Often an OEM-provided key will not work with a retail ISO, meaning when you get to the point where you enter your key during Windows installation or activation, the OEM key is not considered valid.
As of Windows 7 I believe you can use whatever copy you want to install, as long as it is the same version (Home Premium/Professional/Ultimate). I would suggest not putting in a key during installation, and then activating after you get it booted up. You can also always do the phone activation and say you are reinstalling.
I dunno, things I have read all over the internet seem to say you can use an OEM key with a retail disc of the same version. I used an XP key from a dead laptop for years on a series of PCs I built and never had an issue.
I'm not going to say it is guaranteed not to work, but the retail binary ISO Microsoft ships is usually different from the binaries sent to the large OEMs. From what I can recall MS started baking in more key discrimination starting with ISOs that included XP SP2. Heck now (with 8) the retail ISO differs from what you could get through Technet, which differs from what you can get from Microsoft Connect (I think the Microsoft Action Pack ISO is the same as the retail ISO, but not sure).
Anyways, whatever you do, use a spare hdd and leave your working one alone until you know your procedure is going to work.
0
Dr. ChaosPost nuclear nuisanceRegistered Userregular
edited January 2014
I would think your current machine would be able to play games at that resolution and medium settings very well - are you having issues? Up until recently I had an Athlon II X3, 4GB of RAM and an HD5770 (not as good as yours) and things were running pretty well even at 1080p.
Oh it's doing fine at the moment.
Newest big budget release I bought was AC4: Black Flag and it runs it well.
The only game I ever had any problems running was with Witcher 2 and the GTX 650Ti fixed that.
I'm quite happy with what I have right now, I'm just worried my PC is in a position where it won't be able to run much of anything once the new current gen games really starting popping out. I can't tell how well or not it's prepared at the moment for the next five years or so.
This is my first gaming PC, I don't use it to get the kind of monster graphics you can only get from a PC but rather to have the option of modding games and things like that. I'm just mainly not sure how it's going to react to the new generation. I don't want the best, just mainly for it to keep chugging along abit. Be able to play the new few Bethesda or Assassin Creed games four or five years from now without dying from a heart attack even on medium or even low settings. Things like that.
I would think your current machine would be able to play games at that resolution and medium settings very well - are you having issues? Up until recently I had an Athlon II X3, 4GB of RAM and an HD5770 (not as good as yours) and things were running pretty well even at 1080p.
Oh it's doing fine at the moment.
Newest big budget release I bought was AC4: Black Flag and it runs it well.
The only game I ever had any problems running was with Witcher 2 and the GTX 650Ti fixed that.
I'm quite happy with what I have right now, I'm just worried my PC is in a position where it won't be able to run much of anything once the new current gen games really starting popping out. I can't tell how well or not it's prepared at the moment for the next five years or so.
This is my first gaming PC, I don't use it to get the kind of monster graphics you can only get from a PC but rather to have the option of modding games and things like that. I'm just mainly not sure how it's going to react to the new generation. I don't want the best, just mainly for it to keep chugging along abit. Be able to play the new few Bethesda or Assassin Creed games four or five years from now without dying from a heart attack even on medium or even low settings. Things like that.
Get an SSD now and reinstall your OS and Steam - put your Steam library on your regular drive and use steam mover to put individual games on the SSD. A 120GB drive is great, but 240 would be even better if you are continuously saving.
Then wait - your budget will always get you faster parts in the future.
Got the Node 304 Mini-ITX case in yesterday and did a quick build at work. It is a LOVELY case for those who like small form factors. I ended up jamming an i5 (3.4ghz) with 8 gigs and a Radeon 7870 in there. Based on some recs here I went with a silverstone 500w modular, and it's a real beauty. Ended up using have the cabling I would have with a normal PSU. Full ATX cabling purists would still consider the result a horrific jungle of blocked airflow, but the thing runs cool and quiet with a stock cooler, the built in front and back fans, and the dual fans on the Radeon. Even when spun up playing SWTOR while importing my itunes library, it was really unobtrusive.
Really, really happy with it.
+3
Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
Got the Node 304 Mini-ITX case in yesterday and did a quick build at work. It is a LOVELY case for those who like small form factors. I ended up jamming an i5 (3.4ghz) with 8 gigs and a Radeon 7870 in there. Based on some recs here I went with a silverstone 500w modular, and it's a real beauty. Ended up using have the cabling I would have with a normal PSU. Full ATX cabling purists would still consider the result a horrific jungle of blocked airflow, but the thing runs cool and quiet with a stock cooler, the built in front and back fans, and the dual fans on the Radeon. Even when spun up playing SWTOR while importing my itunes library, it was really unobtrusive.
