Recommend hardware changes for upgrading from Win-7 to Win-10

I built my desktop from components 11 years ago. I installed Win-XP, & later upgraded to Win-7 (32 Bit). Now I want to upgrade to Win-10 (64 Bit) and would appreciate a recommendation for upgrading my old, & possibly outdated hardware components. Here is a list of what I have in my desktop now.
Motherboard - ASUSTeK P5N-E SLI, Bus Clock : 333 MHz
RAM - 4 GB
CPU - 2.67 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Hard Drive - 320 GB
Video Card - NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Audio Card - Built in : NVIDIA
Thanks for any recommendations

Depends on your budget, you using for games or general use?

Just general use. E-mails, browsing, photo editing, music editing

How much of a budget do you have, you can get a good general PC (maybe) 8 core for less than $800, depending if building yourself or a pre-built one?

I'd like to build it myself and change only those components that are absolutely needed to run Win-10 comfortably and spend what is just necessary to do that. I have been out of the market for so long that I don't know which brand of components are recognized as having dependable performance and what they cost. As you can see I am not into gaming and don't care for the super high performance components.
I know that I'll keep the Antec case with its dual cooling fans, the 500 Watt power supply, and the 20" Samsung SyncMaster monitor. The rest can be replaced if needed based on suggestions from members of the forum

n2bn2b said:

I'd like to build it myself and change only those components that are absolutely needed to run Win-10 comfortably...

Welcome to TenForums.

TBH, what you have already got should be capable of running Windows 10 comfortably.

Why not give it a try? First, make a system image with Macrium Reflect Free so you can go back if you don't like it.

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect

If you have a spare HDD you could at this stage replace your original with the spare and restore the Macrium image to it. That way you'd leave the original HDD intact.

Then upgrade the x86 W7 to x86 W10. Once it is activated your PC will have a digital license stored on Microsoft's activation servers for the edition you got in the upgrade (Home or Pro). You can use the Media Creation Tool to make a W10 install USB with the option of including both x86 and x64 versions. To upgrade, run the setup.exe you'll find on the root of the USB from within W7.

Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10

Once Windows 10 says it is activated with a digital license you can boot from the USB to clean install Windows 10 x64 and, when asked for a key, click 'I don't have one'. Install the same edition as you had before (Home or Pro) and as soon as it can contact the activation servers it will it will activate automatically from the digital license.

Hi,
775 socket
I'd be looking into a core 2 quad frankly ditch that old dual core asap
Top of the line here is probably only 80.us

Code:

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/P5N32-E_SLI.html#cs

Access denied

Most any $100 or more CPU will be an easily noticeable upgrade from a Core 2 Duo. Make sure it has at least 4 cores. If Intel, you may as well get something from the last few generations---7th, 8th or 9th, which require a socket 1151 motherboard. It's quite unlikely you would need to spend more than $200 on the CPU to be quite satisfied--or less. Re-evaluate after you decide on the upper limit of your budget.

Your current motherboard uses the 775 socket and can't be used with any processor introduced in the last 6 or 8 years.

Motherboard could well be a micro ATX, with a B or H series chipset. Probably $150 max. Gigabyte, Asus, or AsRock.

8 GB of DDR4 memory might be $40 for 2 sticks of 4 GB each--Crucial, Corsair, or other name brand.

$290 to $390 at this point for those 3 components.

Use video from the CPU and sound from the motherboard.

I'd certainly get an SSD for the OS and applications. Probably $40 to $80, depending on size requirements; Crucial, Samsung, Intel, etc. Maybe standard 2.5 inch SATA, maybe not---depending on the motherboard you choose.

If the 320 GB hard drive has enough capacity and appears to be in good working order, stay with it unless it aggravates you for some reason--perhaps speed. You can always put your data on the SSD in a separate D partition if it will fit and you have some method of backing up your files. We don't know how much storage you need.

If your current power supply is 11 years old, I'd probably replace it with something no more than 400 to 500 watts; maybe $70. Seasonic, EVGA, Corsair are good brands. If the current power supply is say 5 years old or less, probably continue to go with it assuming it has the needed connectors and cable lengths.

Your current case may be OK even though it is 11 years old.

Cooler: those included with CPUs should be adequate for ordinary use unless you have an aversion to noise. If need be, you can get a pretty good add-on cooler for 30 to 60 dollars. Not all CPUs include a cooler.

That's a starting point for you to mull over. Maybe as little as $350 total, including an SSD; maybe $600 at the upper end if your budget allows.

Hi,
Yep ssd samsung 860 evo's are dirt cheap now days 250gb for as little as 60.us. at amazon last I looked.

Thanks to all of you who responded. Appreciate ignatzatsonic's guide in selecting the components. I'll dig into those if as Bree suggested that I first try to see if my current computer will accept win-10. I know eventually I will be upgrading the components as suggested - one of these days!!!
In the meantime I started to follow Bree's suggestion by downloading the Macrium Backup and made a emergency boot up disc. Tried to test the boot up disc, but it put me in a BSOD. Tried it a couple of times with the same result. I think I'll dump the Macrium and use my old Acronis back up and follow up Bree's plans as he laid it out in his postings to load Win-10 Pro.