Win7 Question

#1

Im thinking about upgrading my AM2 motherboard to an AM3 motherboard, the theory is I will be able to further upgrade the CPU RAM and Graphics in the future with the AM3 compared to the AM2… Now the question is, I currently have Win 7 Pro with my current AM2 Mobo, does anyone have an opinion on the difference between Pro and Home edition? because the home oem is $50 cheaper and by the looks of the comparison (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows7/products/compare) it doesnt look worth buying pro anymore… I dont think i run XP programs, i dont connect to company networks & i dont backup my pc on a network.

Does Pro64bit run better than home64bit or are you paying the extra $50 for those 3 stupid ass features

… Side note, i read that you need to buy a new windows oem product key if you upgrade your motherboard, i heard however there is a way around this so you can reuse the current oem key on the new mobo… or is that just rumours??

… and yes chromium, im upgrading the pc just to keep you happy :yes:

#2

i can u a usb with ultimate on it :stuck_out_tongue:

#3

I’m certain for general use there is gonna be no difference whatsoever between home and pro.

The only way to use the same OEM key is to call microsoft directly and get them to activate it for use, I believe. Your only real chance he is tellin em your old mobo fried and you had to get a replacement. In any case it isn’t technically legal gettin carbs’ usb is prolly less hassle :laugh:.

#4

Yep, be fairly safe to say that there is little difference between the most basic to advanced copy for regular tasks (gaming for us).

The lower down versions do have max memory limits though, but they were fairly high with the most basic x64 versions still allowing you to utilise 8GB of RAM, whilst Pro/ultimate gives you something ridiculous like 128GB or more. Home premium is 16GB.

If I were you, I’d call MS and tell them your board died and you had to replace it with something newer.

After just upgrading mum’s computer last weekend to a AM3 socket (from a 939), my recommendation would be to pair it with a quad core as a MINIMUM. I put an Athlon II X2 in it, think it was rated at 3.2GHz. Whilst it’s a huge amount quicker than the old single core 3200+, for a tiny bit more, I could of just whacked a quad in it and I honestly think we are at the stage where a quad makes a noticeable difference. Even the 6 core processors are cheap as chips.

Edit:

Do you have a AM2 motherboard, or an AM2+? If it is an AM2+:
No point upgrading to a AM3 socket motherboard if you are going to continue using your existing CPU and RAM, not from a performance pov. Buy a new motherboard when you buy new gear. As far as I understand, there is no real performance to be gained by putting a AM3 CPU in a AM3 or AM2+ motherboard as the only considerable difference is the RAM type (DDR2 vs DDR3). Save your money until you are ready to do a full upgrade.

#5

Talking to someone early and they said they agreed with you, as they rang up MS and said their mobo fried… and it worked

current is a AM2, and i was originally looking to get an AM3, however the guy I was talking to earlier said the AM3+ CPUs will be coming out soon so there would be no reason to buy a AM3 mobo if you were looking at upgrading hardware in the future, as AM3+ CPUs wont work in AM3 or something rather.

Another option is to buy an intel mobo and get the i7 (not the $1000 was hoping to find a good one for around $300) then all i will need is new ram (8gb) CPU and mobo… atm will be keeping my HD 5770 because it looks so awesome. I had to laugh at the price comparisons between AMD and Intel, AMD mobo ram and cpu was around $450, Intel mobo ram and cpu was around $800+

#6

Based on that advice, I would wait.

Without a doubt, AMD is the best bang for buck.

If you do wish to go Intel a i5 2500k should be plenty, or a 2600k if you want Hyper Threading (8 threads/4 cores). Still, I’d be tempted to buy a phenom II X6 1100T, it is cheaper than the 2600k and whilst it generally benches slower than a 2600k, it is still bloody fast.

That’s really why Intel can get away with charging what they do, at the end of the day they do look better on paper. In real life, I doubt you’d tell the difference. Have a look at these benchmarks.

As to whether those benchmarks are really making use of the AMD’s six cores is something I can’t answer.

#7

OEM is non transferrable.

Full is transferrable.

Within reason, you are allowed to change some parts but not too dramatic. ie: entire chipset change.

I wouldnt wait if you were getting AM3, you can get motherboards which support AM3+ gear. Only reason you would wait if you were going AM4.

#8

Plenty of people have successfully transferred OEM copies of windows 7, on completely different machines. I believe there is at least one member on this forum that has done it too.