Really, really happy with it.
I don't know if I really completely believe you without pictures as proof...
This might not be the perfect place for this question, but I know you guys will know the answer. A family member has a Toshiba Portégé z830, one of those real slim "ultrabook" style laptops. Seeing as it belongs to a family member, of course it is broken and out of warranty. I'm 99% sure that the problem at this point is a hardware failure with the SSD, and I'm confident I can manage to replace it.
My question is, what size (physical dimensions) drive do I need to be looking for? I'm guessing the standard 2.5" SSDs that I throw in my tower won't work, but I can't seem to track down any solid information on this for some reason.
This might not be the perfect place for this question, but I know you guys will know the answer. A family member has a Toshiba Portégé z830, one of those real slim "ultrabook" style laptops. Seeing as it belongs to a family member, of course it is broken and out of warranty. I'm 99% sure that the problem at this point is a hardware failure with the SSD, and I'm confident I can manage to replace it.
My question is, what size (physical dimensions) drive do I need to be looking for? I'm guessing the standard 2.5" SSDs that I throw in my tower won't work, but I can't seem to track down any solid information on this for some reason.
This might not be the perfect place for this question, but I know you guys will know the answer. A family member has a Toshiba Portégé z830, one of those real slim "ultrabook" style laptops. Seeing as it belongs to a family member, of course it is broken and out of warranty. I'm 99% sure that the problem at this point is a hardware failure with the SSD, and I'm confident I can manage to replace it.
My question is, what size (physical dimensions) drive do I need to be looking for? I'm guessing the standard 2.5" SSDs that I throw in my tower won't work, but I can't seem to track down any solid information on this for some reason.
Booting from some other media (USB drive/CD Drive) should give you a good idea if it's the hard drive or not. Looks like it has an mSATA SSD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMH0r76zdt0
This might not be the perfect place for this question, but I know you guys will know the answer. A family member has a Toshiba Portégé z830, one of those real slim "ultrabook" style laptops. Seeing as it belongs to a family member, of course it is broken and out of warranty. I'm 99% sure that the problem at this point is a hardware failure with the SSD, and I'm confident I can manage to replace it.
My question is, what size (physical dimensions) drive do I need to be looking for? I'm guessing the standard 2.5" SSDs that I throw in my tower won't work, but I can't seem to track down any solid information on this for some reason.
Booting from some other media (USB drive/CD Drive) should give you a good idea if it's the hard drive or not. Looks like it has an mSATA SSD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMH0r76zdt0
For future reference, that's the first result when you google toshiba z830 replace ssd
Yeah you're right, I actually did even see that link I just wasn't ready to trust it for some reason. I've booted the laptop into Linux off a USB drive with no problem, and done everything I could as far as hard drive repair utilities and all that fun stuff from there, with no luck. Thanks to both of you for the information!
So I'm putting together a bit of a fantasy build and it's been a while since I built a system and even though there's no possible way I can afford any of this shit any time soon I still wanna know!
Is it generally taken for granted now that CPUs support 64 bit OSes? Because I'm not seeing any sort of designation on the i5s I've been looking at.
And also assuming I have an i5 and a midrange motherboard, is 1600mhz memory okay or should I be springing for something a little more high performance? We're talking about an i5 4670 and a z87-g45 chipset with a radeon 7770 GPU
I'm about to move my desktop computer from my family's house to my new apartment. I'm sharing the place with two other people and it seems like the room I'll be gaming in won't have an ethernet port. How can I make the most of the apartment's wireless network? Is there a big gap in quality between budget and higher-priced wireless cards?
So I'm putting together a bit of a fantasy build and it's been a while since I built a system and even though there's no possible way I can afford any of this shit any time soon I still wanna know!
Is it generally taken for granted now that CPUs support 64 bit OSes? Because I'm not seeing any sort of designation on the i5s I've been looking at.
And also assuming I have an i5 and a midrange motherboard, is 1600mhz memory okay or should I be springing for something a little more high performance? We're talking about an i5 4670 and a z87-g45 chipset with a radeon 7770 GPU
Any processor you can now buy is 64-bit.
