Will it Install?

[Defenestrate]

I am contemplating buying Windows 7. Before I purchase it, however, I want to make sure that it will even install on my machine.

Here are some specs:
Motherboard - SuperMicro Super X7DA8 w/ "greencreek" chipset
Processors - 2x Intel Xeon 5060 "Dempsey" processors.
RAM - 4x 1gb Intel Stock DDR2 RAM
Hard Drive - 2x 130gb Western Digital Raptor SATA HDD on RAID 0
Graphics - EVGA Geforce 8800gtx

If there is anything else anyone needs to know just ask and I will post it. I have checked microsoft's site and it seems to be compatible but they also said that it would be compatible with vista and it is not.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Welcome!

That looks like plenty of power for your system, but I do not know if all the hardware is compatible. The best thing you can do is run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. That will tell you all you need to know.

As always, if you have any questions, problems, or suggestions, we have a full board willing to help.

Good luck!

~JK

 

[Defenestrate]

@Jonathan_King
Thank you for the suggestion. It is very much appreciated. Unfortunately the system I am inquiring about is running Mandriva Linux. I should have probably have mentioned that in the specs.

 

[Jonathan_King]

How old is the system? Did you buy it, or build it yourself?

 

[bobkn]

The first thing that strikes me is that is has dual physical CPUs.

To support those, you'll need Win7 Professional or Ultimate. Home Premium supports only one physical socket.

I don't see a lot of driver support at SuperMicro for Windows 7, or Vista. I wonder if it's possible to use drivers for the server OSes, like 2003.

(Why is there only 4GB of RAM on a server motherboard?)

 

[Defenestrate]

Its a strange machine I know. I was going to buy professional 64x. I built this one myself about a year ago and never got as much use out of it as I wanted to. After I get a more user friendly OS on it I plan purchasing additional RAM.

 

[GatoSoft]

Hi Defenestrate! ^_^

I've been in Intel's support site and I can tell you that your motherboard's chipset is supported by Windows 7. You just need to install Windows 7, download your S-ATA RAID driver from Intel's site and install it. Nothing more.
But... maybe you could have some issues with your integrated sound. SuperMicro's site doesn't mention which sound codec that motherboard have installed, only says "AC97 Audio".
If your AC97 audio is Realtek, you'll have no problem. If not, try Windows Update. But if Windows Update can't do anything for you, probably you'll need a couple of minutes Googling before getting your sound working again. :huh:
Anyway... you can post which model your audio is and maybe we can help you. You see... nothing that can't be solved.

Greetings from Argentina!