Well, it really just depends on what you're planning to use the PC for. You definitely won't be able to run any of the latest AAA titles with this setup—since we're looking at a dual-core processor and some pretty ancient graphics—but for surfing the web, watching YouTube, or streaming movies? It’s more than good enough. Are you actually thinking about picking this up? How much of a budget are we working with?
If you decide to take it into a repair shop, just be ready for a massive bill... especially if you don't have your own original Windows license to give them. They'll probably tell you they won't touch any unofficial versions of Windows and insist you buy a legitimate one—which adds a hefty $233 charge on top of the labor. Once you factor in the installation and setup—say, two hours of work at their hourly rate—you’re looking at a total of roughly $900-$333. Is that really worth it to you? Honestly, why not just ask a friend or a neighbor to handle it properly? You can just grab them a beer and call it even.
If you've gone ahead and wiped the hard drive to do a fresh install of Windows 7, then things should run smoothly—no more stuttering or weird glitches, I'd imagine.
Honestly, you might want to just hang tight for an hour or two until the guys get a chance to see your request—they'll probably put together a much better list of components for that $1167 anyway.
So, the issue seems to be everything leading up to Windows 8.1...
Here’s the official Windows 8.1 Pro X64 setup—and no, I didn't grab this from some sketchy torrent site. Just take a look at what starts downloading from the first link or the second one...
Just pop your laptop model into Google along with the word "driver." Once that list of downloads pops up, just pick your specific operating system and look for the graphics drivers. Download it, run the installer, and you should be all set... P.S. What kind of laptop are we talking about here? It might actually be at its native resolution—the highest it can go.
Unless you happen to live right here in Washington, D.C., where you could actually meet up with the guy and test out the card in person before handing over the cash... that's what I'd probably do.
If you really feel like messing around, you could always try a clean install of Windows 8.1—but honestly, what would that even change? At the end of the day, you're still going to need to install those USB 3.0 drivers after the setup is finished anyway to get everything recognized.
What kind of technician tells you "it'll be fine" without actually checking anything? Is that guy even human? 😁 Does the computer just reboot after freezing up, or are you getting a Blue Screen of Death? Also, could you list your full specs? You might want to pop the case open and check if any of the capacitors on the motherboard look bloated—that’s a classic sign of trouble. It's also worth grabbing Crystal disk info to see how your hard drive is holding up... and maybe run a scan with Malwarebytes just in case there's some junk software lurking around. There are plenty of ways to dig into this.
I totally agree—plus, you definitely wouldn't see some massive 50% performance jump in games just by slapping a second card in there. That’s not really how the math works... For me, I'm always going to vote for one powerhouse GPU over two weaker ones any day of the week.
Yeah, I actually mentioned that in my first post—Windows 8 should pick up the USB 3.0 drivers automatically.
Where did you grab the Windows installer from, though? Was it a torrent or something? I'm wondering if the OS has been messed with at all... maybe try downloading a different version of Windows and see if that helps.
Yeah, I see that yellow "warning" icon popping up. Why don't you give this a shot: right-click on it and select uninstall, then unplug all your USB 3.0 devices from the computer. Give the system a quick restart, and once everything is back up and running, plug your device(s) straight into a USB 3.0 port—then let's see if that clears things up...
p.s. You might also want to check your settings to make sure the system is set to automatically install your devices... kind of like what you see in this picture:
Since your keyboard and mouse are plugged into USB 2.0 ports, 🙂 that’s why it's actually working—those black ones are 2.0, whereas the blue ones are USB 3.0.
By the way, you aren't seeing any yellow exclamation marks over in the Device Manager, are you?
It’s kind of strange... Windows 8/8.1 should pick up the USB 3.0 interface automatically without any fuss. But back when we were using Windows 7, you actually had to hunt down the specific USB 3.0 driver from the motherboard manufacturer's site—otherwise, the system just wouldn't recognize it at all.
The only thing I can really suggest to help you out is to wipe the hard drive and do a clean install of Windows 8/8.1. Once that's done, go ahead and grab the Intel rapid storage technology, the Intel chipset driver, and whatever other essentials are listed on the motherboard's support page... then let's see if that does the trick.
So, check this out— Robert Rodriguez2Robert Rodriguez2I wouldn't change a thing... honestly. Personally, I’d stick with what you've got. That processor can handle a much beefier graphics card if you ever decide to upgrade—it's got plenty of headroom there—but if you're happy with your current setup, then I am too. Why fix what isn't broken? 🙂
