Reddit reviews Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 32bit (OEM) System Builder DVD 1 Pack (New Packaging)

Lets look at the Dell Optiplex GX280 Full Tower. According to CNet it came out June of 2004 so lets just pretend that was ten years ago instead of eleven. My parents bought a Dell Dimensions 8300 sometime around 2003 which had two SATA ports on the motherboard (The hard drive and CD drive were IDE) but since I never got it to work, I'll skip to the all SATA model. This is what I would do to determine the reasonable upgrade cost.

• The Intel Socket is LGA775 so I would need to determine the fastest processor for that socket. That being said, just because a processor fits on the motherboard does not mean that it will work.
  
  
• This computer has 4 DIMMS for RAM so I would want to max that out. Since all of the GX280s I have used were 32-bit systems (some pentium processors around this time were 64-bit but lets just assume that isn't the case), I would assume 4GiB is the max.
  
  
• A decent 256GiB SSD would probably do the job. If they need more storage, it can be added after the fact. I assume if they have been using a 10 year old computer and the thing probably came with a 150GiB drive they should be fine with the 256.
  
  
• Windows XP is end of life now so a Windows 7 license would be needed.
  
  
• Since drivers on Windows 7 for the GX280 are a bit hard to find, you may need to get an discrete graphics card if one is not in there already. I found unsigned Windows 7 video drivers once but they really didn't work all that well. I want to say if you need the serial port too, you might be out of luck unless you come up with a different solution.
  
  So here are all the cost estimates.
  
  
• $109.99(Free Shipping)Crucial MX100. I have had a lot of luck with Crucial products so this would be the one I would buy because of that.
  
  
• $24.60(Free Shipping)A-Tech 184Pin 400MHz PC3200 RAM (We're going to need two of these so I doubled the price). According to this forum and the specs sheet the max for the full tower is 4GB. Normally I go with brands I have heard of but I wasn't seeing good buying options for those so I went with A-Tech.
  
  
• $15.99(Free Shipping)SL7Z3. According to this forum post the fastest process is the Prescott P4 clocked at 3.8GHz. According to Intel's site it is 64-Bit compatible so that is something.
  
  
• $76.98(Free Shipping) Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit SP1. I was reading somewhere (I can't find the link now) that drivers are a mess and just because the processor supports 64-bit does not mean the entire system would. It might be safer to get the same thing but in 32-Bit
  
  
• $33.99(Amazon prime shipping) GeForce 8400 graphics card. Just in case you needed an graphics card if the drivers don't pan out.
  
  
• $34.99(Amazon Prime shipping) Antec 450 Watt Power Supply. This also may be strenuous. The graphics card says to have at least a 350 Watt power supply. Since the full tower 280 comes with a 305 Watt I would imagine it would be a good idea to up the supply a bit.
  
  Total Cost = 296.54 with all extra costs added. Someone not as throughout as myself can cut costs on a lot of the things on this list. I would show this breakdown to the customer and explain why it might be more cost efficient to purchase a new machine (or have me build them one) and we could go from there.

Are only OEM versions available?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GOUBT6E/ref=s9_al_bw_g65_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0JG7XRTPE7F7X12FZQ3A&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1752383762&pf_rd_i=1286119011

Any catches?

I can understand how this might not make sense for some, but here are a few reasons why I made the recommendation:

From a UX standpoint, going to Windows 8.1 will be a bit more jarring for a user coming from XP. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of 8.1, but with the UX improvements made in Windows 10, it's hard to recommend 8.1 for devices other than touch-enabled ones.

I understand the risks that come with running pre-release OS code, however, with the rapid release cadence of the Technical Preview, it can only stand to get better over time.

Windows 7 is over 5 years old. Being an older OS, you run many risks in terms of 3rd party software and hardware support. Additionally, Windows 7 will go out of mainstream support in January 2015 and out of extended support in January 2020 (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle). If I were going to spend money, I would go for a newer OS.

By downloading the TP now, you can use the OS for "free" until it hits GA and dip your feet into the new OS without having to buy anything. If you don't like it, then buy 7 or 8.1.

However, I posted the original recommendation before you posted your system specs and it looks as though your CPU doesn't support the CPU extensions necessary for Windows 8+.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/what-is-pae-nx-sse2

Your only option is to buy Windows 7, and since you only have 2GB RAM, you should use the 32-bit version. Unless you need the Pro features, I would go with Home Premium, which can be found at the following links:

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-System-Builder-Packaging/dp/B00GOUBT6E/

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416805