Years ago I got a Cooler Master Trooper (SGC-5000-KKN1) case, for a XP Pro build that never happened. Been collecting dust, and it's time to either use it, or send it off to the recycler. I'm looking at the feasibility of doing a Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit PC. From what I've seen on Google, it appears the 'lastest&greatest' parts either do not work on Win 7, or do so only after extreme workarounds, which I have no interest in fooling with. So I'm focusing on legacy components. For CPU, I think an i7 (or an AMD equivalent) is needed, but not sure which one. I have no idea which motherboards have native support for Win 7, nor even where to begin. I'm hoping for suggestions to narrow the field of choices, or outright recommendations.
General guidlines for the motherboard would be minimum 16GB RAM, the more expansion slots and SATA connectors the better, minimum four USB 2.0 ports, eSATA if possible, and VGA port is absolutely required. Uses for the build will be surf the net, streaming movies from sites like putlockers, possible video coding/editing (in the unlikely event I ever find anything worth burning to DVD), Photoshop or GIMP, Word 2003, Virtualbox, printing from my color inkjet and B&W laser, and a lot of Linux LiveCD sessions. I already have an Asus Xonar D2/PM/A PCIe audio card that I would like to work into the build. Cost is not really a factor, as components will be bought piecemeal, but I would likely balk at paying more than $300 for any one part. Any question I failed to answer, feel free to ask.
General guidlines for the motherboard would be minimum 16GB RAM, the more expansion slots and SATA connectors the better, minimum four USB 2.0 ports, eSATA if possible, and VGA port is absolutely required. Uses for the build will be surf the net, streaming movies from sites like putlockers, possible video coding/editing (in the unlikely event I ever find anything worth burning to DVD), Photoshop or GIMP, Word 2003, Virtualbox, printing from my color inkjet and B&W laser, and a lot of Linux LiveCD sessions. I already have an Asus Xonar D2/PM/A PCIe audio card that I would like to work into the build. Cost is not really a factor, as components will be bought piecemeal, but I would likely balk at paying more than $300 for any one part. Any question I failed to answer, feel free to ask.