Windows 11 - Do we want it or can we even handle it?

[One Eyed Wonderweasle]

 I think up till recently she was using a VGA cable but when she had a problem at her mom's with the video cable she ended up using the the DVI cable (this was I believe earlier this year).
I don't know what monitor she's running or where you get the idea that a 1hz difference or even that that is a thing is coming from. is her problem from me saying that she wouldn't go to a larger monitor based on her desk design( that her monitor is inset in one of the compartments of). Do you think 1440p gaming is really a resolution she would end up using on a 19 " monitor. If we were talking about a 32" or so monitor I could see your point for 1440p. but at 19-20" I really can't see the need for it. like a 15.6 in 4k screen is it practical?
 

[Sandman[SA]]

It doesn't really matter what her current displays true max refresh rate is.  It's fine for what she has now.  But it's to slow for modern gaming hardware.  A DVI connection is simply outdated and adding an adaptor from HDMI or DP to DVI will not provide any improvements.  In fact, it could make gaming performance worse by adding additional latency.  And no.  A 15.6-inch 4K display is not practical for anything other than a high-end laptop computer.

I haven't done much research on this, but I haven't seen any 1440p displays under 24".  (23.8" doesn't count.  It's still 24".)  But it seems that 24-to-27-inch displays are the sweet spot for 2K resolution over 120 Hz, and at reasonable prices.  I have tried talking to her about this and she has expressed the same concerns about her available desk space.  There is no room for a larger display or even anything outside of her preferred case size that can fit inside of her desk.  She is very sentimental about holding on to that desk.  It fulfilled all her needs when she got it way back when.  But it will no longer support a modern gaming computer system.  So, I am not sure what we can do for her at this point.  She needs a desk intervention or something.  lol.  There are plenty of ways to create a decent budget desk.  One example is using cheap filing cabinets under a piece of countertop material.  And she can get one of those snap together cube storage things for on desktop storage if she needs it.  The possibilities are endless.

If KT does get to reading this, these videos can help explain a few things about displays.

[KT 💣 KλBoƠM]

I don't know what monitor she has.  But I did get her a better set of headphones not that long ago.  If that is an older LCD monitor, I need to know what connection it uses.  VGA?  DVI?  HDMI?  That will be important to know.  I fear she will need a new monitor as well with a newer graphics card.  Wait...  Is she is still using that alien case that team SA got her all those years ago?  That case was barely "ok" for the AMD phenom II X3 she had way back then.  It doesn't have enough airflow needed for the 2nd gen Intel she has now, let alone a considerably higher TDP 8th gen you're planning for her.

I think up till recently she was using a VGA cable but when she had a problem at her mom's with the video cable she ended up using the the DVI cable (this was I believe earlier this year). 

🌟 In an attempt to make this post not as long I have added spoilers.
So that if you WANT additional info you can click them. If not, read on. 🌟

DVI and my 19" monitor fits to the max width of 18" in my hutch so sadly any bigger will have to sit in front of my hutch. I AM willing to do that. Read spoiler for more on that.

Spoiler (hover to show)

I have finally realized I can't delay any longer. Sure what I have is good enough for my lack of gaming currently and just doing the normal Discord support of patients with kidney disease and my friend Anthony who donated a kidney and has had problems since, and checking email and watching YouTube.

Still, it would be nice to get back into real gaming again.

My life has just been full of sick people around me (Uncle with stage 4 (that is the final stage) CR Cancer and my cousin on my dad's side dealing with stage 4 Brain Cancer as well as my mom and her medical health issues (she currently is very limited in what she can do on her own and can't lift anything at all so I have to help her) and my dad with his health issues (still waiting on lab results for that) as well of course my own health issues and my numerous appointments for kidney, lungs, heart, etc.

First thing I have to do is checking out if one of the RAM sticks are seated properly because I thought I just had 8Gb of ram even though Dave updated it last year to 16Gb. I guess I just kinda second guessed myself when my PC told me I have only 8gb. I thought perhaps it his that is 16gb and mine is 8gb. Turns out no I am supposed to have 16gb! No wonder even GW2 game keeps crashing. That is not enough!

I am going to try to reorganize as well as get Dave over here to help me figure out a better arrangement for more room which will open up more possibilities.

