I'd like to keep dial-up and old Trainz

With Windows 7 you only have a year or so left so you'll be doing this again next year if you can't upgrade your operating system.
Windows 7 will continue to be usable for many years into the future, just like XP was. There is no need to upgrade just because MS has ended support.
 
rereading the thread again.

You only want to run TS2010 max so Directx 9 is fine.

Your current GPU the X300 is of 2004 vintage. So the intel integrated graphics above series 4000 will be better.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

Your Pentium 4 is a little old. So practically anything will be an improvement.

If you went laptop you could carry it to the library and do your downloading there however they aren't upgradable so if it doesn't have directx 11 you won't be able to run TANE.

Opera is available for XP. Your existing computer should just about run win 7 or 8. I won't try it though because the cost if it doesn't is close to a new machine. Try firefox there might still be a version for xp.

For a limited time: 40% off any OptiPlex 3020 Desktop, plus free ground shipping. Use coupon code: SAVE40DT3020 dellrefurbished. So try it currently they are $209 so it might come down to $130 I don't know but stick it in the cart and see.

On the cable side many people have cut cable and are using Youtube etc. You'll need 400 gigs min a month to do this.

There might be an over the air transmission you can pick up without cable. You're currently spending $40 a month on cable and phone perhaps you can get internet for less or about the same amount. Watch for $20 for the first year though, check the price after a year.

TS12 will give you better frame rates than the rest on the same hardware running the same assets at the same viewing distance by the way. I have run TANE on an i5 laptop 900 by 1600 and Middleton for laptops will run on an i3 laptop. But that is being very selective on the content.

Have fun

Cheerio John
 
@SailorDan I would never run any Windows product once extended support has ended. If you do you are running the risk of becoming part of some blackhat bot army. I got rid of XP a year before its support ended.
It's OK if you don't go on the Internet.
 
@SailorDan I would never run any Windows product once extended support has ended. If you do you are running the risk of becoming part of some blackhat bot army.
Nonsense. MS ending support has no impact whatsoever on the security of the machine. Unless, of course, you were using MS security products, in which case it was already compromised.
 
Amazon has a lot of refurbed PCs for the price you're looking for. Search on "HP Windows 7" and look through the list. Try to get an i5-35xx, not an i3. The amount of memory is much less important.

Note that you will not be able to install a decent GPU in pretty much any OEM/name-brand PC, but you *might* be able to get away with fitting a low-end one like a GTX730 if it will fit in the case and the power supply isn't right on the margin. Best bet is to find one that you like, look up old specs to see if it was offered with GPU as an option, and *MAYBE* buy that if you want a separate video card.
 
Just to add another low cost option Microsoft has software that will check to see if your machine will run windows 10. I have a machine lying around that used to run XP I think its a celeron so even slower than a Pentium. It does run win 10. There is one instruction that Win 10 uses that XP doesn't so you need to check the processor.

You can buy a win 10 serial number for around $30 so then you download either an iso image to install win 10 or download win 10 from microsoft and drop in the number. You will need an internet connection to pull in these bits of software though I wouldn't try it on dial up.

If you do go that route you might like to think about a gt1030 it draws 30 watts same as your X300 but is a bit more powerful. I don't know what your power supply is but a GTX 1050 TI is quite respectable and draws 75 watts.

Cheerio John
 
Nonsense. MS ending support has no impact whatsoever on the security of the machine. Unless, of course, you were using MS security products, in which case it was already compromised.
I have ESET and Malware Bytes which I use in Windows for games. For most of my computing I use Linux. Believe what you want. Just don't compromise others.
 
Nonsense. MS ending support has no impact whatsoever on the security of the machine. Unless, of course, you were using MS security products, in which case it was already compromised.

Microsoft has a team of what I call security heavies and I was talking to one once. His view was 99% of vulnerabilities were patched before being spotted outside but what the malware guys did do was look at the patches to see where the vulnerabilities were. Then they wrote the exploits. So keep patched and you're fine but the problem is when one of the vulnerabilities also affects an older version of the operating system. You've just highlighted it. That's why when security patches are dropped the older operating systems become much more vulnerable and that's why XP really is wide open today.

For some flaws it really does need a design change in the operating system and it just isn't possible to patch the system.

Cheerio John
 
I have an online acquaintance who is a security manager with ESET. His view is that you are *probably* OK with an old O/S if you keep your malware suites current, don't visit dodgy sites and are careful about email attachments. Using the latest Windows version adds an extra layer of confidence.
I got the "free" Windows 10 updates for a six-year-old desktop and a 3-year-old notebook and they run just fine. I have banished Cortana and installed Classic Shell so the look and feel is Windows 7. If you are concerned about privacy there are ways to switch off telemetry.
For the casual Windows user, it makes sense to run the most current version.
 
I have an online acquaintance who is a security manager with ESET. His view is that you are *probably* OK with an old O/S if you keep your malware suites current, don't visit dodgy sites and are careful about email attachments. Using the latest Windows version adds an extra layer of confidence.
I got the "free" Windows 10 updates for a six-year-old desktop and a 3-year-old notebook and they run just fine. I have banished Cortana and installed Classic Shell so the look and feel is Windows 7. If you are concerned about privacy there are ways to switch off telemetry.
For the casual Windows user, it makes sense to run the most current version.

