S
sula_rob
Hi there,
I have an old Dell Studio 540 tower that still runs Windows Vista 32 Bit Home Premium. It's offline with virtually nothing installed, and it still runs pretty well. I run it as a local only makeshift server currently.
I was until recently using a Mac Mini as my main computer (yes, which was supposed to replace the Dell) that has conked out at 5 years old with seemingly complete logic board failure. So, without the budget to buy a new computer right now, I'm considering my options and started pondering the idea of using the Dell tower as a base to upgrade, or even could it just be updated as it is.
In its day this was a pretty capable computer - grossly overpowered for anything I ever used it for, but I was surprised to discover that officially this spec is apparently not Windows 10 compliant, mainly due to the Q9400 processor. I believe it could run 8.1, but I don't think that's worth the cost of the licence and Office for that at this point. I have also read that it might be capable of Windows 10 32 Bit, which would probably be fine for me, but again Intel Microsoft's official stance is that it would not.
I would like advice on whether the system would or should be capable of running Windows 10 (despite what Intel say), what I'd need in order to do so, and if not are there any other financially viable things I could consider to make it work? Or is it just not worth it by the time I've bought Windows, a new CPU, Office, etc?
Current Spec
Many thanks in advance for any assistance.
Rob
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I have an old Dell Studio 540 tower that still runs Windows Vista 32 Bit Home Premium. It's offline with virtually nothing installed, and it still runs pretty well. I run it as a local only makeshift server currently.
I was until recently using a Mac Mini as my main computer (yes, which was supposed to replace the Dell) that has conked out at 5 years old with seemingly complete logic board failure. So, without the budget to buy a new computer right now, I'm considering my options and started pondering the idea of using the Dell tower as a base to upgrade, or even could it just be updated as it is.
In its day this was a pretty capable computer - grossly overpowered for anything I ever used it for, but I was surprised to discover that officially this spec is apparently not Windows 10 compliant, mainly due to the Q9400 processor. I believe it could run 8.1, but I don't think that's worth the cost of the licence and Office for that at this point. I have also read that it might be capable of Windows 10 32 Bit, which would probably be fine for me, but again Intel Microsoft's official stance is that it would not.
I would like advice on whether the system would or should be capable of running Windows 10 (despite what Intel say), what I'd need in order to do so, and if not are there any other financially viable things I could consider to make it work? Or is it just not worth it by the time I've bought Windows, a new CPU, Office, etc?
Current Spec
- Intel Q9400 2.67 ghz Quad Core Processor
- Intel G45/G43 Express chipset with integrated HD graphics (it used to have a discrete Nvidia graphics card but this was removed)
- 750GB hard drive (though I have 2x 2 terabyte drives spare that I intend to fit, especially if I can upgrade it somehow)
- 4GB RAM
- CD/DVD Optical Drive
- I believe the 540 tower came with a 350W PSU
Many thanks in advance for any assistance.
Rob
Continue reading...