What is there to gain by upgrading to an AM3 motherboard and changing nothing else?
I haven’t kept up to date with AMD over the past years, so maybe I’m missing something. Other than the limited HyperTransport speed on the AM2 socket motherboards (of which doesn’t dramatically slow things down), I can’t see any reason to go to AM3 unless upgrading the rest of the system.

#9

Im not sayings its impossible. Its just against the license.

And you have misinterpreted my statement on the AMD socket.

#10

:shades: with OEM … stuff the rules heh

#11

Just do what everybody else does get a pirate version of Windows 7 Ultimate.
Bill Gates has enough money anyway.
Works fine here:wink2:

#12

Sorry, I did.

I agree with not waiting if you are ready to completely upgrade, as opposed to just getting a newer motherboard to support potential upgrades as mentioned in the OP.

#13

I’m getting excited about buy an new PC, I should have it within 2-3 weeks

Asus P8P67-M-V3 L1155
Intel Core i7 2600 Processor LGA1155 3.4GHz
Corsair CMX8GX3M4A1600C9 8GB

… I decided to take the risk and spend $560 rather than $410 for the top of the range (kinda) AMD hardware, Im not going to get the i7 2600K simply because I dont know how to overclock cpus and i dont think i will ever need to

cant wait :rolleyes2:

#14

hmmmm, I’d reaaaaaally think about that. Overclocking these days is nothin like it used to be. Hell, by the time I started on the E6600 most peeps were thinking it was already simple. Now there is really nothing to it (for basic OCs, if you wanna get the very max you gotta work at it).

Considering the massive OC potential of the intel chips, you really should do yourself a favour. Get an i5 2500K instead (save yourself about $100 maybe?) and a very basic overclock will have it performing better than the 2600. Nip’ll (hopefully) confirm that.

But yes, whatever the decision, new PCs rule :smiley:

#15

Haha, I can only agree with John.

The sandy bridge platform has taken all the trouble out of overclocking (or all the skill out of it depending on who you speak to).

Either way, a K variant is not much dearer than the regular one. Just splurge a bit more, haha.

As to processors with HT compared to those without (2600 vs 2500). I have no official facts but speaking from personal experience, it only makes a difference in the benchmarks (atm anyway). I don’t want to push you one way or another, but if it were me and I had the choice between the 2600 or 2500K, I would go the 2500K every time.

#16

Yea I was told about the i5 2500k, and it has some great reviews for gaming in forums ive been through today, I just thought for the $100 you save on geting the i5 you will eventually have to waste on faster ram (faster than 1600mh) and a much better cpu cooler. but thats just my theory

Ill seriously take that into consideration, thx Nip and johnny

#17

Ok, here’s another option I have researched

Asus P8P67-M-V3 L1155 $149
Intel Core i5 2500K Processor LGA1155 3.3GHz CPU $219
Corsair CMX8GX3M4A1600C9 8GB (4x XMS3 2GB) PC-12800 (1600MHz) XMS KIT $122
Antec Three Hundred Tower Gaming Case- Black NO PSU $59
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 $24
(Radeon HD 5770 current)

Total: $573

With your experience, do you think this would be a great combo for the price or is there a better combo that you could think of that would be awesome for gaming & would it be much better then AMD hardware?

#18

That all looks fine.

You are missing a PSU though. Something with around 600W from a reputable manufacturer will do.

Only other thing is the Antek 300 is quite small, and slim on features, but the price offsets that. I would really opt for something that has cable management.

These are the two cheapest cases I would consider for myself.

The total system is good value for money, considering the 2500K is quicker in most current benchmarks than the top of the range hexacore AMD, it’s not going to disappoint. Having said that, an similarly spec’ed AMD system will seem just as quick for gaming imo. You can’t really go wrong either way tbh.

#19

One last thing, I would opt for a cooler with a proper bolt through design rather than push-pins BUT the cooler you have chosen will be easier to install and still offer far better cooling than the stock HSF.

If you want to get something with a bolt on bracket, for $33 the CM 212+ is a bargin.

#20

I currently have a 625wt PSU that im using on my am2 and gpu, so I was hoping i could keep using that PSU… but it is about 2 years old so i might have to replace it in a year or 2

I wont be needing alot of features on the tower simply because im going to keep the pc simple apart from the cpu cooler that you recommended (which should hopefully fit in the antek because its just over 20cm in width)

Im trying to get some help from either umart or auscomp to create the pc, simply because i know i would screw something up (cpu lol), surely they cant charge me much for just putting some hardware together, as i dont need help to install win7

with that cooler i might should easily overclock the cpu from 3.3 to around 3.9

Thx nip for the help like always