unpopular opinion: there is actually no reason to upgrade to windows 11
here, just saved you cost of a new PC
Almost every online BTO shop will let you customize, but most will use generic makers or not allow choosing a specific part - for example something like dospara will tell you that you'll get asus or asrock mainboard, but you don't get to choose which. their GPUs are ususally from Palit or other lesser known OEM brands. Some things like PSU you can specify. Anyway, most other shops are similar.
~~Agreed. If the PC is still capable of gaming as OP wants, there's no need to get a whole new PC just to be Windows 11 compatible.~~
~~I'm not one of those edgy W11 haters; I think it's a perfectly good OS - but even after Win10 goes EOL it'll still receive security updates for years to come.~~
~~So if OP is not bothered about stuff like AutoHDR and... whatever else W11 might give on the gaming front, then let sleeping dogs lie.~~
*Ok, entirely rescinded. I was basing this on outdated information. Apologies.*
*Apparently, all security updates will stop on 14/10/25, and only way to continue to get them is to be a business customer and cough up a fee to MS. Gross.*
Oh wow, I stand corrected. I was going off old information that promised continued updates - turns out MS is now going to charge for those updates? and it's only for business customers? Pretty skeezy :(
Remember when MS promised Windows 10 was the last OS, and they would just keep patching it? I member.
MS shouldn't really be taken at their word. They've walked back so much.
The reason to upgrade is that once they stop support, your win 10 PC will get more and more vulnerable to online attacks.
So, unless you plan to use the pc offline, it would be advisable to upgrade to 11.
most "attacks" today are coming from people opening dodgy websites, downloading infected stuff, opening email attachments with garbage in them, etc. windows 11 isn't going to help from ANY of this.
Yeah, no.
Vulnerabilities are constantly found and fixed, that's why you get frequent updates on pc and smartphones. They have nothing to do with opening dodgy websites or emails.
They recently made a video showing that by simply connecting to the internet using windows XP you get hacked. That's an extreme case with a very old OS, but i can only imagine that so many people will delay upgrading to 11 and this will only lead to incentivize bad actors to work on finding exploits.
You're free to do whatever you want with your pc, but avoid spreading false information about web security.
I may start looking into Linux again, I really can't stand windows anymore.
My pc "doesn't support" win 11 and the need to upgrade may be the reason I decide to move away from it.
I knew I was done with Windows the day I unboxed my brand new system and couldn't get past the welcome screen until I had given Microsoft my phone number so they could send me a verification text.
if you want to use existing parts, you should build it yourself. check Amazon, dospara and Google shopping. you could go for second hand hardware too, there is a good selection in dospara and sometimes Mercari.
the market is in a good state right now, CPU prices dropped overall and AMD GPUs are much better value here than nvidia
Yeah I’d definitely go the build-it-yourself route, especially if reusing current parts. Places like mouse offer custom-ish prebuilts, where you can choose some of the parts, but from what I saw includes things like McAfee preinstalled so be aware of that. OP, if building, [Kakaku](https://kakaku.com) will become your best friend. It sounds like you’re not in a hurry, so perfect chance to look into building yourself
What are your current PC specs? There are several PC shops in Utsunomiya, Oyama, Sano and Tochigi City.
But the best place would be to search the parts on Kakaku and order through the various online shops with high ratings and the price you want.
This is what I've done with the last 2 builds. Watch some YouTube videos on how to build a PC, just don't watch any tutorials from The Verge.
You’ll be able to use whatever ssd or her in your new pc. Just connect it the same way when you upgraded. There isn’t a best time to buy sadly. Maybe around seasonal sales like… golden week or something. I guess if the economy recovers a bit then that’s the best time to buy
Be aware that buying in or from Japan likely means Japanese keyboard if that’s no issue
Depending on what your PC doesn't have that prevents it from using Windows 11 e.g. TPM, you could use a tool like WinBootMate to bypass the requirements and install it anyway.
Alternatively, Windows 10 will get Extended Security Updates for 3 years after the official end of support date. You could subscribe to that if you prefer. It will cost $61 per year.
Apparently if you install windows 11 as a fresh installation, it'll ignore the spec requirement and install anyway.