One question I have is about my RAM. I have just 8Gb right? Because for some reason I had in my sig 16. It is 8. I had put 16 because that is what you told me you upgraded me to back in 2021:

As to KT's question to what she has now besides the 4tb drive that was put in I also upgrade her ram to 16gb, and her cpu to an I7 2600 at 3.4ghz (replacing the i5 2400 3.1ghz).

I am going to open my case up (after powering down of course) and see if the stick is seated properly.

UPDATE: I can see through the door that the right stick is popped out of its seat at the top just a bit but obviously enough to not make contact. You can even see in the attachments at the end of this post the memory load recorded in HWiNFO

As per the cord issue, that was because my mom using my brother's huge monitor that went and having to switch to my extra 19" monitor meant different cord. I did not give her mine but ended up switching things around as she could no longer use HDMI with the 19" monitor she is currently using.

After going big, going back to 19" sucks and I myself have been feeling like this 19" is too small for website screen space as well as in games especially with how bad my eyesight has become! I need everything bigger but that means less room for the UI in games..  👀  19" is just too small for my aging eyes guys! 😢

Spoiler (hover to show)

Using https://www.whatismyscreenresolution.org/ I can see my current 19" ASUS monitor reads at:

Screen Resolution:   1296 x 810
Device Resolution:   1440 x 900
Device inner Resolution:    1440 x 736
Display Dimensions (w x h):   13.5" x 8.4"
Screen Diagonal:   15.9"
Display Aspect Ratio:   16:10
Browser Viewport:   1296 x 662

When I look at that .. I think .. wow .. that is tiny...

My main components:

    CPU:  Intel Core i7-2600
    Motherboard:

• Motherboard Model:  ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM
• Motherboard Chipset: Intel H61 (Cougar Point)
• Motherboard Slots:  1xPCI, 6xPCI Express x1, 1xPCI Express x16
• PCI Express Version Supported: v2.0
• USB Version Supported:  v2.0

    RAM: 8 GBytes DDR3 SDRAM KHX1600C10D3/8GX (1 stick possibly not seated properly)
    HDD/SSD:

• Seagate ST4000DM004-2CV104 Main drive 4Tb
• Seagate ST2000DL003-9VT166 2Tb
• Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
• Hitachi HDS723020BLE640 2Tb

    PSU:  Cooler Master GX 750W
    GPU:  NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (Video Chipset Codename: GK104-225)
    Computer Tower/Case: Apevia X-Hermes-BL
    Computer Monitor: 19" ASUS VE198 19" 5ms LED BackLight LCD Monitor, 1 DVI-D port & 1 VGA (D-Sub) port. HD-type NOT supported.
    Optical Drive CD/DVD: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24LS50
    Backup External Power: APC Back-UPS ES 750 FW:841.I3 .D USB FW:I3  13.670 V (3B0930X09539)


Photos: (Besides the stats attached)

Case: Apevia X-HERMES-BL ATX Mid Tower PC Gaming Case with 5 Fans, Large Blue Tinted Side Window, Front USB2.0/USB3.0/Audio Ports, Hard Drive Hot-Swap Bay - Black/Blue





Monitor:










PSU:

[Sandman[SA]]

Since oneeyed is getting you a 8th gen intel board, ask him to make sure that the UEFI BIOS is fully updated.  Because that will give us the option of running a graphics card that has resizable bar.  Or rebar for short.  It would appear that 8th gen intel and up can support rebar.  As well as ryzen 3rd gen and up for AMD.

Rebar essentially lets the main system processor access all of your video cards memory, all at once.  With how video card memory allotment and speed is constantly increasing, rebar will provide far superior performance for demanding applications.  Where without rebar support, the system can only access the video cards memory in 256 Mb chunks.  And with how video cards are coming with 8 Gb of vram or more and much higher speeds these days, something had to change.

Just adding proof that 8th and 9th gen intel can run rebar.

[KT 💣 KλBoƠM]

Since oneeyed is getting you a 8th gen intel board, ask him to make sure that the UEFI BIOS is fully updated.  Because that will give us the option of running a graphics card that has resizable bar.  Or rebar for short.  It would appear that 8th gen intel and up can support rebar.  As well as ryzen 3rd gen and up for AMD.

