grss1982

Getting any slow downs on games you play or programs you use? Or do you just have money to burn? The thing is your current rig can still play select triple A titles with some eye-candy turned off. Upgrading just for the sake of upgrading is not really a good way to invest on your computer.

I know it's old but searching through Google for this PSU brand reveals that they're a a hit or miss brand to say the least: http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?10062-Why-never-LC-POWER-reviews

It's really up to your "use case" and of course your wallet. In my case, I would go with the 1155 upgrade and RAM if you get them dirt cheap. If they're expensive then the new everything option is what I would go with. Got my i7-3770 and 2x8GB DDR3 -- all used -- for a total of $160 about three years ago in my locality.

IMHO, 775 or 1155 systems should be your target to ensure there are XP drivers for it. You might also want to check Phil's Computer Labs he does Windows XP retro gaming stuff that could be insightful on what you need to do with your Windows XP machine. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj9IJ2QvygoBJKSOnUgXIRA

Not exactly. Discontinued as described by Microsoft is when the product is officially not anymore supported i.e. Windows XP and Windows Vista or Office 2007. IIRC support for Windows 7 will end early next year. My contacts inform me that the replacement key process is still in place but at it's up to the MS technician to offer. You can't just ask for it when contacting.

Some friends of mine who worked for an outsourcing company that happens to be contracted by Microsoft. It's been around for quite some time now: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/326246/how-to-replace-microsoft-software-or-hardware-and-order-service-packs But the $40 replacement is only for North American customers and something only veteran tech support people that MS contracts knows of.

If the CD has a part number. You can call Microsoft and get a $40 replacement product key for it. The part number is the one that starts with X15 in this sample CDs: https://filestore.community.support.microsoft.com/api/images/2fdf92be-6d27-490b-930b-8b17c33bbbed You'll also be asked for proof of purchase, IIRC.

Any simpler methods of doing this like those one click programs I've seen on Youtube. Not to keen to try them though since who knows what they do to your computer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyeJkQyD30g Also, I've seen in our work place Windows 10 machines that don't ever update because updates are blocked. This must be Method 6? But what about Shutup10 though? Does it really work? https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10/update

Brand and model of the PC or the motherboard. You seem to be not booting to the USB installer you created. Also how did you create the Windows 10 installer? Media Creation Tool? Copying ISO file directly to USB flash drive? Copying the EXE file you downloading from the Windows 10 download page?

Still rocking an Antec 300 myself and new cases don't excite me at all. Call me old but I still want a Antec P180 or a CM ATC201 if they were still in production.

The processor is your biggest weakness if those are the only games that you play. Used second gen i7s are usually cheap nowadays but it depends on what country you're from. That could be a viable option for you if you want to spend less instead of more at this point. Make sure though to check you motherboard supports an I7 seeing as it's a Gatway. OEM's sometimes lock down a motherboard's supported processors. I'm actually rocking an i7-3770 + 16GB DDR3 RAM + 660 Ti combo myself and I can comfortably stay on this rig with the current games I'm playing i.e. CSGO, DOTA 2, XCOM: EW and XCOM 2. Only the last game has so far been a challenged for my rig with its fire and particle effects.

Are you talking about it's fan? How can a motherboard be noisy? O_o If it's the fan couldn't you just clean and oil it to make it less noisy?

Asus does not seem to provide Windows 7 drivers for your laptop. So that's your biggest hurdle in getting Windows 7 installed and working. However, the video card for example in this laptop you can get a Windows 7 driver for this from Nvidia's web site same goes for the network adpater which is a Realtek of some kind. Touchpad could also be a problem according to this 2016 post in Tom's hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3220149/asus-k501ux-touchpad-driver-win10-downgrade-win7.html

"The N and KN editions of Windows have been around since the days of Windows XP — they feature an operating system without Windows Media Player, all due to an issue with the European Commission back in 2004 where Microsoft was accused of anti-competitive practices. The EU decided that by bundling Windows Media Player with Windows, Microsoft was being unfair to its competitors. This resulted in the N edition of Windows (Europe) and the KN edition of Windows (Korea)." From: https://www.onmsft.com/news/grab-media-feature-pack-windows-10-n-and-windows-10-kn-editions In essence the N version is just a regular Windows 10 Home license without Windows Media Player installed. If you want WMP you use the ndows media Player to add it to Windows 10 N and it's basically Windows 10 again.

Have you considered going with a Dell/HP package of some sort for small businesses? Granted it won't help with the hair problem. Or go for something like the 7 gamers 1 PC build by LTT but on a smaller scale. Maybe that could be an option?

Hardawre Canucks did a reviewed of a 1080 ti paired with an i7-2600k (the equivalent of your planned i7-3770k but 3rd gen) and they had some performance numbers that could give you an idea on what to expect with a processor upgrade: https://www.google.com/search?q=hardware+canucks+1080ti+i72600k&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibkoLAgYDgAhXQMt4KHW2LDfYQ_AUIECgD&biw=1744&bih=858

If you have an unused Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 key just lying around, you can use that to activate Windows 10. As of the 1809 version, it still activates using a Windows 7 or 8.1 key.

If just for browsing why a Ryzen? Can't you just go with the Athlon 200GE APU on this?

Isn't an 4GB RX 580 inferior to an 8GB RX580? I thought moar VRAM is what you want in gaming nowadays?

The box for those items. Usually my tendency is if there's an extra sata cable or two from the motherboard box I keep it there. Same with brackets and screws in a case, I keep it in the box that it came with. So too for the video card if it had some special connectors and such.

Oops. My bad. :( @Mods: My apologies. Was not paying attention to the tread I was in.

If it's an Office PC, does your mom need MS Office or she's okay with just having Open Office or Libre Office on it? I did not see from your build above if it's included. Hardware-wise, go for a Pentium Gold. i3 seem overkill if just regular Office tasks. You can also go with an AMD build built around the Athlon 200GE and a A320-based motherboard. Keep the ram at 8GB in a 2x4GB configuration. Dual channel does have it's benefits. And if you have unused Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 keys you can use them to activate Windows 10 and thus not have to actually spend on a Windows 10 license.

It's actually a meta or formula if you will from the days of crypto mining when video cards and most other parts were crazy expensive. Cheap OEM + Video Card + PSU Upgrade = Affordable and capable gaming PC. Lots of videos about it actually: https://www.google.com/search?q=cheap+dell+optiplex+gaming&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiz98Cx3fffAhUGE4gKHdk4BYwQ_AUIECgD&biw=2133&bih=1076 Some have used this formula to move form console to PC gaming, IIRC.

SDRAM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR4_SDRAM You might be confusing it with the old SDRAM from before pre-DDR1 I think. @Unistash: You'd be limited to a 4C/4T i7 processor with the mobo you have in terms of a CPU upgrade. Also is that 8GB of RAM 2 sticks of RAM or just 1 stick? An SSD would be the first thing I spend on this setup, IMHO. Then followed by RAM. If you want eye candy in your games, probably a PSU and GPU upgrade should be considered.