Window 7 not Windows 10

[caci]

My son wants a new gaming PC but he wants to use Windows 7 instead of Windows 10. I have copied this spec from PC Specialist for a gaming PC, but it only offers Windows 10. Is there any reason why we can't use Windows 7 with this set up ? Thanks for your help.

Case
CORSAIR SPEC-04 MID TOWER GAMING CASE - BLACK/RED
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
FREE Warhammer: Vermintide 2 & XMorph Defense w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 Ti - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready! ()
1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 860 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

 

[SpyderTracks]

Modern processors don't support windows 7. You can install it, but it takes some hacking and you'd have to find custom drivers as the manufacturers won't have developed any. Basically windows 7 is no longer supported.

 

[ubuysa]

Windows 7 on a new PC is a huge mistake. As SpyderTracks says, Windows 7 is not supported on modern processors, but worse than that Windows 7 does not contain any support for modern hardware or protocols, and no drivers for newer hardware are being written for Windows 7. It would be like buying a Ferrari and running it on diesel!

Most people claim to prefer Windows 7 for it's simple text-based user interface, however Windows 10 has a highly configurable user interface that can be used in purely text mode making it very similar in use to Windows 7. Once your son becomes familiar with Windows 10 however he won't ever want to go back.

In addition, Windows 10 is, under the covers, a massively superior operating system that can fully exploit the modern hardware you plan to buy and offers much better management of resources and applications. Windows 7 is dead.....

 

[SpyderTracks]

Windows 7 on a new PC is a huge mistake. As SpyderTracks says, Windows 7 is not supported on modern processors, but worse than that Windows 7 does not contain any support for modern hardware or protocols, and no drivers for newer hardware are being written for Windows 7. It would be like buying a Ferrari and running it on diesel!

Most people claim to prefer Windows 7 for it's simple text-based user interface, however Windows 10 has a highly configurable user interface that can be used in purely text mode making it very similar in use to Windows 7. Once your son becomes familiar with Windows 10 however he won't ever want to go back.

In addition, Windows 10 is, under the covers, a massively superior operating system that can fully exploit the modern hardware you plan to buy and offers much better management of resources and applications. Windows 7 is dead.....

Totally agree with all this and will also add it’s an awful lot more secure than windows 7.

 

[Oussebon]

1) In addition to the above, MS will stop issuing updates for Windows 7 in early 2010 i.e. less than 2 years.

2) Windows 10 has DX12. Not necessarily a huge deal even at this stage, but if you're gaming you wouldn't want to have DX12 shut off as an option.

3) In addition to customising the interface with options Windows itself has, there are also things like ClassicShell that greatly change the appearance to be more Win7 like.

4) Is there a specific and very niche reason he wants Win 7? Compatibility with a very specific title?

5) What's the budget? How much did the above spec cost? What monitor is it being paired with? There are a few tweaks that come to mind to improve value / futureproofing, etc depending.

 

[caci]

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions.

The games he plays are mainly Overwatch, GTA V and Left 4 Dead 2.

I think his main concern over moving to Windows 10 is the fact it auto updates. If anyone knows a simple way to change to manual updates, I would be very grateful.

The spec is taken from PC Specialist site and the cost is about £1500. I don't mind paying up to £2000 if anyone can suggest a better spec

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions.

The games he plays are mainly Overwatch, GTA V and Left 4 Dead 2.

I think his main concern over moving to Windows 10 is the fact it auto updates. If anyone knows a simple way to change to manual updates, I would be very grateful.

The spec is taken from PC Specialist site and the cost is about £1500. I don't mind paying up to £20 00 if anyone can suggest a better spec

You can’t turn off updates in windows 10, but if you buy a pro version, you can defer upgrades which I do, delays them by up to 3 months I think, by then any issues should have been ironed out. You can’t defer security updates on any version though.

I’ve had zero issues since the very first upgrade to Windows 10. I defer all feature upgrades and do my research before upgrading and I’ve had no problems at all.

 

[Oussebon]

Those titles would all run fine on Windows 10. As above, you can defer feature updates, and while you can't defer security updates, you probably shouldn't defer security updates even if you could...

Plus Windows 7 stops getting any updates in under 21 months and we can assume the PC is meant to last longer than that, such that it will end up getting Windows 10 anyway before long.

In terms of the build:

Case
CORSAIR SPEC-04 MID TOWER GAMING CASE - BLACK/RED

I'd suggest a bit better case. There are a lot of options in your budget range. Maybe the Game Max Falcon for its extra (and RGB) fans at the budget end. The NZXT S340 or Fractal Define S in the mid range. Corsair Crystal 460X as a bit higher, with its tempered glass and trio of RGB LED fans. Additional fans and better airflow will help keep the components cool, and potentially help performance by keeping the GPU's boost clocks as high as possible.

Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (4 x 4GB)

I would suggest 2x8gb 3000MHz RAM. Faster RAM can have big benefits in some titles. 2x8gb may also be notionally better as it puts less demand on the memory controller, (not that you're likely to be doing much overclocking, but still...)

1st Hard Disk
250GB Samsung 860 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

Swap this for the PM961 M.2 SSD from the M.2 SSD Drive section, as it's faster.

Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY

The 550W VS series is only ~£2 more and could open up more GPU upgrade options in the future.

You could also consider the 650W TXm PSU which is better quality and modular, meaning fewer unnecessary cables in the case.

Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD

Consider the Ac1200 for the higher potential speeds and access to the 5GHz band.

Lastly:

Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 Ti - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready! ()

What monitor is the system being paired with?

 

[ubuysa]

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions.

The games he plays are mainly Overwatch, GTA V and Left 4 Dead 2.

I think his main concern over moving to Windows 10 is the fact it auto updates. If anyone knows a simple way to change to manual updates, I would be very grateful.

The spec is taken from PC Specialist site and the cost is about £1500. I don't mind paying up to £2000 if anyone can suggest a better spec

You want the auto updates, many of these are security related and it's very important that fixes of this type are applied as soon as possible. Other updates are stability fixes and/or bug fixes and you certainly want those too. It's a myth that not updating Windows is safer, it's absolutely not.

Upgrades (new versions of Windows) are a different matter, as Oussebon says you can defer these if you opt for the Pro version, but that's an expensive option. It is unwise IMO to upgrade Windows in place in any case, it's far safer to download the latest version to a USB stick (via the media creation tool) and do a clean install of the new version.

Windows 7 is not the answer to this concern of your son's though, it's a dead OS and support for it ends in two years in any case.