Windows 10: Should I Upgrade My Older PC To Windows 10?

Hi all,

I have a PC that is older that I've customized to be a gaming PC for my wants and needs.

Here are the specs:

CPU: Intel core i5 650 dual core 3.20ghz
MOBO: Intel DQ57TM
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
RAM: 12GB ddr3
HDD: 250GB Western Digital
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 2GB vRAM


I'd like to buy windows 10 after I get myself a new hard drive mainly so I can have a longer support lifespan and for if I ever want to get another game in the future, I won't have to worry about it not supporting Windows 7.

My concern though is will my PC be able to handle Windows 10, primarily my CPU?

I mean, I know it can be run, but will it drop my FPS, or affect my game play negatively since it's an older PC? Will it slow my PC down?

Later down the road in a few years I'll get a true, new gaming PC(hopefully build one *Biggrin), but for now I'd like to stay with this one.

What are your experiences with running Windows 10 on an older PC? (assuming you have)

Thanks in advance.

UPDATE:

I have updated my system specs under my profile

:)

 

How Should I Upgrade My PC For Gaming?

I'd actually complete all the steps in
Windows 10 Install Integrity Checklist including uninstallingthe AV long enough to test thoroughly without it. Every other AV besides Defender is found to cause issues at one time or another.

Then compare the install you have with the ideal install in
Clean Install Windows 10 which has been done by over 100,000 without a single complaint or reported issue. If this is a Factory or Upgrade install then that is an inferior install that no tech enthusiast would ever run in the first place. I'd up the game
from worst to best.

Then I'd test my hardware to be sure following
RAM - Test with Memtest86+

and using the manufacturer's bootable
HD Diagnostic extended CD scan, followed by a full
Disk Check

 

How Should I Upgrade My PC For Gaming?

Hi,

Thanks for replying. I tried your three suggested methods but sadly, they weren't able to improve the performance of my PC. For method 1, I ran the troubleshooter and the only issue it could find was that some troubleshooting history files were taking up
0.057MB of disc space - which is extremely unlikely to be causing any issues.

For method 2, my display adapter drivers were already up to date.

For method 3, my version of Windows 10 was also already up to date.

Again, thanks for taking your time to help me. If you have any other suggestions please let me know.

 

You are right that the weak link there is the CPU. I have a few PC's and as it would happen one is exactly the same as yours there ( except mine only has 8gb of RAM ). It's actually a pretty capable machine, but you will notice that some CPU intensive games will suffer. It can happily run most games though, at pretty decent frame rates. I have run Windows 7 on that PC and also it currently has Windows 10. Can't say to be honest that I notice much difference in speed. For all they say that Windows 10 is faster, well, it seems to run games about the same. I have to say, though, that of late I have seen a lot of games players moving back to Win 8. Also, some games that run on Win 7 won't work on Win 10. So I don't really know what to recommend. Given that you also have to put up with Microsoft's invasion of your privacy, and the loss of control of your own PC, it's perhaps not an easy decision to make.

 

It will have no problems running it. Download the ISO from Microsoft.com and give it a spin.

10 actually runs faster on the Intel Core 2 Duos than previous OS's. That is in part to better RAM and CPU management.

 

I personally don't mind the whole privacy issue because it's not like I do weird things, I only use the tower for twitch.tv, gaming, and youtube.

Yes, I have also heard of some games not working on Windows 10. The games I play though I know will work, and I rarely play games that are really old, like 2010 is the lowest I go on games.

That's interesting that people are going back to Win 8. I happen to have a windows 8 product key but have never thought of using it because of the fact that it ends a few years after windows 7 and I have no idea how long games will support windows 8.

 

Better cpu and ram management? That's cool!

 

The kernel footprint is also a lot smaller, leaving more breathing room for doing things. I remember to have installed w7 on a older 1GB Intel's Atom netbook and it almost choked to death after booting up. Launching a web browser was a nightmare. On the same netbook, w10 won't run fast, but way way better than w7. Your mileage may vary, of course.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience!

 

Why would you wait till now when it's not free anymore.

Although If you have a disability it is still free as far as I know.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/acce...ndows10upgrade

Faq:
What assistive technologies are eligible for the extension?

We are not restricting the free upgrade offer to specific assistive technologies. If you use assistive technology on Windows, you are eligible for the free upgrade offer.

 

May not be a problem for some years to come. Support for Windows 7 ends in 2020. Software is generally written to run on any currently supported Microsoft OS.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/...cle-fact-sheet

 

I never was a fan of the free upgrade because I couldn't do a fresh install as well as me not being open until it was too late

Yes Bree that is true but I am thinking of windows vista and how support hasn't even ended for it and people are already cutting off support to it. It's mainly that I'm not sure how long DX 11 will be around, and I rather just get the upgrade over with. I see what you mean, though.

Also, I've seen about assistive technologies but would not be comfortable getting it that way.

I've just bought a win 10 pro product key online for a good price. I'll get back on how everything turns out.

 

If you use the Media Creation Tool to download the. iso or make USB install media you can use that to do a fresh install whenever you want. The one media contains both Home and Pro.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...load/windows10

If you have installed Windows 10 and it has been activated then a subsequent clean install of the same version (Home or Pro) will automatically be reactivated by Microsoft's activation servers without the need to enter a key.

 

So you're saying once I use the key on my pc for windows 10, it's permanently on my pc?

 

10 was written to be lighter weight than the predecessors. Especially with so many servers and even Intel's Computer on a Stick is able to run Windows 10. Microsoft has coded their own personal version of Linux to handle in house stuff. You are already seeing the change coming to where they have finally figured out how to make a cross-platform that can handle just about anything that they can throw at it.

Having older Intel hardware being able to run Windows 10, shows that Intel is keeping both the Mac hardware & PC hardware camps satisfied that they can use either hardware platform. NextGen of Mac hardware will be using the AMD chipset. That means more options coming out.

As for the games, a lot of it is the software writers are still stuck on having a huge platform group that is using Windows 7. They will have to catch up with those wanting to use 10. Especially with the Small Single Board Computers that can be plugged into a flatscreen and then allow you to use a Bluetooth Keyboard and mouse, without having to use a laptop for stuff.