Rebar essentially lets the main system processor access all of your video cards memory, all at once.  With how video card memory allotment and speed is constantly increasing, rebar will provide far superior performance for demanding applications.  Where without rebar support, the system can only access the video cards memory in 256 Mb chunks.  And with how video cards are coming with 8 Gb of vram or more and much higher speeds these days, something had to change.

Okay I am sure he will see this post but Dave is pretty good at keeping BIOS updated. He is pretty particular about certain things. Also should you not be in bed already? You work in the morning and it is 3am. But I do appreciate that you took the time to reply despite how tired you must be. Thank you.

I am still awake because my sleep is all messed up at the moment but I am now looking for my desk and cannot find it online.

My desk, if you remember, is a type that is somewhere between these 2 images:



It has that side where the case sits (not enclosed, no door) and under that 2 drawers but above where the case sits is where the printer sits.  The keyboard drawer was like that but while I was on dialysis and with my Sleep Apnea being so bad at that time I fell into the drawer two times that I got out of bed and fell back to sleep right away standing up and now have a screw on one that is not as wide. The length of my desk surface area is more like the 2nd image with a hutch.

The part where the other image has to do with my desk is the hutch. This is the closest pic I could find to what mine looks like even though not perfect. The shelves in my hutch are adjustable and can even be taken out but the hutch itself does not separate from the desk. Or does it..?? Jeff you remember when you built my desk (I still have the photo lol). The hutch did come separately didn't it? Maybe we should just take it off? It would then look a LOT more like the first image only and I could even place the case on TOP of the desk.

Spoiler (hover to show)

ALSO to make it clear, the reason I am not so ready to change my case itself is because I chose it specifically because it is easy for me to open. I am tired of my PC getting all dusty and me not being able to clean it when I live alone. It is VERY important for me to be able to open it up! This way I only need to call Dave for a thorough cleaning when the fans get too clogged. My building (tenants and even old manager has said this about the whole apartment building as a whole) gets an usually high about of dust in here. Personally I think it is because of how the ventilation in this building works. I have never been in any other apartment buildings with such blowing vents before in the halls blowing all the dust into our apartments like this one does.

I used to have a huge steel desk with 4 deep drawers that fit ALL my needs but was VERY heavy and my friends who were helping me move from one place to another did not want to lift it. I mean I can't really blame them. It was REALLY heavy. That is why I originally got this current wooden desk but there was a lack in selection of desks with drawers and when I was moving I had an allowance of I think it was $500 or more from disability. So I chose the desk I have and a new vacuum cleaner. I believe the desk was from Walmart. It was a hard choice on the desk but I had limited options and a tight budget if I wanted to get both and still pay for the moving costs and desks were expensive (they always are it seems now). I don't even know if Disability does that anymore when you move.

Spoiler (hover to show)

I do wish I had a house like Dave though. If I had a house there is so much more room and the ability to put things up on the walls with support to make more use of space. I cannot do that in an apartment.

I saw this and thought man .. if only .. Heck even the desk part itself could be MADE with just a slab of wood finished off by hand (stained or painted and varnished) and placed on top of two filing cabinets which is a great idea for organization! I would even help Dave but the issue is not Dave but my computer area. Not his. I know he would not be up for a whole overhaul just like I find it very intrusive and daunting to do my own. It is fun to plan but difficult to actually do it. But still, I DO have to do something for my own situation but with it being an apartment am limited to what I can do with my space.

Removing my hutch I think would be a good thing but I need to clear space and get Dave over here for him to do that as no way I could. I don't have the strength. It would have to be on a day where Dave's back (compressed spinal disk issues) isn't hurting or his arthritis isn't flaring up. It might be awhile before I can get this hutch off but it will also be awhile before I have everything cleared up. Yes, I will have to ask Dave to come over and help me get things in order and cleared in preparation. Possibly this weekend as the rain should stop by Friday.

[KT 💣 KλBoƠM]

I have changed the thread name from Here comes Windows 11!? to Windows 11. Can KT's PC handle it??

REASON: To make it easier to find this thread in the future and after the first couple posts the thread has turned into how to get my PC Win11 ready before 2025 (the End of Win10 support) so it just made sense.

