Upgrade to Windows 8 from XP - Hardware questions

[bhappyharsha]

Hi,

I am planning to upgrade my current Windows XP PC to Windows 8.1. However, I am not sure which hardware parts I need to upgrade for this. The upgrade assistant simply says I cannot install Windows 8 on this PC. Please see the configuration below. I am not sure which parts should be upgraded. See the current configuration information below in the .jpg file.

I am currently on a AMD Athlon II X2 250 processor and GigaByte GA-880GM-UD2H Mother Board. Not sure if the mother board also needs an upgrade. I currently have 2 GB RAM. All these are ~4-5 years old and I have not updated any software or hardware on this.

Please suggest on the following:

1. I know Win 7 requires 4 GB RAM for decent performance. Does Win 8.1 need more?
2. The system requirements site asks support for PAE, NX, and SSE2. How do I know if my processor has that support?
3. I see from AMD's website that this processor has both 32 bit and 64 bit support. Does this mean, I can install a 64 bit OS on this?
4. Do I have to change anything in the Mother Board to install 64 bit OS, if I can install that?

I will take a call on budget based on the recommendations about the current configuration.



Regards,
Sri Harsha.

 

[SaiyanGoku]

I'm running 32 bit windows 7 on a 6-7 year old Lenovo R61. I didn't upgrade to Windows 8/8.1 because of lack of drivers.
So, if you are able to get the drivers for your PC components, then you can't upgrade to 32bit Windows 8.1 right away, no need to change the hardware.

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You should upgrade in to window 10 now.

dude, let it have a public release first.

 

[coderunknown]

I know Win 7 requires 4 GB RAM for decent performance. Does Win 8.1 need more?

NO. though you should upgrade to 4GB ram if you can.

The system requirements site asks support for PAE, NX, and SSE2. How do I know if my processor has that support?

all these are supported. running Windows 8.1 on a Athlon II X4 635 which is basically a quadcore variant of your processor without any issue.

I see from AMD's website that this processor has both 32 bit and 64 bit support. Does this mean, I can install a 64 bit OS on this?

yes.

Do I have to change anything in the Mother Board to install 64 bit OS, if I can install that?

check if there is a BIOS update and flash it if available. much older motherboards support Windows 8.1

 

[kkn13]

im running windows 8.1 64 bit on my pentium 4 HT 3ghz with 1gb ram and nvidia 8500gt
no issues at all
your system will handle windows 8.1 easily even with 2gb ram,though you may want to upgrade if you plan to play games

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I'm running 32 bit windows 7 on a 6-7 year old Lenovo R61. I didn't upgrade to Windows 8/8.1 because of lack of drivers.
So, if you are able to get the drivers for your PC components, then you can't upgrade to 32bit Windows 8.1 right away, no need to change the hardware.

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dude, let it have a public release first.

if you have 64 bit Xp or 64bit windows 7 drivers,they will run fine on windows 8.1
its worth a try imho

 

[$hadow]

With windows 8.1 MS has slashed down the requirements to make it available to more pc. As of now the basic requirement is only 1 GB of RAM