Buying a new desktop for XP (32bit). Need advice regarding compatibility.

Hello everyone ,

I'm buying a new desktop computer and want to install XP (32bit) on it, and I'd appreciate if someone could help me clear some things up before I buy.

Hardware compatibility and drivers

Motherboard: Asus B85M-K
Graphics card: MSI nVidia GeForce GTX960 2GB DDR5 128bit
Processor: Intel i5-4460 3.2 GHz

Motherboard and graphics has drivers on the manufacturer website, however I wanted to make sure. I remember reading somewhere that there are no drivers for this chipset and that 4th generation Intel processors are not supported, but the drivers are there on the Asus site.

And I recall reading that GeForce GTX960 was the last nVidia card with XP support, there are drivers available on nVidia site. No special drivers necessary for MSI produced nVidia card?

Anybody have any experiences with XP and this hardware?

(I don't have any prior experience with assembling computers, but I think that these components should all be compatible with each other. If someone has experience with this, are they?)

Also, does XP have any problem with a modern hard disk of 1TB? Is the PAE trick for XP 32bit I've read about reliable and enough to let me use 8GB of RAM?

Thanks!

 

Motherboard~ I'm not seeing XP support:
https://www.asus.com/in/Motherboards/B85MK/specifications/
https://www.be.ge/published/publicdata/TEST/attachments/SC/products_manual/asus_b_85_m_kxx.pdf
Graphics card~ looks good to go:
https://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-960/specifications
CPU: ~ I'm getting conflicting info:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1033352/pg2
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows_install/can-we-install-window-xp-on-
i5-processor/09fecab7-a258-46ee-a964-aa84ecffd5f6?auth=1
https://www.experts-exchange.com/qu...-Intel-Core-i5-i7-Supports-Windows-XP-OS.html
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/80817/Intel-Core-i5-4460-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3-40-GHz-
Regarding component compatibility:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/
http://www.pc-specs.com/pc-custom-builder
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-make-sure-all-your-pc-components-are-compatible
https://www.cclonline.com/article/5...our-Own-System-Component-Compatibility-Guide/
I have XP Pro installed on an second-hand Dell Optiplex 755, with 1TB HDD, that is going good. I vaguely recall seeing mention that the problem comes in at 1.5 or 2TB size, so I would not go beyond 1TB. I had computer shop install 8GB RAM, but that was to play with Linux, ramdisk software, etc., and so far as I know, my XP only uses 3.5 RAM.

 

Hi trimis, thanks for your answer.

First, an update: I posted this after seeing that many computer shops here offered the parts I want new and with warranty. Turns out nobody updates their websites and those parts are actually long gone and never coming back in stock. Following advice, I wouldnt buy second hand, so several days of phonecalling around I found (guaranteed) another m/b and processor (Asus b85m-g and Intel i5-4590 respectivly), however these components are similar to the ones in my original post. Both CPUs are 4th gen i5, and the m/b is b85m-g instead of b85m-k. I'm still looking for the graphics card.

Yet the Asus website has XP drivers for the chipset, integrated VGA, AUDIO, LAN, as well as BIOS updates for this motherboard right here https://www.asus.com/in/Motherboards/B85MK/HelpDesk_Download/ ... (and here- https://www.asus.com/in/Motherboards/B85MG/HelpDesk_Download/ - for the b85m-g) This is all I actually need, right? This sort of thing is why I asked the question in the first place. Conflicting info all around.

Just another check, I don't need any additional drivers for this depending on manufacturer (MSI, Gigabyte...) ? Just the nvidia driver should be okay? Possibly a stupid question, but just in case.

I did my homework here and I'm aware of conflicting reports. I think it will be possible. As I understand it the CPU as such has no drivers. It is however compatible with my chosen m/b and I have all the XP drivers for the m/b. Judging by this too http://yeokhengmeng.com/2016/04/ins...-a-modern-unsupported-haswell-system-in-2016/ , it should be possible as my chosen processor is also the Haswell architecture.

PC part picker was helpful. After adding the RAM, power supply and HDD recommended by the supplier from who I'll buy the CPU and m/b, it turns out that everything should be compatible, with one possible problem. PC part picker said (and it is mentioned too on the Asus website for my m/b) that for compatibility with my chosen processor, the BIOS may have to be updated. I've asked around and heard some horror stories about computers becoming unrepairable after failed BIOS updates... Now, the same place from which I downloaded the m/b drivers (the Asus site) has BIOS updaters. Any experience with this? How would I even run them, if the worst comes to the worst, I understand I won't be able to do anything past the BIOS without them?

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I won't need anything more than 1TB. I might connect an external hard disk. But I assume the problem is with more than 2TB in a single drive? As for RAM, I was looking forward to being able to use 8GB of RAM after reading about this (https://itstillworks.com/how-to-enable-pae-on-a-32-bit-windows-xp-10155.html), and I wondered if it is safe/reliable? Just found also this on the topic (http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/176356-simple-xp-32bit-64gb-ram-true-pae-guide/) and for bonus points the guy seems to be running on a i3-4370 (also 4th gen Core/Haswell like I was inquiring about )

 

Keep the external drive to 1TB. Also, I vaguely recall something about new generation HDDs that may not work with XP. I'm using Western Digital Caviar Black #WD1001FALS. Don't know exactly the cut off limit. One will tell you 1.5TB, another will say 2TB. 1TB is enough. If not, go my route and get a mobile-rack, and use multi 1TB (bare) hard drives. As for trying to get XP to run more than the 3.5GB, your links make it sound risky...if you think you can handle all that keyboard acrobatics, give it a go. I have no need. XP is okay for me as is. If I had needed more I would of got a 64-bit version. Note some of my comments are int he body of your post above...do the 'click to expand' to see them.

 

Asus's BIOS updates are very good, and I have never had any problems with them. However, unless you have dual Bios, with the reserve as a fallback option, it can never be totally risk-free. Any Brown-out, power outage, or fatal error occurring during a BIOS update might leave you in state from which you cannot recover.

So make sure PSU good, connections all sound, and minimum of connected peripherals before updating.

(That said, it has been a long time since I did one the long-winded way: recent kit tends to post a notification asking if I want to update BIOS {maybe not in XP} and then manages it transparently if I assent.)