Need help in attempt to build a gaming PC £700 - £1000

[staffsMike]

Given the choice I think Sapphire are pretty good but I'm so out of the loop with ATi cards.

[Hicks12]

just look for the ones with the best warranty, thats what i do xD. Sapphire are good as far as i know, havent had an ati card since the 9600Xt was released mind you i skiped a few generations and went straight to an 8800GTS

[directhex]

OK. So you have to have an appropriate earlier OS to validly use the Upgrade. Get one of those 30Gb Laptop drives with original XP disks and XP COA for £15. Far cheaper to do that than pay full whack.

oem licenses are not transferrable

And no, the word is not motherboard. People have had to ring up when changing an HDD. As for M$ re-activating, it seems to be partly down to pot luck. Some get to keep on using XP despite changing the motherboard. Others have been refused for changing the processor.

why can't people understand the difference between licenses and product activation? an oem license SPECIFICALLY grants you the right to change any component in your pc bar the motherboard (which you can change in the event of failure for an equivalent). let's take our local MS employee's word on this - http://forums.hexus.net/1321416-post47.html

you can reactivate as many times as you like as long as you meet the terms of the license. the terms of the license are met as long as you don't swap the motherboard frivolously. if the person on the phone refuses to reactivate after you change a cpu, correct them on the licensing terms - you've paid for the right to use software under those terms, and they don't have the authority to override the terms. not rocket science.

[Thorsson]

oem licenses are not transferrable

Yes, but they are upgradeable. And the upgrade is transferable.

[Webby]

If you change the motherboard for any reason other than for an out and out failure your licence is gone, and then you can only replace it will a equivilent product so if it was socket 939 you cant replace it with a 775 motherboard as that would be an upgrade. If you can't find a suitable replacement then your licence died with the motherboard.

[directhex]

Yes, but they are upgradeable. And the upgrade is transferable.

no, it isn't. "To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade.". if you're not licensed to transfer the os being upgraded, you can't transfer the upgrade

if this stuff were legit, you wouldn't be using a bucket of "nudge nudge wink wink" in your replies.