Athlon XP is fast enough to install Windows 7.

Windows 7 is fabulous -- by far Microsoft's best OS to date. I don't think I would run it on a single-core Athlon XP, though.. I imagine it would be pretty underwhelming. And drivers might be an issue, since that generation of hardware was pretty old when 7 was released, and manufacturers might not have bothered..

It will run and maybe decently if you tweak the machine and settings in windows enough that it won't have to many performance issues. However you will have to be very conservative about what applications that you use.

Agree with Stull. Windows 7 is MS's best OS to date.

Thanks for the input. Somehow I don't think Windows 7 on the Athlon would be good - that processor is ~8 years out of date

Something is telling me break down and just buy a system with Windows 7....

Build one dude, you can put together a decent gaming system for under a grand these days, and that includes an OEM copy of Win7.

I would not even know where to start... what processor? What board? The last system I built was an Athlon. Everything has changed SO much since then....

ncmark wrote:

I have always built computers, but now my knowledge is so outdated I am not sure it would be worth it to even try.

If you want to start somewhere, you could check out the building guides at Tom's Hardware. Those could help you get back up to speed.

If I wanted a new PC with minimal research, etc I'd just head to a medium sized computer store (big enough that they will still exist in 6 months if something dies, but not so big that they just sell name brands) and buy their pre-built budget gaming machine. I assume you only need the box, in which case they are amazingly cheap, like 400 bucks or so. For that you get an i5, decent video card, etc.

Build a machine. It's more fun and rewarding. I'll be happy to help you put together a spec list. What do you want the machine for? What is your budget? When do you intend to upgrade next? These questions should help me gauge what kind of spec you'll be needing 😀

Ah mate definitely build one!

A few things that are going on at the moment:

- Intel is kind right now. Bulldozer is not worth getting Imo
- Ram is cheap. So go with 2x4 GB
- Windows 7 is awesome. Make sure you go with the 64bit version if you want to use more than 4GB of Ram (which you want)
- Intel's CPUs are (from bottom to top) Celeron, Pentium, i3,i5 and i7.
- Socket 1155 is where it's at
- If you want a good CPU for good value get the cheapest i5 (3000 series) as this is a real quad core. All the lower ones are dual cores
- Solid State hard drives are in but you have two main angles of attack
a. Big SSD for main drive (super fast, but expensive)
b. Big platter drive + small SSD for caching (just as fast for frequently loaded things, cheaper, not having to worry about capacity)
- Onboard sound has come a long way and is fine
- The CPUs have graphics cards now so if you aren't gaming you don't need to buy a graphics card. just make sure the mainboard has DVI or whatever ports you need

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Ah mate definitely build one! […]
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Ah mate definitely build one!

A few things that are going on at the moment:

- Intel is kind right now. Bulldozer is not worth getting Imo
- Ram is cheap. So go with 2x4 GB
- Windows 7 is awesome. Make sure you go with the 64bit version if you want to use more than 4GB of Ram (which you want)
- Intel's CPUs are (from bottom to top) Celeron, Pentium, i3,i5 and i7.
- Socket 1155 is where it's at
- If you want a good CPU for good value get the cheapest i5 (3000 series) as this is a real quad core. All the lower ones are dual cores
- Solid State hard drives are in but you have two main angles of attack
a. Big SSD for main drive (super fast, but expensive)
b. Big platter drive + small SSD for caching (just as fast for frequently loaded things, cheaper, not having to worry about capacity)
- Onboard sound has come a long way and is fine
- The CPUs have graphics cards now so if you aren't gaming you don't need to buy a graphics card. just make sure the mainboard has DVI or whatever ports you need

Agreed with all of this, except I'd personally say got for a 64~128gb SSD and put everything else on a normal HDD. It's how I have my laptop configured and it's perfect. All of my games are on a 640GB HDD and Windows 7 boots from a 128GB SSD in 7 seconds 😁

As mentioned, the new Intel 4000 graphics are able to play new games on low~medium settings, so this'll be perfect for your needs 😀

Just tell us a budget and basic preference is then we can go from there. I am on THG for modern computing and am current with what is out there. If you strongly want an all in one solution then you could consider going with the AMD A8 Llano desktop series. If you want to go with Intel but still keep costs low then a strong i3 and a 6670 will do wonders over anything that came out before it.

Man I couldn't help it, but the OP is really reminding me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO8kFHCXiEg

I am not THAT far behind the times 😜

But thanks for all the advice/suggestions given. I am not sure what I want to do.