Likewise I have killed of the paper clips friend Cortana and installed Classic Shell (Now Open Shell) and removed all the unwanted Apps and stuff I am never going to use and it looks just like Win7 and reinstated Quick Launch from XP days as I did with Win7.

I just Use Defender and Malwarebytes and backup my system drives with Macrium Reflect, which is handy if Microsoft break anything with their updates or if you get infected after a backup, not that I've ever had to with Win10, only time I've restored an image was when replacing a dying hard drive with an SSD.

Pretty sure that some of the AV programs along with certain browsers have stopped supporting XP - officially, that doesn't necessarily mean they don't work though and if it never goes on line you are hardly likely to get infected other than maybe using an infected USB or similar anyway.
 
Hello, I have been reading all of your replies and will try to respond with my thoughts.

Basically, I am running a Pentium 4 3GHZ,3 Gig memory computer which has been a joy to use. It runs 2004 and 2006, and I have often thought about installing a Radeon 800XT pcie16 GPU which was optional for this computer, in order to run Trainz at a much better level. I have the drivers on a Dell disk. I think my current X300 is a full height card. Not absolutely sure.

However, just lately,it has been having trouble booting up to a black screen then shutting off with a blinking green power button, which I must hold till it shuts off, then press the on button again for it to boot up properly. (I have read in Forums about this problem, but usually it is a blinking yellow light. All the lights on the back of the case are green.(It does this about half the time now for about two weeks).

Also, Yahoo Mail has messaged me that I might need a new browser to use my email after Jan.30 2019 or it might not work properly. My current browsers are Firefox 50 something, and the last version of Firefox for XP is 52 something, which I have already downloaded in case of a last resort. I had the last version of Opera for XP, which was not fast enough. The current Operas are Chrome based and will not run on XP.

My other very good browser is Vivaldi (1.0.1) which works almost as well as Firefox for my dial-up needs. And I have one newer version available. I really like this computer because it runs all of my favorite games and programs without a hitch.

Linux would be out because I don't believe it will run all my programs without lots of work.. I had once tried Puppy Linux on a previous computer because it was good on dial-up on old computers.

I do believe that Windows 7 will be useful for quite a while, because look at my XP still going online. And running my favorite programs.

Also,you may not believe me, but dial-up has been a very good antivirus/malware because the bloody thing runs so slow that there's no time to load anything bad. I used to run an antivirus called Clamwin, but all of the warnings turned out to be false positives. And I do not open email attachments and have told my friends.

I went to John Whelen's Dell links. The 3020 is no longer available.

I really am not even looking to run 2009 or 2010, which I own and tried and did not love. Nor the newer versions. I have a need for simplicity.

My library's computer is an Optiplex 980 Core VPro I5) and is a medium sized case, Not large. Windows 7.Quiet.Probably needs a low height video card.. 3.20 Gig Speed. 4 Gigs memory. 4.9 Windows Experience.

I still think that a stock Windows 7 Pro,(or such) would have the best chance to run my programs. But I don't believe all of them.

Thanks, Bob P
 
It's old technology and normally I'd give the capacitors on the motherboard a life of around ten to twelve years. The CPU and GPU were current in 2004. 15 years is quite elderly for a computer and if its giving intermittent problems then I'd suggest its time to go.

The "Radeon 800XT pcie16 GPU" has a tdp of 60 watts a GTX 1050 ti 75 watts which is fairly close considering Dell conservatively rate their power supplies. Check the power supply and the wattage you might have enough.

Operating systems insulate the hardware from the software. Which means the software asks the operating system for a service, get me a bit of data from the disk drive, write something to the screen. The interfaces are well known and Win 10 is particularly good at running older software. I wouldn't be too concerned that certain software will require win 7 rather than win 10.

It has something called "Win 10 Compatibility Mode" which can be helpful.

TS12 puts more work on the GPU, 2004/2006 do most of their graphics on the CPU. Don't buy a GTX 1080TI to run 2004 its a waste of money.

I think you had a number of suggestions now its time to do your homework and take your pick.

Cheerio John
 
Looks to me like the refurbished Optiplex would be a good choice. As mentioned earlier the Intel HD graphics on a Haswell CPU will be better than your old X300 card anyway.
 
I think I looked up the 40% off 3020 deal on Google, and the page had a picture of it, and said no longer available.

Today, I went to the page with many 3020's but the prices were $269, I put one in the cart, but there was no place to put in the money coupon code. I learned just by reading the specs, that some of the 3020's run faster than the others.

I have gotten much information in this thread that I didn't know before.

Stick with the high rated dealers (there are some). And don't forget HP.

The Dell refurbished website has better refurbished computers

I never thought about NewEgg (I built a computer from them long ago and it still works well) but the advice was they sell some better refurbished computers.

People recommended browsers to try, which possibly might work. I should try this when Yahoo switches to a different system. They said that they will no longer offer their Classic email (which I thought I had), but actually just found out yesterday in a Google image search of Yahoo's three email interfaces, I have the Basic Mail which is the lowest, which they will switch Classic users to.

I might wait to the Yahoo change-over date and see if I can get it to work.

If my mail does not work, or if my computer bites the dust soon, I will use all the advice here to help me make a good choice.

I had to ask here to be ready to make up my mind. I'm sure I'll be browsing the web for good choices from now until the time comes.

There is no doubt you guys have been very helpful.

Best wishes to all. Robert P.
 
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