1600mhz RAM is fine, any performance improvement from faster RAM is negligible/illusory.
I have to point out a Radeon 7770 would be considered by many to be a very mediocre card for a 'fantasy build,' but I don't really know what your goals and budget are.
I'm about to move my desktop computer from my family's house to my new apartment. I'm sharing the place with two other people and it seems like the room I'll be gaming in won't have an ethernet port. How can I make the most of the apartment's wireless network? Is there a big gap in quality between budget and higher-priced wireless cards?
Unless you have weird walls any wireless card you buy will work, assuming it doesn't explode or have super shoddy drivers or whatever. Anything from Netgear, Belkin etc should be fine.
I'm about to move my desktop computer from my family's house to my new apartment. I'm sharing the place with two other people and it seems like the room I'll be gaming in won't have an ethernet port. How can I make the most of the apartment's wireless network? Is there a big gap in quality between budget and higher-priced wireless cards?
The place you're moving - does it have a dual-band (2.4ghz and 5ghz) router?
So I'm putting together a bit of a fantasy build and it's been a while since I built a system and even though there's no possible way I can afford any of this shit any time soon I still wanna know!
Is it generally taken for granted now that CPUs support 64 bit OSes? Because I'm not seeing any sort of designation on the i5s I've been looking at.
And also assuming I have an i5 and a midrange motherboard, is 1600mhz memory okay or should I be springing for something a little more high performance? We're talking about an i5 4670 and a z87-g45 chipset with a radeon 7770 GPU
Any processor you can now buy is 64-bit.
1600mhz RAM is fine, any performance improvement from faster RAM is negligible/illusory.
I have to point out a Radeon 7770 would be considered by many to be a very mediocre card for a 'fantasy build,' but I don't really know what your goals and budget are.
It's a fantasy build because I can't afford to build the computer and I'm not in any situation to have a computer right now, being homeless and all, so I'm fantasizing about doing so.
So recently I've come into some money and am looking to upgrade parts of my computer. I've recently (earlier today) just installed a new graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760) And i'm currently looking to replace my old mobo (M4A87TD EVO) with a old processor (AMD Phenom II X4 955) and 8 gigs of DDR3 @667Hz and on top of this I have no real technical experience so I need some recommendations on what I could use/upgrade to
This isn't for a super high end rig. A best bang for your buck scenario and because i'm in NZ everything costs more.
My desktop sits on my desk because the PSU's cable is only 3 feet long. To move it onto the floor, should I get an AC extension cable or just buy a longer AC cable like this one?
My desktop sits on my desk because the PSU's cable is only 3 feet long. To move it onto the floor, should I get an AC extension cable or just buy a longer AC cable like this one?
My desktop sits on my desk because the PSU's cable is only 3 feet long. To move it onto the floor, should I get an AC extension cable or just buy a longer AC cable like this one?
Oh man , I never thought anything longer than 6 ft existed for power cables. But, I am seeing 25 ft there! I just never thought to look. This changes everything!
0
toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered Userregular
Just ordered a Corsair Carbide Air 540 last night and a couple white LED AF120's. Next purchase will be a decent PSU so I can use my current one to get a PC going for my wife (she's getting my current case and PSU). I had been looking at the Seasonic G Series 550W. But now that I bought this case I'm wondering if there is something comparable for cheaper. I won't need anything modular anymore since the entire PSU is in a separate compartment. Any recommendations?
@toloveistorebel
Pretty much anything that got an award at Hardware Secrets is something I would recommend. I've gone over a few times why I trust their ratings.
---
As much as you guys all hate Powerline Networking (hint: I do, too), it's a necessity for me to be able to run an extra router for better coverage (and a guest network) in my house. Any suggestions on one that is higher speed that what I've got? I have a Netgear (eugh) but don't remember the model number.
@toloveistorebel
Pretty much anything that got an award at Hardware Secrets is something I would recommend. I've gone over a few times why I trust their ratings.
---
As much as you guys all hate Powerline Networking (hint: I do, too), it's a necessity for me to be able to run an extra router for better coverage (and a guest network) in my house. Any suggestions on one that is higher speed that what I've got? I have a Netgear (eugh) but don't remember the model number.
The Netgear powerline equipment is generally considered to be the best out there. What's the model number?