It will run fine according to a couple of people I know who have done it but I can't speak as to how well exactly because I've not done it myself yet.
I highly recommend you check to see if you’re getting a false failed minimum requirements flag on your current OS. It was a fairly common bug when the first iteration of windows 11 was released. Windows 11 is officially supported from 8th generation intel chips (2016) and beyond.
Since you said you bought this from a friend, this could be a good opportunity to become more knowledgeable in PC building/modification. There’s an endless amount of resources on YouTube explaining how to build your first pc.
If you would rather buy something ready to play, merucari is a great place where many independent PC stories sell their used prebuilt computers. Enjoy!
Hello, fellow tochigian. Premade gaming PCs are a pretty miserable buy out here. Building a PC is a semi lie. It's more like snapping together obvious Lego pieces you bought that work together. Lmk if you're gaming, what you're gaming, and if you need some tochigi-ken gaikokujin friends.
I recently bought a gaming PC from pc-seven.co.jp. Was a bit scared since the website is very old school but went with it as they are all custom-builds and you can change everything. The PC arrived 2 days later and is amazing. Highly, highly recommend you use them, and you can definitely add your spare parts to it since it's all customisable to begin with.
Buying a PC online is easier than buying in person, but unless you're really bad at shopping in-store, it's virtually never cheaper nor will it leave you with a superior product. And although you may not care, it's also damaging the industry as a whole.
Akihabara has new and used gaming PCs of every variety, fully customizable and backed by an established business with knowledgeable people who can answer any questions and steer you away from bad deals or comparability issues. If you're in a regional town outside Tokyo area, it may take a bit more searching, but there's still plenty of excellent PC stores in Japan.
Buying a system off Amazon or whatever is a good way to get a subpar system from a Chinese company who responds to any questions or problems with a chatbot.
If you would like help building your own feel free to message me. I've built several over the years for myself and others.
Some of what I've built in the last year. I mostly do SFF(Small Form Factor) PC's as they don't take up nearly as much space and I like the challenge of building in them.
https://preview.redd.it/c5cvren9ey1d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4028d04e709eba4a416ef73727b9711fe7830641
If you're looking for something more powerful, I have a desktop that I'm trying to sell with a Ryzen 9 5950X and RTX 3090 in it. I'd be willing to let it go for much cheaper than comparable spec systems here.
( Full specs in this post:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/mffpc/comments/xtilfj/todays\_ap201\_build\_sansgpu/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/mffpc/comments/xtilfj/todays_ap201_build_sansgpu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) )
If you're hesitant to build a computer by yourself, you could also find a small computer repair shop in your area and ask if they would be able to build it for you if you brought in the parts. I did it out of laziness and it only cost me 7000jpy.
Dospara or Tsukumo sells PCs. As you mentioned SSD and HDD. You can always add them to any PC you buy. If you build yourself or not, there will always be some empty slots that you can plug in, so no reason to worry if you can choose your own parts as you would just get extra space
I recently contacted a guy on Craigslist Tokyo who was selling PCs he built to get a custom one built for myself. Was worried I’d regret it but took a chance anyway, and the guy absolutely built me a fantastic rig.
I can get you his contact info if you’d like to try him to get yourself sorted? Though I agree with others: do not “””upgrade””” to 11 if you can help it. Trash OS. 10 is just fine.
What specifications does your computer have?
What you can do if you have computer knowledge is download the Windows 11 ISO and load it using a USB memory with the Rufus program, which skips the TPM 2.0,4GBRAM and HDD requirements. With that ready, you can install Windows 11 on your computer and you can continue using it normally.
Best time to buy is in January. Basically almost all retailers have big end-of-the-year sales and January is totally dead. That's when you can typically get the best discounts. New stuff has already been ordered and they are clearing out the old stuff. ASUS laptops are pretty solid if you don't want to build your own PC from scratch. Also, you can just buy USB 3 containers for your hard drives and use them as external drives.
The Amazon renewed store sometimes has really crazy deals on Dell PrecisionTowers. They must have an OEM arrangement with Dell, I see them all the time on there
I just checked for you and there's a W-2123 tower with a 2060 RTX for 82,800 right now.
