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Win7 or Win10 For My First Handbuilt HEDT Effort?
Hi everybody,
My very first post on these hallowed pages, a bit long, so please be gentle I've just today joined but have dropped in over the years and always been impressed by the way you guys help people and look after each other. Put off joining for long enough so here I am.
I'm going to be building my very first computer soon - a HEDT machine with a fairly high spec. The machine I am using now (3770K, Z77 rig from 2012) was built by a shop for me to my specs. I wasn't brave enough to try building on my own but I think I am now. You tube is helping a lot to build my confidence that I can handle this. I'm not here to necessarily ask you guys what are the best components to use, although I 'might' do some of that in the future when I start to lay actual money down on the thing. I'm not a computer guru but I probably know at least 90% of everything I need to know to make my computing experience hassle free AND help out the odd other 'newer' user when called upon. From checking this forum out over the years I have learned a lot BUT I know for sure I'm not half as talented as most of the brains here.
No, I'm here today to say HI and to ask some help with a question that has me in a malaise of sorts. I LOVE Win7 as an operating system as it offers the most powerful, usable and friendly combination I've ever used. I'm a firm believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I'm not against progress by any means, of course, but the learning curve to upgrade to Win10 PLUS the horror stories of Win10 PLUS the principle of paying for it when not needed PLUS PLUS PLUS and it goes on.
The thing is, the new machine I want to build, well, apparently many of the components are optimised for Win10. Here's the barebones of my intended new system, mainly built around a need for high power video editing as well as general office use (home office):
- Asus X299 TUF Mark 1 MOBO Socket LGA2066 (the 5 year warranty is the main reason for the TUF model as is unique)
- Skylake i9 7900 CPU (lowest cost possible CPU to get the full 44 PCIe lanes)
- 32 GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
- GTX 1050/1060 or 1070 GPU (undecided about exactly which yet) - the 1080 price is unjustifiable to me.
- at least 1 NvMe M2 drive, probably Samsung 960 Pro. (512mb and/or 1GB) for OS and video work partition (one of my existing 1GB Raptors too perhaps for daily hack office work)
- Fractal Define R6 case (looks good, big for good airflow and quiet - important in an office sitting so close)
- Corsair AX860i Platinum80 Plus PSU (10 (yes TEN!) year warranty - very attractive to me)
- a 4K monitor but don't know which one yet. Much research to do on this. Any suggestions/endorsement very welcome.
So, that's the plan so far - nothing is locked in yet, except perhaps the MOBO which I really like due to the unique warranty. Everything else is geared to the current demands of video editing in 1080p however will probably need 4K capability in the medium term future (2 years?). Had much MOBO problems in the past and, as Murphy's law would have it, they were 'just' out of their pitiful 1 year or 3 year warranties at the time. TUF also has industry-best military standard components and just seems like the best made anywhere.
Now - my conundrum . . . Win7 or Win10 . . .?!
The MOBO (UEFI BIOS), CPU, NvME M2 and (I think) the GPU are all optimised and designed for Win10. I'm using the latest hardware here so it seems to make sense to use the latest OS . . . NO?
I'm wary of moving away from Win7 as I know it so well. I don't NEED a bloody new learning curve, I don't NEED a bloody hassle when updating (horror stories), I don't WANT to hand ANY money to bloody Microsoft.
So, what do you think? Will the new machine hardware play nice with Win7 SP1? I know it WILL work. I wonder though how much performance i will lose or maybe not be able to access in NvME M2 or Skylake if I don't have Win10. I suspect I will lose a good few performance enhancements offered by Win10 - is this correct? Win7 feels like a trusted, loyal and dependable old friend that has always been there for me. Win10, to my eyes and ears, is a shiny new distraction STILL yet to prove itself. Should I get into bed with the devil, because he's tempting me with a new shiny advanced world of possibilities?
Any and all leaned opinions will be very, very, very much appreciated. Cheers and thanks for any help.