Various questions

Hi

I'm thinking to get a new system and I was thinking if I could use the windows that I got with my present system purchase, can I? note that I didn't get any windows disks, the system came pre installed.
Also I'm wondering if I can use the key from my present installation on separate windows 7 installation? if yes, where/how do I find the key?

About the new system, I'm thinking to get: Notebooks & Ultrabooks | X555LF | ASUS Global , the i3 version with the following specs:

Processor Speed 2.10 GHz, 3M Cache Processor Intel Core i3 5th Gen 5010U Storage 1 TB SATARAM 4 GB Graphics card NVIDIA® GeForce® 930M with 2GB DDR3 VRAM
Is it good? I'm thinking get another 4gb as in use 2x 4gb ram 1600mhz and repalce the 1TB HDD with a 256 SSD

What would be the performance differenace between this system (ASUS X555LF, i3 5th gen) and my present system (Dell Studio XPS L502X, i7 2nd gen, 8gb), I did some research and found this: PassMark - CPU Performance Comparison[]=878&cmp[]=2467 .. this is a comparison between my present processor and the new i3 one, ... any insights?

The i3-5010u scores 3029 on that benchmark. I can't tell the score on the i7 you have because you didn't provide enough info. Most i7s will score higher than most i3s, but if all you are doing with the PC is email and browsing, you probably wouldn't notice the difference.

If the score differences were say only 1000 points, you might not notice it.

You might be better off just putting an SSD in the old machine or buying a new i5 rather than an i3. That might be more likely to make a difference.

What are you trying to do with the old machine that it doesn't do well enough?

Generally speaking--you can't move a Windows license to another machine unless it's a "retail" license. The Windows that comes pre-installed from the factory isn't going to be retail. Think of it as "one license---one machine". Even if you had a retail license, it would be "one license--one machine at a time"--which would mean you could move it to another as long as the older machine is no longer in use.

Thanks for the info about windows.

About the system:
Well I really like the system that I have right now, other than the battery .. that just sucks but still I would say the system is great.

I'm actually being forced to change the system because last year I dropped the system from my desk and ever since then there has been number of issues such as:
> The built in dolby surround sound system got damaged from the fall and as dell doesn't have any official presence in my country so ... I cant get it repaired, I tried with local dealers of dells and requested if they can fix this .. but so far no luck
> HDD got damaged too I think, this is the part that I'm not so sure about ... I mean its been about 4 years I'm using this system and last 3 years it was great .. ever since the fall ... my system got really slow .. something like 40% slower than its original performance(before I dropped it).
> Overheating: this was an issue from the beginning but after the fall the system seems get over heated within a rather short time period and also even when in passive mode (as in not doing anything other than probably running a download or watching a movie/tv show) ... the system still gets to 55-60 and up and when gaming it gets to 90 and up
> And the graphics card model is rather old, I have fps issues on many modern games ... even with games such as Archeage my system just shuts itself down with lowest settings after like 5 hours of gaming.(not sure if there is another issue involved here this started after the fall mostly)

I don't really need a new system but with these issues, I cant seem to find any other viable options, I mean I already thought about what you suggested, as in getting a 256 or 512SSD but .. that probably won't fix my systems other issues mentioned above.

So I had a chat with a local store and they suggested I should sell my present system at its present state ... which would get me something around: $375 and I can get the Asus system for around: $540 and with SSD and such probably around $675 .. that means ... I'm basically spending $300 for a low powered system that my present one (which is rather stupid I know) but there is the fact of the issues with my system that I can't get fixed .. so I'm $300 for a safe & decent enough system to keep things running for a while.

And that made me think although the Asus X555LF doesn't have a good processor but i3 really isn't that bad ... the cache is low yes that sucks but you get what you pay for I suppose.
As the system offers GeForce® 930M with 2GB DDR3 VRAM with 8gb ram and with added 256 or so SSD .. it should perform well (just thinking, not sure) for atleast 1 year or so ... and then I'll probably sell it and get a new system.

My uses for the system is mostly ...
> Work related stuff, among them only thing that would require a decent system would be photoshop
> Gaming .. Mostly I play Online games & MMO's such as: DOTA2, RIFT, EOS (pretty much all latest mmos if i like them and ofcourse there is fact of .. can the system run it smoothly? is my bandwidth sufficient for this game?)etc.
> Finally watching anime, tv shows and so on ...

So photoshop+games(mostly games) would require a decent system and I was thinking based on the config although the ASUS system lacks on processing power .. its has decent enough components on the other criteria ...

I know probably with most modern games or the upcoming ones I'll have to play on lower settings with the new system but I don't really mind and ofcourse probably my games would load a bit slow because of the processing power (sometimes, mostly games with high requirements) but with SSD it should .. help .. even if its a little bit.

Finally I have nothing against i5 buts its gonna cost another extra $200, I don't wanna spend it unless I really have to .. suggestions?

@AddRAM : I thought so too but I was told by the local store guy that the ASUS system doesn't offer free windows or any OS for that matter, so I'll have to pay extra like $100 for the windows, thats why I was wondering if I could use the one I have on the new system but as its not legal I suppose ... I'll have to purchase a new one.

Well, if it's mostly for gaming it's tough for me to recommend any notebook or laptop.

I'd try to settle on one photoshop/gaming desktop and then stay with what I had for a portable machine--rather than trying to turn a notebook/laptop into a photoshop/gaming machine. Even if that meant doing nothing for 6 months or a year while I saved money to get the desktop.

But you may be one of those people who absolutely has to have just one PC and that can't be a desktop. That's OK if you've got very low expectations.

Well I used to have desktop before this present system and I know desktops outperform laptops when it comes to gaming but I need the portability and also there is the fact of electricity, here in my country we lose power atleast 4/5 times a day .. randomly and sometimes it comes back within like 30min and sometimes for 1.5hours ... and with desktop the only possible solution I have is to get a UPS which would cost atleast $500+(to last about 2hours) because the desktop will most likely be a gaming rig and thus it will require more power ..

Also there is the fact of liquid cooling cooling system laptops cost ridiculously high here in my place ... absurd but this is just how it is.

So I'm thinking to settle for a laptop with decent enough config to get things rolling ..
But I just wanna know how low is it really(if its too shitty, I suppose I can get the i5 version) .. im not that techy when it comes to hardware stuff .. ideas?

If you have a tight budget and this is primarily a gaming machine, you're probably better off getting a mid level i3 rather than an i5 and using the saved money toward better graphics.

But maybe you don't have that kind of flexibility on laptops? Maybe you can't get higher quality graphics on an i3?

If you can afford the i5 with better graphics, go ahead with that. But gaming is more dependent on the graphics capability, so if you have to sacrifice somewhere, I'd cut back on the CPU rather than the graphics. I'd probably even do without an SSD if necessary on a cheap gaming machine laptop.

Just don't expect to use it for the latest games or at the highest settings. Keep your expectations down. I assume you're not going to go out and buy a so-called "gaming laptop" for $1000 plus.