My point was that reactivating Windows with a retail licence is not getting a new copy, it's reusing an existing. In regard to OEM prebuilds you will need a new copy. That said, if Microsoft tried to force me to buy a new copy after upgrading a GPU or the like in an OEM build I'd be getting my parrot out. Partly why I invest in retail copies of whichever o/s I choose to buy, and I imagine the same goes for most on this site. It's an enthusiast website after all.

 

That's right! I did stuff up earlier by not distinguishing OEM from retail! It was my bad for assuming OEM licence, since that is what most people would have with an existing computer (mind you, I am assuming that!). I don't know how people have managed to make such drastic changes with actual OEM licences, but it's not normal that you can do a complete upgrade and still be able to activate it. I am referring to all forms of OEM licence, whether it's installed on a pre-made computer (Dell, HP, Asus etc) or a physical OEM disk pack bought from a computer store (~$100). This is different to a retail pack (~$200+).

With the OEM licence you should be able to change the video card, hard drive etc, it's changing the motherboard that is the issue. If you simply change the video card you still have the same 'computer', but if you change the motherboard, say from a p45 board to a z77 board, it's technically a new computer.

Think of the term 'motherboard'. You can get a new girlfriend (video card), make new friends and move on from old friends (RAM, Hard drive), and you are still you (your computer is still the same), but you can't change your mother!

 

Like I said I have always used oem licenses and I have changed motherboards many times and it has always activated, some with a phone call and some if enough time has passed since the last one without even having to call.I don't think M$ has ever really strictly enforced that part of the EULA on individuals unless you are using the key many times within a short period of time.While you are correct the EULA does state that I have never personally had a problem.I haven't done it lately since I went from socket 775 to 1155 and changing to 8 I did a clean install on a fresh partition with the 39.99 upgrade and 7 is part of a dual boot.

 

Depends what your Core 2 is I have a Q9550 o/c(3.6Ghz if I remember right) and in a lot of CPU intensive tests it is faster than most i3 CPU's(real world it feels faster too). With the Haswell CPU's arriving according to speculation in the last quarter of this year why not try an overclock of your existing cpu and save more money for a Haswell?

 

I wouldnt get an I3 just to run it for 6months then get an I5. I would just get the i5 with a cheaper in price Motherboard.

As far as OEMs go when I switched my CPU from a C2D E8400 to a C2Q Q6600 my Windows didn't complain at all no reactivation. The same goes for my Graphics card when I went from a Geforce GTS 250 to a GTX 560ti Windows didn't tell me that I had to reactivate. OEMs are tied to the Motherboard rather than the hardware it self as thatguy has stated. That is why Im stuck buying another OEM copy of Windows 7 when I upgrade my computer in a year or so unless I can get quoted on how much 1 user open license is.