My current desktop PC does not meet the stringent official system requirements for Windows 11. The PC in question has an ATX case and a microATX motherboard. I own more than one edition of Scott Mueller’s book Upgrading and Repairing PCs. Mr. Mueller, who is apparently retired now, has long been a believer in building a desktop PC from scratch. Where is the best place to buy desktop-PC components? Is it Newegg? Despite what the gentleman in this video says, I do not feel comfortable buying any desktop-PC components via AliExpress, not even a CPU.
I had to upgrade to a Windows 11 computer. I bought a rebuilt Dell from Amazon about I month ago for about $275. Seems to be working fine. I kept my existing monitor and printer.
Does the Dell you bought have an ATX form factor or at least some variation of it?
I built a desktop from components quite a few years ago. I bought the needed items from Newegg and I was very happy with them. I still buy from Newegg occasionally and I am still very satisfied with them.
I really enjoyed building that computer and I was extremely happy, (and lucky), to see it boot up the first time I turned it on and without it having any issues.
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There are ways to install Win11 on PCs that microsoft says can’t be upgraded. I just upgraded a 2010 HP laptop from Win10 to Win11. It is a little Geeky so if you’re tech challenged you may not be able to do it. It involves downloading the Win11 ISO from MS. Then you go to Flyby11 and download the install file. If I already lost you then I guess that’s that.
I do have an older Dell desktop from 2008 that there was no way to upgrade to Win11. It is running Win10 just fine. I might install Linux on it.
Unknown. All computer specs are available at the Amazon site.
This thread and specifically Microsoft makes me angry. I’ve done EE and embedded systems development for 45 years. MS is full of it.
The only thing that MS 11 “needs” is a TPM module. That protects you because the OS sucks for security. What you will need is a new motherboard with a TPM chip. The CPU, RAM, etc does not matter.
Honestly, I would point you to a chromebook if you just need to check your email…. or a basic laptop that can run linux. Linux makes me angry as well, but I won’t get into that.
My last two computer builds I did I bought the parts from Amazon. You need to make sure it’s sold and shipped by amazon, don’t buy from third parties. I have never used Newegg but many people I know swear by it. I built the newer computers for Win 11 but installed Linux Mint on them and never went back.
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My computer guru is about my age (68) and has been a tech guy on TV, radio and now does podcasts. His name is Leo Laporte. Back on one of his TV shows on “Tech TV”, The Screensavers, he was showing viewers how to build a PC. Back then you actually saved money building them yourself. As his show went on he started saying: “Well, it’s fun assembling your own PC and you learn a lot. But buying a pre-made Dell or Gateway 2000 (remember those?!) or HP is less expensive and you have customer support.” When you put together your own PC, You are your own customer support!
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I’ve constructed a few computers during that time and, honestly, Newegg is still reliable — as long as you make sure it’s actually Newegg and not some random seller from a marketplace you’re ordering from. Micro Center is also great, especially if you live near one; their employees really know what they are talking about. I find the prices on PCPartPicker first before seeing what’s the cheapest of Newegg/Micro Center, and Amazon.
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In the past I had major issues with NewEgg as their shipping cost was horrible to Hawaii. A $75 disk drive could cost another $75 in shipping. However I just did a test and their cost is now $10 for me as the lowest price. So I will add them to by list of sites to check in the future.
After reading all the replys I noticed that no one mentioned Walmart or Best Buy. I am still using the two PC’s I built in 2007 and 2012. These were built for gaming so I bought CPU’s and graphics cards that were toward performance to ensure longevity. I bought most parts from Newegg and Tiger Direct(OUT OF BUSINESS NOW). Cases were from Best Buy. If the price is right I would buy now from Walmart and Best Buy because if I need to return I just can go to the store.
A good example is that I had a Western Digital hard drive fail from Newegg and it cost like $16 to return. The upside was that after I left a negative rewiew about having to pay to return one of there drives I got an email from Western Digital saying that they could not refund the shipping but they did offer and I accepted a 500MB External drive as compensation. I also on one of the graphics cards there was a free game, that I wanted, offererd. When I got the card there was no game. They said it was out of stock but they would send it when it came in, also they said that for my inconvenience they were including the next game in the series when it also came out.
I also remember getting at least three price match reductions on the ram sticks.
I would strongly recommend spending a couple hundred and getting a cheap PC that is Windows 11 capable versus the headaches of trying to bring the old one up to speed.
But if you want to keep using 10 for awhile look at the security updates for $30 a year or LTSC options to continue using it for awhile.
I dunno. My 2011 Win7 system is still running and still getting the occasional update. I am happy enough.
I agree. I have built a few in my time but not as cost effective as ready made, unless you have specific needs. Check out Dell.com for sales. I have used newegg for many years
Best deals are at Microcenter in store they usually have a great combo price , I am too far 
, I use Newegg and Amazon sometimes Best buy if they have a deal . Best deals are Black Friday coming up so try to hold out . I have built several over the years .