So recently I've come into some money and am looking to upgrade parts of my computer. I've recently (earlier today) just installed a new graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760) And i'm currently looking to replace my old mobo (M4A87TD EVO) with a old processor (AMD Phenom II X4 955) and 8 gigs of DDR3 @667Hz and on top of this I have no real technical experience so I need some recommendations on what I could use/upgrade to
This isn't for a super high end rig. A best bang for your buck scenario and because i'm in NZ everything costs more.
You could reuse that RAM and just upgrade to whatever motherboard/cpu combo you wanted. In order to give real recommendation we'll need a budget. Any of the I5's will be a solid upgrade to that CPU.
Well you're looking at like 190 usd for a i5 3.2 ghz, decent motherboards usually start at 100. I dunno how much stuff get marked up out there but you should be able to easily stay under that.
Well you're looking at like 190 usd for a i5 3.2 ghz, decent motherboards usually start at 100. I dunno how much stuff get marked up out there but you should be able to easily stay under that.
~275 for the i5 3.2Ghz at a retailer I trust. and mobo is this ASRock Z87 Extreme4 LGA for around 250. Sound like a good pick? Also will this let me keep using the ram I have
After quick look around...the MSI Z77 line of boards seems like they're all pretty good and inexpensive.
EDIT: Yeah, you should be able to use that RAM with any of these motherboards.
Cabezone on
0
toloveistorebel Impressive. Most impressive. Central FLRegistered Userregular
edited January 2014
I've had a couple ASRock boards and they've always been good. Currently have the Z77 Extreme3. It's been a great board but I haven't tried any overclocking yet. But going through the BIOS there are a ton of options.
I can get something like this MSI Z77A-G45 for around 220
I mentioned Z77 in my comment and Cabezone did as well. The Z77 chipset was for Ivy-Bridge CPUs and isn't the current generation and has an incompatible socket for the CPU you've chosen (i5 4570 I assume). You need a board with the 1150 socket. And since you've chosen a non-K version of the CPU that means you won't be able to overclock. Which means a Z series mobo isn't worth the money. A B or H series board is what you need. Check out this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12zxE
I can get something like this MSI Z77A-G45 for around 220
I mentioned Z77 in my comment and Cabezone did as well. The Z77 chipset was for Ivy-Bridge CPUs and isn't the current generation and has an incompatible socket for the CPU you've chosen (i5 4570 I assume). You need a board with the 1150 socket. And since you've chosen a non-K version of the CPU that means you won't be able to overclock. Which means a Z series mobo isn't worth the money. A B or H series board is what you need. Check out this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12zxE
Thanks for the extra help guys, I'm a bit out of the loop on current stuff.
Additional follow up posting, Said place where i can get that board is a bid skeezy at best, So how does the ASRock Fatal1ty H87 (ugh the name) which i can get from a reputable store
Posts
As of Windows 7 I believe you can use whatever copy you want to install, as long as it is the same version (Home Premium/Professional/Ultimate). I would suggest not putting in a key during installation, and then activating after you get it booted up. You can also always do the phone activation and say you are reinstalling.
I dunno, things I have read all over the internet seem to say you can use an OEM key with a retail disc of the same version. I used an XP key from a dead laptop for years on a series of PCs I built and never had an issue.
Anyways, whatever you do, use a spare hdd and leave your working one alone until you know your procedure is going to work.
Newest big budget release I bought was AC4: Black Flag and it runs it well.
The only game I ever had any problems running was with Witcher 2 and the GTX 650Ti fixed that.
I'm quite happy with what I have right now, I'm just worried my PC is in a position where it won't be able to run much of anything once the new current gen games really starting popping out. I can't tell how well or not it's prepared at the moment for the next five years or so.
This is my first gaming PC, I don't use it to get the kind of monster graphics you can only get from a PC but rather to have the option of modding games and things like that. I'm just mainly not sure how it's going to react to the new generation. I don't want the best, just mainly for it to keep chugging along abit. Be able to play the new few Bethesda or Assassin Creed games four or five years from now without dying from a heart attack even on medium or even low settings. Things like that.
Get an SSD now and reinstall your OS and Steam - put your Steam library on your regular drive and use steam mover to put individual games on the SSD. A 120GB drive is great, but 240 would be even better if you are continuously saving.
Then wait - your budget will always get you faster parts in the future.
Really, really happy with it.
I don't know if I really completely believe you without pictures as proof...