[KT 💣 KλBoƠM]

I read that I CAN reuse my Win10 LICENSE (I do not have a Key for WIN 10 Pro as I upgraded from Win 7 Pro online when MS offered it free during when they said free was for a limited time) for the new install but we will have to see when the time comes to it if that works out. Researching though it looks like it should, especially since my acct is linked to my MS acct.

Is Your Windows Product Key Transferrable?

When it comes to transferability, there are two types of Windows key:

• OEM keys: Not supposed to be transferable. These are the keys that manufacturers use to install Windows on any prebuilt PC. They are also the keys you get at discount key vendors such as Kinguin. You can always try, however.
   
• Retail (aka "Full Packaged Product") keys: transferrable. These keys are usually the expensive ones people pay more than $100 for. But it's always possible your computer had one (from a prior upgrade)  you don't know it.

If you don't know which type of Windows product key you have, you can find out when you unearth the key itself.

I do not have a Windows 10 Pro KEY per say but a License connected to my Microsoft acct. So this information is very important:

If your key is transferrable and you want to transfer it, you now need to know whether you have a "digital license" or a regular one. With a regular license, you can transfer the product key from one computer to another by deactivating it on the old PC before entering it on the new one.

However, if you have a digital license, that means that the number is tied to your Microsoft account and, in order to transfer it, you need to follow a different procedure which involves deactivating the old PC via your Microsoft account's settings menu.

So here are the steps I must take: https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/transfer-windows-license-to-new-pc

Spoiler (hover to show)

If your Windows license is "digital," which means that it's tied to your Microsoft account, entering the product key into a new PC will not work. The new computer won't activate.  Instead, you must deactivate the old PC using the settings Menu of the Microsoft website and then use the troubleshooting function in the activation menu on the new PC.

1. Reset Windows or completely erase the drive on your old PC. See our tutorial on how to reset Windows 10 or 11. If you don't do either of these things, the computer will still be seen as registered with Microsoft and could prevent you from being able to activate the same key on the new PC.

2. Install Windows 10 or 11 on the new PC, without entering a product code during the install process. When prompted, you just click "I don't have a key."



3. Log in to your account on microsoft.com.

4. Navigate to the My Microsoft Account page. You can get there by selecting My Microsoft Account from the pulldown menu under your username or navigating directly to account.microsoft.com after you have already logged in.

5. Click View All Devices so you can see a list of all the devices associated with account.



6. Scroll down to and select the PC you wish to deactivate.



7. Click "Info and Support."



8. Click Remove this Device in the upper right corner.



9. Check "I'm ready to remove this device" and click Remove.



10. Navigate to the Activation settings menu on the new PC. The easiest way to get there is by searching for "activation" and clicking the top result.



You will notice that the screen says your copy of Windows could not be activated. If, for some reason, it says it has been activated, you're already done and can end here.



11. Click "Troubleshoot."



A dialog box will probably appear, telling you that Windows was unable to activate.

12. Click "I changed changed hardware on this device recently."



This tells Microsoft that you have made a major upgrade to your computer. Nevermind that you are probably on a whole new PC with a new motherboard (but perhaps some of the same components). Consider the new PC an upgrade in your own mind.

13. Select the new PC you are using, click "this is the device I'm using right now" and Activate.



After a few seconds, you should get a confirmation screen saying that "Windows is activated."

Posts I got my info from:

• Find Your Product Key the Tech Way
• How to Transfer a Windows 10 or 11 License to Another PC
  
• How to Get Windows 11 or Windows 10 for Free (or Under $20)
  
• Windows 10 license to Windows 11 computer
  
• Upgrade Windows Home to Windows Pro
  
• How to find your Windows 10 Product Key Using the Command Prompt (CMD)

Also when I did upgrade to Windows 10 it did ask me what I want my Microsoft email to be (they suggest outlook but I already had a hotmail from WAY back). This thread reminded me of that: Reset will lose my pro upgrade


Adding more info to this same post as I noticed the thread is mainly talking about what to upgrade my computer with. So posting more about installing Windows 10 or 11 seems to not be needed but I wanted to not lose the info so just adding to here to this previous post as an edit.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/find-your-windows-product-key-aaa2bf69-7b2b-9f13-f581-a806abf0a886

For more Windows 11 download info, see Download Windows 11.

