Question Will Windows 7 or Vista run on this PC?

[MajorPager]

I plan on getting a Dell Optiplex GX270 in a few days and I want to know if it could run these OS's adequately or at least at all.
If the system actually works, I intend to install 7 and/or Vista on it. This system has a Pentium 4 and I intend to put 3GB's of RAM in it and possibly a Gigabyte graphics card also.

(Note: I know 3GB is very small, but it's the largest amount of DDR1 I have.)

 

[Lutfij]

I've had friends who had that prebuilt. The most you can do is Windows 7 but it'll be sluggish. I'd advise on looking at a higher spec'd OptiPlex from Dell's portfolio.

 

[artk2219]

I plan on getting a Dell Optiplex GX270 in a few days and I want to know if it could run these OS's adequately or at least at all.
If the system actually works, I intend to install 7 and/or Vista on it. This system has a Pentium 4 and I intend to put 3GB's of RAM in it and possibly a Gigabyte graphics card also.

(Note: I know 3GB is very small, but it's the largest amount of DDR1 I have.)

Why the P4 based system? Could you find a core2 or phenom based system? Generally much better performance on those, you can actually run up to windows 10 on them. Or is this for a retro build? If you want something a bit more modern on that GX270 you could install puppy linux or something along those lines.

 

[MajorPager]

I do agree with your point being that Core 2, Phenom, and also Athlon CPU's are better for general use.
I usually buy older computers to fix them up and either keep them or sell them. Besides, this one I got it for cheap. Also I thought the Pentium 4 was a decent enough processor, for Windows XP that is.

 

[MajorPager]

My only hope is that this system works, since the person I bought it off of never sent me a photo of it on. I'm pretty much relying on the honors system right now.

 

[artk2219]

I do agree with your point being that Core 2, Phenom, and also Athlon CPU's are better for general use.
I usually buy older computers to fix them up and either keep them or sell them. Besides, this one I got it for cheap. Also I thought the Pentium 4 was a decent enough processor, for Windows XP that is.

Oh this would run Windows XP just fine, it will struggle a bit for 7. It would definitely be less of an issue if it was a Pentium D or Pentium 4 with hyperthreading, but a single core will be a bit sluggish.

 

[artk2219]

If you're willing to experiment a bit though, give puppy linux a try, it should run like a champ on that machine.

General System Requirements - Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

forum.puppylinux.com

Want to save your aging computer? Try these 5 Linux distributions

Here's how you can give old computers new life, save money, and protect the environment all at the same time.

www.zdnet.com

 

[MajorPager]

I might try Linux. But on the other hand, I do have a Pentium D processor, the thing is that I would have to take it out of another system I have, which I could and might. But I question myself, could it be done with the Athlon 64?

 

[MajorPager]

Can confirm that sadly it only works with the Pentium 4 and Celeron processors.

Also, something very odd that I found is that the GX270 states it has a max of 2GB of RAM but it can actually support up to 4GB.

I'll also take note of how the GX620 - GX760 models can run MSDOS to Win 10 and have both SATA and PATA connections, I'll have to see if I can find one of those.

 

[MajorPager]

I also noticed that the GX270 doesn't even support AMD processors or the Pentium D, so those would be a no-go.

(Note: I'll post stuff back here when I actually get to test the system.)

 

[MajorPager]

Here are some pictures of the system, it looks alright from the outside but I can't be sure without opening it and testing it.

 

[artk2219]

Here are some pictures of the system, it looks alright from the outside but I can't be sure without opening it and testing it.

Man youre taking me back here, if i remember correctly these were afflicted with the capacitor plague from the early 2000's (everyone cheaped out and used crap caps to the detriment of customers). Definitely open that up and check the capacitors when you get it in, otherwise it looks in decent shape.

 

[MajorPager]

My old PC, a customized eMachines W2646, has at least 3 bad capacitors and it doesn't like to operate normally because of it. Although I've had plenty of really old machines and I've never ran into that problem until about a year ago. It's really odd since I also have a Dell Dimension 2350, equally as old as the GX270 and W2646, and it has zero problems other than the CPU being fried.

 

[MajorPager]

Update: The system should be in by tomorrow night. But in the meantime, I found 2 more 1GB sticks of RAM, and I also got around to getting parts and software ready to use. Now I just need to remember to check a lot of things, like the capacitors and the Chassis Intrusion Detector, other things and such.