Stick with Windows 7, get more RAM and a SSD HDD. Good luck.

Actually my heart is with Windows 7, but I need to buy a new license in both cases, since I don't have an extra copy of Windows 7, so I just think that buying the latest might be a better idea.

My daughter is 9 years old, never used anything but XP and Ipad, and she is definitely not like us old farts, so I was thinking that she will like 8.1 better.

Is windows 8.1 is really that bad?

What does your daughter use your computer for?

If its only web stuff, school 8GB RAM will be enough. Get her a small SSD as well, that will be the best part of the upgrade.

If she likes to play add a little better GPU a Radeon R7 260x or a GTX750.

As far as OS don't see the problem going with 8.1, although i do prefer Windows 7.

I'm one of the few people on the face of the planet who's had more trouble with 7 than with either Vista or 8.

People keep saying 8 sucks and that it's terrible, but really, 8 does everything 7 can and then some, plus it's faster overall for OS functionality and cheaper to buy than 7. There's just a few things to keep in mind, and it's these things people tend to focus on when spreading their hate of 8:

* Start Screen instead of Start Menu - Me personally, I prefer the Start Screen over the Start Menu because it's simpler, faster, and easier to use. It isn't as customizable (you can't attach files to it, only executables), but so long as you remove everything you don't use and add in everything you do and separate things by custom-made categories, it works very simply.

* Live Tiles Apps - They do indeed suck for the most part, so I simply don't touch them. I spend 99.999999% of my time on the desktop. In fact, I uninstalled almost every Live Tiles App except the ones I couldn't and the weather one, since that way when the Start Screen shows up after boot I instantly have a quick little weather icon next to my desktop button.

* Windows Tracking Private Info - Just turn every little switch for tracking what you consider to be private information off. Not hard.

* Need a Microsoft Account During the Installation - Actually, you don't, they just hide the button to skip this inside the screen to create a new account. :P

* Problems Running Old Games - This depends on the age of the game and how it was made. Now that I've played through most of my library on my system, it seems the vast majority do indeed work, and there's workarounds for others, either by downloading patches (official or not), or by switching games into compatibility mode for 98, XP or 7. I'm still struggling with Sonic Adventure DX (skippy framerate), Tank Universal (poor framerate full-screen only), and anything made by PopCap up to and including Plants vs. Zombies (TERRIBLE framerates), but everything else works without issue. Even games as old as Quake 3. :B

* Problems Running Old Software - The only program I've run into which flat out refuses to run is Texture Maker. The rest of my software works fine, though many require compatibility mode to be set.

* Lack of Appearance Customizations - After awhile, you forget you don't have the same level of appearance customization as before because most programs nowadays simply don't rely on customizing the default Windows GUI to such extreme extents like old 3.x and 9x programs did. :P

So yeah, Windows 8 is just DIFFERENT, not terrible.

THAT SAID, Windows 8.1 requires a handful of advanced CPU instructions to be present, so be sure your CPU supports them, otherwise this is all moot and you'll have to either go with 8, not 8.1, which is a bad idea since it will constantly bother you to upgrade to 8.1, or 7.

carlostex wrote:

What does your daughter use your computer for? […]
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What does your daughter use your computer for?

If its only web stuff, school 8GB RAM will be enough. Get her a small SSD as well, that will be the best part of the upgrade.

If she likes to play add a little better GPU a Radeon R7 260x or a GTX750.

As far as OS don't see the problem going with 8.1, although i do prefer Windows 7.

Homeworks, online courses (3rd grade, 9 years old yet), online games (mostly kids stuff), web surfing, etc. I'd like the better GPU, but I just try to make a cheap and dirty upgrade, with an emphasis on cheap.

I also want to add an SSD but probably at a later time, since it would be also an additional increase in the cost.

Gemini000 wrote:

THAT SAID, Windows 8.1 requires a handful of advanced CPU instructions to be present, so be sure your CPU supports them, otherwise this is all moot and you'll have to either go with 8, not 8.1, which is a bad idea since it will constantly bother you to upgrade to 8.1, or 7.

