Old PC Windows 7 64Bit ready?

[Deleted]

hi guys,

i have an old pc standing around and want to set it up again for my dad.

amd athlon 64 x2 (ADA5200IAA6CS) (the pc is in single parts right now im not 100% sure what cpu it is AMD Athlon 64 x2 (ADA5200IAA6CS) is what is written on the CPU itself so i think its an 5200+ ghz cpu)
2gb ram ddr2-667
Geforce 9800gt 512mb ram
ASROCK Alive SATA2-GLAN
500GB WD Blue harddrive

since windows xp is no more supported. i wanted to install win7 on this system. now my question is. can i use a 64bit system without problems? or should i buy a 32bit win7 system?
i have installed the system with a win7 64bit and it seemed to work. (i dont have drivers for win7 for the mainboard. but the drivers win7 installs by itself seem to work)

i tried not much with the system. installed drivers for graphicscard and internetbrowser which worked then. but i did not much testing after that.

now im not sure what version to get. do you think a 64bit version will work or should i go with a 32bit system?

greetings
jason

[endersblade]

I'm confused. You're asking if it's ok to install it, but then continue on to say you've already installed it.

EH?

As long as the CPU is x64 (which it apparently is) then, in theory, it'll run Win7. May have some hiccups because the hardware is so outdated, and that graphics card isn't going to run much of anything, but the OS should work fine.

[Jimson]

That GPU ran MoP at Medium settings, with some tweaks. It would probably still be able to push WoD at low settings.

I should know: I had the same card until ~4 months ago.

[fixx]

With just 2GB of RAM you'll probably get best performance out of 32bit Win8 assuming all drivers work. XP is risky as you said but faster than Vista or 7 which are equally bad memory hogs. 64bit version of Windows uses slightly more RAM so it's not recommended in your low spec situation.

Both 32bit and 64bit versions of Windows will work with same CD key, so no need to buy new one.

[Deleted]

I'm confused. You're asking if it's ok to install it, but then continue on to say you've already installed it.

EH?

As long as the CPU is x64 (which it apparently is) then, in theory, it'll run Win7. May have some hiccups because the hardware is so outdated, and that graphics card isn't going to run much of anything, but the OS should work fine.

yeah i installed it and it worked so far. now im curious if i could run into problems with win7 64bit later because i cant find some drivers for the OS.

That GPU ran MoP at Medium settings, with some tweaks. It would probably still be able to push WoD at low settings.

I should know: I had the same card until ~4 months ago.

thats good to know. but the PC is no more meant to be for gaming. its now more of an Office PC.

With just 2GB of RAM you'll probably get best performance out of 32bit Win8 assuming all drivers work. XP is risky as you said but faster than Vista or 7 which are equally bad memory hogs. 64bit version of Windows uses slightly more RAM so it's not recommended in your low spec situation.

Both 32bit and 64bit versions of Windows will work with same CD key, so no need to buy new one.

did you mean a Win7 32bit?

actually 1 thing i remember is: when i watched a stream on the system with win7 64 bit. i couldnt watch the stream in "source" quality. is it because of the hardware or maybe because of the 64bit arcitecture of the OS? (i think the used memory was very high. i used firefox + adobe flashplayer plugin)

[fixx]

did you mean a Win7 32bit?

Nope. I meant exactly what I wrote there. Win7 uses more than twice the RAM Win8 does. You really are better off with Win8 on very low spec computer if you don't want to use the ancient XP.

actually 1 thing i remember is: when i watched a stream on the system with win7 64 bit. i couldnt watch the stream in "source" quality. is it because of the hardware or maybe because of the 64bit arcitecture of the OS?

CPU is too weak to decode 1080p video and there's no hardware acceleration on that graphics card. 720p should work.

[Deleted]

Nope. I meant exactly what I wrote there. Win7 uses more than twice the RAM Win8 does. You really are better off with Win8 on very low spec computer if you don't want to use the ancient XP.




CPU is too weak to decode 1080p video and there's no hardware acceleration on that graphics card. 720p should work.

okay thank you. i was not sure about the Win8 in your post. sorry.

so do you think win8 will work on that spec? driver wise? do you think its worth paying the price for win8? its 2x as win7. (i have to buy a new key since he only has XP key).


so the streaming problem was a hardware thing not a OS problem? (and 32bit version of win7 wont fix that?)

thanks for the help.

[fixx]

so do you think win8 will work on that spec? driver wise? do you think its worth paying the price for win8? its 2x as win7. (i have to buy a new key since he only has XP key).

Maybe better just stick with the 7 for now and look for all possible guides for slimming it down (there are plenty available with quick googling). Turning all eyecandy off, bunch of registry hacks and shutting down extra services like printing will help. Win8 will help you some but wont turn ugly duckling into a swan so it's not probably worth it unless you can get it for free.

so the streaming problem was a hardware thing not a OS problem? (and 32bit version of win7 wont fix that?)

99% sure. You can check it out easily enough by opening task manager (ctrl-alt-del) and see how much CPU time flash player and firefox are using while you're trying to watch 720p vs 1080p videos.

[Deleted]

Maybe better just stick with the 7 for now and look for all possible guides for slimming it down (there are plenty available with quick googling). Turning all eyecandy off, bunch of registry hacks and shutting down extra services like printing will help. Win8 will help you some but wont turn ugly duckling into a swan so it's not probably worth it unless you can get it for free.



99% sure. You can check it out easily enough by opening task manager (ctrl-alt-del) and see how much CPU time flash player and firefox are using while you're trying to watch 720p vs 1080p videos.

okay thanks man!
i will look into the win7 tweaks. and i should install a win7 32bit OS right?

[Johnkie]

Read what win 8.1 can plays old games etc, uses less CPU - memory then win 7... But yeah probably has alot of problems that needs fixing.

[Arbiter]

Read what win 8.1 can plays old games etc, uses less CPU - memory then win 7... But yeah probably has alot of problems that needs fixing.

Name one problem that doesn't involve the start menu or any other aesthetic aspect that is completely based off preference.