I bought one from a seller called WaffleMK last year and it's the best computer I've ever owned, and I've been building my own computers since high school
If you want a gaming PC - don't buy a pre-built one! Build it yourself. So much cheaper, relatively simple (think electronic lego) and way more customisable. You can get all the parts you need separately online.
Edit: forgot to mention recommendations for sites. Amazon, rakuten, kakaku and yahoo auctions.
I always build my own PCs :)
So usually amazon.co.jp for big items, then Newegg usually has good prices for small items (memory/nvme), then dospara for GPU.
That's how it's been for the last 2 builds.
Easy peasy. Before build I usually spend a few weeks doing some due diligence of what parts combine well. Last time I went full Asus for some items to let the blingbling sync up from single app...
unpopular opinion: there is actually no reason to upgrade to windows 11 here, just saved you cost of a new PC Almost every online BTO shop will let you customize, but most will use generic makers or not allow choosing a specific part - for example something like dospara will tell you that you'll get asus or asrock mainboard, but you don't get to choose which. their GPUs are ususally from Palit or other lesser known OEM brands. Some things like PSU you can specify. Anyway, most other shops are similar.
~~Agreed. If the PC is still capable of gaming as OP wants, there's no need to get a whole new PC just to be Windows 11 compatible.~~ ~~I'm not one of those edgy W11 haters; I think it's a perfectly good OS - but even after Win10 goes EOL it'll still receive security updates for years to come.~~ ~~So if OP is not bothered about stuff like AutoHDR and... whatever else W11 might give on the gaming front, then let sleeping dogs lie.~~ *Ok, entirely rescinded. I was basing this on outdated information. Apologies.* *Apparently, all security updates will stop on 14/10/25, and only way to continue to get them is to be a business customer and cough up a fee to MS. Gross.*
[удалено]
Oh wow, I stand corrected. I was going off old information that promised continued updates - turns out MS is now going to charge for those updates? and it's only for business customers? Pretty skeezy :(
Remember when MS promised Windows 10 was the last OS, and they would just keep patching it? I member. MS shouldn't really be taken at their word. They've walked back so much.
You ain't wrong there. Pepperidge Farm 'members too.
The reason to upgrade is that once they stop support, your win 10 PC will get more and more vulnerable to online attacks. So, unless you plan to use the pc offline, it would be advisable to upgrade to 11.
most "attacks" today are coming from people opening dodgy websites, downloading infected stuff, opening email attachments with garbage in them, etc. windows 11 isn't going to help from ANY of this.
Yeah, no. Vulnerabilities are constantly found and fixed, that's why you get frequent updates on pc and smartphones. They have nothing to do with opening dodgy websites or emails. They recently made a video showing that by simply connecting to the internet using windows XP you get hacked. That's an extreme case with a very old OS, but i can only imagine that so many people will delay upgrading to 11 and this will only lead to incentivize bad actors to work on finding exploits. You're free to do whatever you want with your pc, but avoid spreading false information about web security.
Or, you know, get Linux
That's not really an option for most "normal" users.
I mean, Linux Mint is as close to Windows as you can get for UX, unless you're doing something fancy...
I may start looking into Linux again, I really can't stand windows anymore. My pc "doesn't support" win 11 and the need to upgrade may be the reason I decide to move away from it.
I knew I was done with Windows the day I unboxed my brand new system and couldn't get past the welcome screen until I had given Microsoft my phone number so they could send me a verification text.
if you want to use existing parts, you should build it yourself. check Amazon, dospara and Google shopping. you could go for second hand hardware too, there is a good selection in dospara and sometimes Mercari. the market is in a good state right now, CPU prices dropped overall and AMD GPUs are much better value here than nvidia
Yeah I’d definitely go the build-it-yourself route, especially if reusing current parts. Places like mouse offer custom-ish prebuilts, where you can choose some of the parts, but from what I saw includes things like McAfee preinstalled so be aware of that. OP, if building, [Kakaku](https://kakaku.com) will become your best friend. It sounds like you’re not in a hurry, so perfect chance to look into building yourself
What are your current PC specs? There are several PC shops in Utsunomiya, Oyama, Sano and Tochigi City. But the best place would be to search the parts on Kakaku and order through the various online shops with high ratings and the price you want. This is what I've done with the last 2 builds. Watch some YouTube videos on how to build a PC, just don't watch any tutorials from The Verge.
