Worth upgrading to Windows 7 with dated machine?

[Danstar10]

Hi all,

Quick question really, my HDD bombed out and I have just recieved a replacement, so it seems like a good time to update to windows 7.
I was on XP 32 bit, not had any problems. I am considering getting Win7 64 bit, but my concern is that the recommended memory for XP was 256mb or something, and for Win7 64bit is 2gb which is the total amount of memory I have.

So, my question is.. will upgrading to Win7 64bit actually slow me down as it will leave me with a lot less memory for applications / tasks etc?

Here is my spec:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE Nvidia Nforce 4 SLI the model is GA-K8N Pro-SLI
Processor: AMD X2 4400+ dual core
RAM: 2gb DDR memory
PSU: 600watt

Cheers

 

[mailpup]

I wouldn't do it. If you check the Gigabyte website for your motherboard, you will find there are no Windows 7 drivers available for it. Look here: Gigabyte

 

[Leeky]

Is it not possible W7 will identify and correctly configure essential drivers though Mailpup?

I can't speak for others, but I've not had to install any critical drivers after completing a W7 install yet - They've always been correctly identified and configured.

If you do decide to go W7 route, I would keep to 32bit, as your happy using 32 bit with XP, and running 64bit will tax your system more.

 

[Archean]

I agree with mail's suggestion, I think generally it is safe to say that 'a computer should die using the OS it was came with', unless you do a reasonably significant upgrade at least once in its life time.

 

[dustin_ds3000]

You can always download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor sees if your PC is ready for Windows 7. It scans your hardware, devices, and installed programs for known compatibility issues, gives you guidance on how to resolve potential issues found, and recommends what to do before you upgrade.

 

[Archean]

@dustin
Generally software vendors give minimum system requirements for each OS/software they release, but it doesn't mean that you'll enjoy the experience, hence my earlier comment was posted taking into consideration this fact. Now, Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor may tell you that your system can run the newer OS, but will the experience be worthwhile on an older machine? IMHO (considering my experience) I can safely say the answer is no in most cases.

 

[dustin_ds3000]

I have had windows vista on an much older system and it ran fine for me, and windows 7 runs alot better than vista. AMD Athlon 2800+ single core with only 1 gig of ram. plus they are netbooks with only an Intel Atom and 1 gig of ram, they don't have any problems running windows, doing basic tasks like web browsing and writing emails/

 

[Leeky]

My daughters Acer netbook runs W7 Ultimate 32bit, and thats a Atom (Z150 I think), with (it might even be 1GB actually) 2GB RAM. It all depends on what your expectations are. W7 is pretty quick by all accounts on this netbook. Its certainly faster than Vista was with it!

If its just web browsing, emails and you tube video's its really not going to be an issue. If your wanting to run Virtual OS', 3D image rendering and playing games its obviously going to be an issue.

 

[Archean]

I have had windows vista on an much older system and it ran fine for me

It would, because system requirements are similar, and Win7 is better optimized for performance anyway.

It all depends on what your expectations are. W7 is pretty quick by all accounts on this netbook. Its certainly faster than Vista was with it!

That is pretty similar to what is said above and I can agree with that, however, my focus was on much older machiens, e.g. I tried to run Win7 x86 on an older Pentium 4 (3.2 Ghz, 1GB) computer, and frankly I didn't liked it, forget about the vista comparisons because it was even worse than Win7 on older computers.

 

[gwailo247]

What sort of software are you going to be running on it?