I think I will go for the Windows 8.x, dealing with the latest stuff will be good for her, she is to young to be a retro type person anyway..😁

SSD does more for performance than anything else.

tayyare wrote:

I think I will go for the Windows 8.x, dealing with the latest stuff will be good for her, she is to young to be a retro type person anyway..:-D

You never know... I knew about Vectrex stuff when I was only 16 in the late 90s, when barely anyone talked about it anymore, and now just about everyone into retro stuff knows what that thing is. ;)

Win8.1 will be fine - especially if she doesn't have 20+ years of "how it should be done" using Win9x, 2k, XP, etc getting in the way of learning the new UI. I don't see the point in the SSD, and I disagree that it is "more performance than anything else" - it will only help things that are disk limited, anything that is computationally or memory constrained will still be computationally or memory constrained. On the GPU, HD 4200 should do Aero, but the GT 730 will give you more decoding/processing features and better performance. The extra 4GB of RAM isn't needed at all; 2GB is still just fine for a web browser/office machine, and 4GB is perfectly healthy. I'd say save your money there.

The only other thing to consider is ReadyBoost - it does work, and its cheap to implement.

I see no reason to get a new Windows 8 licence for that system.

I would upgrade only the GFX to something cheap from Ebay. GTX 750TI if you want to buy something new.
Then do a makeover when really needed, Many people upgrade from the second generation i5/i7 these days so these platforms are easy to find.
Or is it security concerns? You can trick Windows update and still get updates for Windows XP.

If you really want Windows 7 or 8 then buy a broken laptop with a licence for $10 and call microsoft to move the licence to the new system
"Dear Microsoft I need to uprade my computer with a new motherboard bla bla bla". I am a cheap bastard 😉

Thanks a lot for the additional comments and suggestions.

- I don't see the SSD as the most needed upgrade either, at the moment at least. They are still very expensive when it comes to meaningful sizes, in my opinion. Considering that the current setup already has 2 x WD Black 500GB SATAII's installed, it will be a little bit on the "unnecessary luxury" side of "cheap".

- I'll prefer windows 8.1, because I want her to be up to date and "compatible" with her friends. 🤣

- I probably just go for the display card and Windows 8.1 then. Maybe upgrade the RAM in the future.

- A broken laptop sounds like a nice idea, but ebay is not an option (prohibiting shipping costs - trouble in customs). I will check the local ebay-like sites.

Thanks a lot!..🤣

I'll second that i dont see a need for win 8.1. Win 7 is just great. Or just install Ubuntu on it, no need for licenses there. 😀

So, this is what I ended up with:

- Asus Nvidia GT730 DDR3 2GB (purchased as new - around 70 USD)
- Kingston 8GB (4x2) 1333MHz Hyperx DDR3 RAM (purchased second hand - around 60 USD)
- AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black CPU (purchased second hand - around 110 USD with stock fan)
- Sandisk Ultra Plus 128GB SSD (purchased as new, around 70 USD)
- Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit Turkish OEM (purchased as new - around 110 USD)

CPU was not on the original list, it was just an impulse buy, but definitely worth it. From Athlon II X3 (unlocked to Phenom II X4 but w/o L3) to fastest Phenom II X6 (maximum supported by the MB) has some very easy-to-see real life consequences.🤣

SSD was not on the list either, but I just decided to give it a go and seen that my daughter is as much impressed as myself about the time now it takes Windows to start. Externally, it still looks the same, except the Windows XP:

She liked it, and quite happy with it. She especially loved Windows 8.1 (the horrors of ipad generation... 😈) Kissed her daddy for giving her "the nicest PC ever". 😊

To say the truth, she now has a much faster and modern PC even compared to my main rig (4GB Core2 Quad 9550 with Windows 7 32bit)... 🤣

Congrats, that should last her a few years 😀

Very nice! Where do you live BTW? Constantinople? 😀

Looks great! Father of the year!

Why would you buy an nvidia graphics card if you could take the benefit of ATI Hybrid CrossFireX™ that the board supports.. Then you can combine the dedicated GPU with that one on the motherboard to get more performances out of it.

PeterLI wrote:

Very nice! Where do you live BTW? Constantinople? 😀

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNUsOaB5V2c 😈

No, not in Istanbul, though. I live in Düzce, 200km east of Istanbul.

Robin4 wrote:

Why would you buy an nvidia graphics card if you could take the benefit of ATI Hybrid CrossFireX™ that the board supports.. Then you can combine the dedicated GPU with that one on the motherboard to get more performances out of it.

I don't know, really. Only thing I can say (and I'm sure it sounds stupid, but) I just don't like anything non-Nvidia and non-Asus when it comes to display adapters (since my first Asus, 3DP-V3000). As you said, it would have been more advantageous to go for an ATI.