Just make sure it's a new copy and not a OEM copy. Get a retail copy.
Also you will need to get ahold of M$ and have them atcavate the coppy. If you ask me your better off with windows 2000 as you don't have to deal with that crap.

How long will MS continue to allow activation of XP/2003?

2fort5r wrote:

How long will MS continue to allow activation of XP/2003?

Thats a good thing to bring up, there are ways around it and I'm sure they will be brought to the light of day when thy stop.

2fort5r wrote:

How long will MS continue to allow activation of XP/2003?

There are a couple of ways to do this offline.

One is to make a backup of the activated files, and keep them untill you need to reinstall XP.
This of course being that you have activated the genuine legal copy you have.

The other is to use one of the offline activation tools out there. Yes they do exist.
Don't ask me how to get them, as I have no idea were they are, and second because I really have
not had any need for one such tool in the past. Just want to say that they are out there.
(And third... They can be used for piracy)

I have OEM discs for Pro and Home Edition, so the collection of OEM codes I have accumulated from scrap systems come in handy 😉

Get a VL copy of Windows XP

Appreciate the comments on windows XP, but can anyone tell me if a top or bottom mounted PSU would be better
for a ATX 478 mobo build? Maybe it doesn't matter, just checking.

It should be indifferent for the mobo/CPU as long as the cables reach the connectors. But while you could get away with no exhaust or intake fans on a mid-range system with a top mounted PSU (the PSU exhausted hot air near the processor), with a bottom mounted one you NEED at least an exhaust. Of course, in both cases I'd rather have one or two intakes and one exhaust than subpar cooling.

I think bottom mounted PSUs are only for supplementary power for drives and expansion cards.

2fort5r wrote:

How long will MS continue to allow activation of XP/2003?

For as long as MS cares, IMHO (I've read/heard that the cutoff point might be around 2018/2019; then again it may be sooner, who knows 😐 ).

buckeye wrote:

Also in picking out a case should I go with a top mounted or bottom mounted power supply?

Since you're starting from scratch and have a Socket 478 board I would say get one for bottom mounted power supplies, much easier to find, better cooling and more cost effective. Only reason to get an older style case is if you already have a top mounted PSU or want to be period correct.

Back in April I did a rebuild of my Pentium 4 PC with a Soyo S478 board, Cooler Master Elite 330U case and Seasonic SS-400ET PSU. You can see the results here:

Soyo P4I-845PE + Pentium 4 2.4GHz Northwood - The Rebuild

alexanrs wrote:

It should be indifferent for the mobo/CPU as long as the cables reach the connectors. But while you could get away with no exhaust or intake fans on a mid-range system with a top mounted PSU (the PSU exhausted hot air near the processor), with a bottom mounted one you NEED at least an exhaust. Of course, in both cases I'd rather have one or two intakes and one exhaust than subpar cooling.

You pretty much summed it up there most OEM 478 systems had an exhaust fan or had some sort of DHES, if you don't already have a motherboard anything without integrated video based on I865 Springdale or I875 Canterwood is a good choice

I vote for bottom mounted PSU.

I vote for top mounted PSU actually.

The bottom mounted ones attract tons of dust and you'll either need to keep cleaning the dust filter or clean the PSU from the inside (disconnect all cables and remove it from the system, open it up while not getting electrocuted 🤣 then put everything back together and after a while it'll need another clean).

For these old systems cooling is much less critical anyway.

But the top mounted PSU cases were already hard to find a year ago when I bought 3 new ones, especially if you're looking for ones that are reasonably nice.

You could either get a case with a filter on the PSU's intake, or grab something like my XFX XTR 650W, which operates fanless when the PC's load is low enough.