My question is, what size (physical dimensions) drive do I need to be looking for? I'm guessing the standard 2.5" SSDs that I throw in my tower won't work, but I can't seem to track down any solid information on this for some reason.
it uses a mSATA sized ssd.
Booting from some other media (USB drive/CD Drive) should give you a good idea if it's the hard drive or not. Looks like it has an mSATA SSD:
http://ultrabooknews.com/2012/06/26/ssd-upgrade-how-to-toshiba-z830z835-ultrabook/
For future reference, that's the first result when you google toshiba z830 replace ssd
Yeah you're right, I actually did even see that link I just wasn't ready to trust it for some reason. I've booted the laptop into Linux off a USB drive with no problem, and done everything I could as far as hard drive repair utilities and all that fun stuff from there, with no luck. Thanks to both of you for the information!
Is it generally taken for granted now that CPUs support 64 bit OSes? Because I'm not seeing any sort of designation on the i5s I've been looking at.
And also assuming I have an i5 and a midrange motherboard, is 1600mhz memory okay or should I be springing for something a little more high performance? We're talking about an i5 4670 and a z87-g45 chipset with a radeon 7770 GPU
I'm about to move my desktop computer from my family's house to my new apartment. I'm sharing the place with two other people and it seems like the room I'll be gaming in won't have an ethernet port. How can I make the most of the apartment's wireless network? Is there a big gap in quality between budget and higher-priced wireless cards?
Any processor you can now buy is 64-bit.
1600mhz RAM is fine, any performance improvement from faster RAM is negligible/illusory.
I have to point out a Radeon 7770 would be considered by many to be a very mediocre card for a 'fantasy build,' but I don't really know what your goals and budget are.
Unless you have weird walls any wireless card you buy will work, assuming it doesn't explode or have super shoddy drivers or whatever. Anything from Netgear, Belkin etc should be fine.
The place you're moving - does it have a dual-band (2.4ghz and 5ghz) router?
If not - I have this and it works great: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166074 drivers were easy to install, works in Windows, never lost my connection.
If yes, you could get something like this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320089 I would also get a long USB cable just so you can stick it wherever you want.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00E3W15P0?cache=c36178cc7b4026bac81eddfc941d52e7&pi=SX200_QL40#ref=mp_s_a_1_1
It's a fantasy build because I can't afford to build the computer and I'm not in any situation to have a computer right now, being homeless and all, so I'm fantasizing about doing so.
This isn't for a super high end rig. A best bang for your buck scenario and because i'm in NZ everything costs more.
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
It'll scrape by, but why not go with something nicer, like a GTX760? Dream big!
Get this instead. http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10228&cs_id=1022801&p_id=5285&seq=1&format=2
Oh man , I never thought anything longer than 6 ft existed for power cables. But, I am seeing 25 ft there! I just never thought to look. This changes everything!
Pretty much anything that got an award at Hardware Secrets is something I would recommend. I've gone over a few times why I trust their ratings.
---
As much as you guys all hate Powerline Networking (hint: I do, too), it's a necessity for me to be able to run an extra router for better coverage (and a guest network) in my house. Any suggestions on one that is higher speed that what I've got? I have a Netgear (eugh) but don't remember the model number.
The Netgear powerline equipment is generally considered to be the best out there. What's the model number?
You could reuse that RAM and just upgrade to whatever motherboard/cpu combo you wanted. In order to give real recommendation we'll need a budget. Any of the I5's will be a solid upgrade to that CPU.
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
~275 for the i5 3.2Ghz at a retailer I trust. and mobo is this ASRock Z87 Extreme4 LGA for around 250. Sound like a good pick? Also will this let me keep using the ram I have
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
EDIT: Yeah, you should be able to use that RAM with any of these motherboards.
EDIT: taken out
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
I mentioned Z77 in my comment and Cabezone did as well. The Z77 chipset was for Ivy-Bridge CPUs and isn't the current generation and has an incompatible socket for the CPU you've chosen (i5 4570 I assume). You need a board with the 1150 socket. And since you've chosen a non-K version of the CPU that means you won't be able to overclock. Which means a Z series mobo isn't worth the money. A B or H series board is what you need. Check out this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/12zxE
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!
Additional follow up posting, Said place where i can get that board is a bid skeezy at best, So how does the ASRock Fatal1ty H87 (ugh the name) which i can get from a reputable store
Want to play co-op games? Feel free to hit me up!