07-24-2023, 06:10 PM
(07-24-2023, 04:55 PM)JRace Wrote: It's funny how Windows 11's hardware requirements were chosen to encourage the sales of new PCs, but it has had the opposite effect on me....I would suggest upgrading your current PC instead of going with a relatively newer off-lease system. With the off-lease name brand systems you are always going to be somewhat restrained by proprietary parts like you found in your Compaq. Most of the off-lease business class PCs only contain 250 to 350 watt power supplies, so you'll be in the same boat again when using your dedicated GPU.
I have always assembled my own desktop PCs, except that my previous desktop was a Compaq that I found at a good price. It served me well... until I decided to upgrade the graphics, replacing the onboard graphics hardware with a dedicated GPU... until I did the math and realized that the Compaq's power supply could not support a half-way decent GPU card. While it was basically an ATX power supply internally and connector-wise, it was not quite an ATX form factor. The PS had a non-standard shape in order to fit within the unique shape of the Compaq's case, and no off-the-shelf ATX supply could be shoehorned into that case.
Whelp, I replaced that Compaq with another homebrew PC, swearing to never again buy a pre-assembled name-brand PC.
Until MS inflicted Windows 11 on the world.
Lately I've been feeling cramped by RAM and hard drive limitations, and also a CPU upgrade would be nice, but if I install a new motherboard then I feel that I might as well move from Windows 7 to a more modern version of Windows.
MS seems to have pulled the old online Windows 10 upgrade options; 11 is the only Windows game in town, and I refuse to allow that rancid product to contaminate my machines. So I've been reconsidering maybe giving a home to a pre-owned PC running Win10. Maybe.
But brand new? No. I can hold my breath well enough to tolerate Win10, but Win11 is a deal breaker.
My other option is to finally ditch Windows. I've only ever needed Windows to play a few specific games (which tend to be older and may be runnable under Wine (or ReactOS in a VM)) and to run some work-related software for a profession that I am no longer a part of. I've had various flavors of Linux running on VMs for years, and may soon make Linux my daily driver.
Upgrade your current system and then dual boot Windows 10 and your favorite version of Linux. Use Linux as your daily driver and use Windows to play the games that Wine or Proton still doesn't support. You can still get Windows 10: https://www.ebay.com/itm/266156234625
I have a system on my work bench that dual boots between Windows 7 and PopOS. Heck, if you really want to , you can triple boot between Windows 7, 10, and Linux if you want.