[rescue] off-topic but advice needed for the involuntary hardware upgrade for Win 11?

[Joshua Boyd]

On 12/18/24 14:38, john ferguson via rescue wrote:
> I don't know where to turn but will try here.
>
> Despite still running my Sparc 10, Sunos 4.1.4 and Linux almost 
> everywhere else, I'm forced by a couple of applications to stay with 
> Windows.  One is Creo - current name for Pro-Engineer, and there are 
> others including some Windows Office apps which I need to use to avoid 
> incompatibility problems which though seldom tend to be vexing when 
> they happen.
>
> And then there's MSFS2020 where I can run a Beech 18 on gauges from 
> Champaign to MDW when I can't sleep.
>
> I'm presently running Windows 10, Ubuntu 22.04, and Debian on two HP 
> Elite 8300s, with Nvidia GTX 1070s, one at home and one at the shop.  
> I have synology DS216's in each location eachwith 8TB plus removable 
> USB drives to back them up monthly and store them disconnected.
>
> They have been fast enough for what I do and I would not change them 
> unless I'm forced to - ie the end of Windows 10.
>
> I should add that we've been running an Asus notebook for years on XP 
> without a problem, but then it doesn't do much.
>
> It looks like I'm going to have buy a a new motherboard, and since the 
> HP's are not quite hardware compatible, now boxes, the new type of 
> solid state drives, new RAM, etc.  I'd keep the Nvidias, and a couple 
> of the bigger disks now in the HP's.
>
> I haven't shopped this kind of stuff in years, and don't know where to 
> start.  I'd thought of looking at what Microsoft thinks is an adequate 
> system - not the greatest and start there.  I do need parallel ports 
> on the shop machine to run the CNC equipment, but I suppose I can find 
> a board with two ports if I can't get one on the MB.
>
> I can't tell if all of this makes any sense. If it doesn't, ask away 
> and I'll try to clarify.


If you really want Windows 11, your simplest option is likely a HP Z4 G4 
or a Dell Precision 3630.  Either should be under $200 on ebay.  Either 
will likely come with a Windows 11 Pro license (you do not want to mess 
with Windows 11 Home).  You could consider an HP EliteDesk or Dell 
Optiplex of the same generation, but those are more likely to give you 
trouble with your goal of moving your GPU over.

If home and the shop are on the same property and connected by gigabit 
ethernet, you might consider getting just one new machine and using RDP 
to access Creo and Office from the Windows 11 PC, and moonlight to 
stream MSFS from the Windows 11 PC.  Moonlight is supposed to work 
really well, but I haven't actually tried it.  I do use RDP (xfreerdp to 
be specific) to use Fusion 360, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Davinci 
Resolve from my linux machine (Resolve should work on Linux, but it is 
pickier about file encoding than on Windows and my Linux machine doesn't 
have a thunderbolt card for my video output interface).  I'm frequently 
tempted to move the Windows PC to the basement with the servers, 
although the extra heat it puts out is nice this time of year.