For more Windows 10 download info, see Download Windows 10.

If you need installation media to install or reinstall  Windows, see Create installation media for Windows to learn how to create your own installation media using either a USB flash drive or a DVD.


If you need more help with activation, see Activate Windows.

If you're getting an activation error, see Get help with Windows activation errors.

If you’re reinstalling Windows, you might not need a Windows product key. See Activation in Windows for more info.

If you're reinstalling Windows 10 or Windows 11 due to a changing motherboard or other hardware, see Reactivating Windows after a hardware change.

[One Eyed Wonderweasle]

Since oneeyed is getting you a 8th gen intel board, ask him to make sure that the UEFI BIOS is fully updated.  Because that will give us the option of running a graphics card that has resizable bar.  Or rebar for short.  It would appear that 8th gen intel and up can support rebar.  As well as ryzen 3rd gen and up for AMD.

Rebar essentially lets the main system processor access all of your video cards memory, all at once.  With how video card memory allotment and speed is constantly increasing, rebar will provide far superior performance for demanding applications.  Where without rebar support, the system can only access the video cards memory in 256 Mb chunks.  And with how video cards are coming with 8 Gb of vram or more and much higher speeds these days, something had to change.

 Rebar is probably the last issue she has to worry about right now, only a couple of games it might make a measurable change in FPS on (depending on your hardware combination)and can on some games make FPS worse. It seems at the moment, just to be one of those things you see if it ends up liking your hardware and in which games. Not a turn it on and forget it, free FPS- type of solution.

[Sandman[SA]]

I don't know if you've noticed, but every modern video card on the market today boasting pcie gen 4 support, also has rebar support?  If I am going to help her get a better graphics card, it's going to be a new one that can play her favorite games comfortably and reliably for years to come.

[Sandman[SA]]

I have changed the thread name from Here comes Windows 11!? to Windows 11. Can KT's PC handle it??

Your current 2nd gen intel system can not run windows 11.  At least, not normally.  You would essentially be running a "trial version" in a sense if you tried some hacks to install it today.  The 8th gen intel system you should be getting CAN run win 11.  But you would have to enable the built-in TPM in the uefi.  It's disabled by default.  And I think secure boot needs to be enabled too.  Not 100% sure on that.

[One Eyed Wonderweasle]

I don't know if you've noticed, but every modern video card on the market today boasting pcie gen 4 support, also has rebar support?  If I am going to help her get a better graphics card, it's going to be a new one that can play her favorite games comfortably and reliably for years to come.

 Related maybe black Friday sales?
https://www.amazon.com/XFX-Speedster-Radeon-Graphics-RX-66XL8LFDQ/dp/B09HHLX543/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Computer+Graphics+Cards+rx&qid=1668638107&refinements=p_n_feature_browse-bin%3A23883927011%2Cp_n_feature_twenty_browse-bin%3A23572110011&rnid=23572106011&s=pc&sr=1-4

 Or could wait till thanksgiving.

[One Eyed Wonderweasle]

 I might be starting her upgrade to 8th gen intel platform today. sounds like her vid card died, but she hasn't had it turned on since. gonna throw another vid card in, see if she can backup enough for a clean install, in case. Then hopefully bring it to my place to switch almost every thing out and clean and make sure all the cooling is still working.

[Sandman[SA]]

At least with an 8th gen Intel, it has an IGPU.  So even if the dedicated GPU was to fail, she should be able to keep working.  Just don't expect it to play games.  I tried playing Overwatch on mine.  A esports game that people say can run on a potato.  It was able to launch the game and play on the absolute lowest settings.  But the best it could muster was 15 to 20 FPS?

[One Eyed Wonderweasle]

 I Replaced her 760 with another for now. she has stuff on her c drive that needs backing up.but I won't be seeing her computer till after easter.

[Sandman[SA]]

I Replaced her 760 with another for now.

With what?  Another 760?

she has stuff on her c drive that needs backing up.

Yeah.  I know that she can be a bit of a data hoarder.  So no surprise that may take a while.