No, you cannot use an OEM license to run COEM Win 7.
No, you cannot use an OEM license to run COEM Win 7.
He’s upgrading his uncle’s PC because the GT430 struggled with FHD videos. He bought a new screen, but it was too big for the GPU and kept having issues. The GTX deal was good at around 20€. His old machine had only 4GB RAM, which wasn’t enough anymore. He uses it mainly for work, YouTube, Facebook, and plays strategy games like Stronghold. “Crippled BIOS” means the system’s built-in settings are damaged or malfunctioning, making it hard to boot or run certain programs properly. I’m familiar with computers and can try to guide him through installing Windows, but I’m not very experienced with BIOS settings.
Avoid spending on 775 unless it's the first-gen LGA 1156 model; it usually matches the price of a C2Q plus a mobile chip (like an i5 750/760 with H55/p55 combo) but delivers far better performance. It doesn’t require premium RAM to reach its full potential and supports more than 8GB of memory. DDR3 is often found on OEM boards such as Samsung M378B5273DH0 or Hynix HMT351U6CFR8N. It can handle speeds up to 2800MHz and even goes beyond. Even without upgrading to LGA 1156, it still outperforms the C2Q while costing the same. This is what I’ve experienced after investing heavily in outdated 775 parts—they’re barely useful and don’t justify their price. In contrast, modern boards like the Giga EP45 (600+ FSB) are worth the investment since they’re more about fun overclocking than basic performance, and DDR3 options are readily available on aftermarket PCBs.
We already purchased everything I just did not have. He doesn’t plan to overclock; he’ll use it for work, YouTube, Facebook, and light gaming. He didn’t want a new PC—he wanted to upgrade his existing one. I found suitable upgrades and parts at the best price. It’s his money and his choice.
The rams were 12€, they are 4x2gb and the mbo was 36€, it was the cheapest one that supported 8gb ram, but it's new/refurbished so I think it's good, the gpu works fine but it has some horizontal screen tearing when watching YouTube but I think it's normal because my RX580 does the same, I hope that the new system fixes it
You were taken advantage of quite a bit. Which country? Even places like ours in India are surprisingly affordable, and this could shake up the current system. Where exactly do you think you should purchase these parts? AliExpress seems the only option that offers such an old model at a steep price—your local used shops would likely offer much better deals or none at all. It’s hard to get rid of them for free, even with 12€ for RAM, which is already a lot. Buying an older H55/P55 board for around $10-15 with an i5 and some DDR3 parts could save you a ton and give you a solid upgrade without breaking the bank. Plus, it would be more efficient than using a 4GHz i5. If you don’t need top performance from a 3000MHz CPU, just install a budget H61 or B75 board and pair it with a mid-range i3 or i5—this would work just fine and save you money.
I'm from Slovakia. The rams and GPU came from aukro.cz, and the MBO is from PHC.sk. We're getting ready to build it now—good luck!
Just keep in mind if it feels too slow, you can easily set the clock speed to 400Hz and that will bring it down to a smooth 3.2GHz without making any other changes. If the board automatically raises the voltage, manually adjust the CPU voltage to 1.2V since 3.2GHz is way too slow to require extra tweaks.
Windows is running smoothly with the setup CD from the uncle for Windows 7 Ultimate. However, the CMOS battery is dead, and the BIOS indicates an unknown CPU was detected. Updating the BIOS might resolve the issue. The system launches without problems, but it occasionally freezes and the MBO file doesn’t fit properly—likely needing a hardware change or replacement.
It would have been better to dig deeper into the subject. I felt the same energy as when I built my first project and faced issues with LGA 775, but I wouldn’t have taken the OC route if I hadn’t stumbled on a p5q after a P5QP5-A problem and tried crazy FSBs only to realize I needed an EP45 board. I ended up buying several of them and reselling for profit. Still, I own that p5q and managed to get a 1520 DDR2 stable working—so I gave up on pushing high-frequency DDR2 since info is limited. If you want to update the BIOS, it’s safe; you can remove the chip and reprogram externally with a Ch341A, which would let me flash a P5K Pro if needed. I’m open to making a modded BIOS with Maximus II for better FSB, especially if I find one under $10 or cheaper than a P5K. But it looks like they’re out of stock or too expensive. I’ve stopped chasing 3000+ DDR3 speeds on the X58 (the highest bootable version I’ve seen is 3100 on an i7 930) in favor of 600+ FSBs, 1600+ DDR2, or 5GHz+ Pentium 4/Celleron D. I don’t know much about the future potential for these boards—CPUs vary a lot, and even with modbios 775, it’s not the most promising platform anymore. It’s frustrating when parts don’t work as expected, but it keeps me engaged. I’ll probably revisit the 775 later once I can voltmod different boards, but right now I’m focused on squeezing out the best performance from what I have.