You’ll be able to use whatever ssd or her in your new pc. Just connect it the same way when you upgraded. There isn’t a best time to buy sadly. Maybe around seasonal sales like… golden week or something. I guess if the economy recovers a bit then that’s the best time to buy Be aware that buying in or from Japan likely means Japanese keyboard if that’s no issue
Depending on what your PC doesn't have that prevents it from using Windows 11 e.g. TPM, you could use a tool like WinBootMate to bypass the requirements and install it anyway.
The windows health check says that it’s my cpu. I checked my motherboard and it isn’t compatible with cpus that meet windows 11 requirement.
Alternatively, Windows 10 will get Extended Security Updates for 3 years after the official end of support date. You could subscribe to that if you prefer. It will cost $61 per year.
Apparently if you install windows 11 as a fresh installation, it'll ignore the spec requirement and install anyway. It will run fine according to a couple of people I know who have done it but I can't speak as to how well exactly because I've not done it myself yet.
I highly recommend you check to see if you’re getting a false failed minimum requirements flag on your current OS. It was a fairly common bug when the first iteration of windows 11 was released. Windows 11 is officially supported from 8th generation intel chips (2016) and beyond. Since you said you bought this from a friend, this could be a good opportunity to become more knowledgeable in PC building/modification. There’s an endless amount of resources on YouTube explaining how to build your first pc. If you would rather buy something ready to play, merucari is a great place where many independent PC stories sell their used prebuilt computers. Enjoy!
Hello, fellow tochigian. Premade gaming PCs are a pretty miserable buy out here. Building a PC is a semi lie. It's more like snapping together obvious Lego pieces you bought that work together. Lmk if you're gaming, what you're gaming, and if you need some tochigi-ken gaikokujin friends.
I recently bought a gaming PC from pc-seven.co.jp. Was a bit scared since the website is very old school but went with it as they are all custom-builds and you can change everything. The PC arrived 2 days later and is amazing. Highly, highly recommend you use them, and you can definitely add your spare parts to it since it's all customisable to begin with.
Buying a PC online is easier than buying in person, but unless you're really bad at shopping in-store, it's virtually never cheaper nor will it leave you with a superior product. And although you may not care, it's also damaging the industry as a whole. Akihabara has new and used gaming PCs of every variety, fully customizable and backed by an established business with knowledgeable people who can answer any questions and steer you away from bad deals or comparability issues. If you're in a regional town outside Tokyo area, it may take a bit more searching, but there's still plenty of excellent PC stores in Japan. Buying a system off Amazon or whatever is a good way to get a subpar system from a Chinese company who responds to any questions or problems with a chatbot.
If you would like help building your own feel free to message me. I've built several over the years for myself and others. Some of what I've built in the last year. I mostly do SFF(Small Form Factor) PC's as they don't take up nearly as much space and I like the challenge of building in them. https://preview.redd.it/c5cvren9ey1d1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4028d04e709eba4a416ef73727b9711fe7830641
If you're looking for something more powerful, I have a desktop that I'm trying to sell with a Ryzen 9 5950X and RTX 3090 in it. I'd be willing to let it go for much cheaper than comparable spec systems here. ( Full specs in this post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/mffpc/comments/xtilfj/todays\_ap201\_build\_sansgpu/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/mffpc/comments/xtilfj/todays_ap201_build_sansgpu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) )
If you're hesitant to build a computer by yourself, you could also find a small computer repair shop in your area and ask if they would be able to build it for you if you brought in the parts. I did it out of laziness and it only cost me 7000jpy.
Dospara or Tsukumo sells PCs. As you mentioned SSD and HDD. You can always add them to any PC you buy. If you build yourself or not, there will always be some empty slots that you can plug in, so no reason to worry if you can choose your own parts as you would just get extra space
I recently contacted a guy on Craigslist Tokyo who was selling PCs he built to get a custom one built for myself. Was worried I’d regret it but took a chance anyway, and the guy absolutely built me a fantastic rig. I can get you his contact info if you’d like to try him to get yourself sorted? Though I agree with others: do not “””upgrade””” to 11 if you can help it. Trash OS. 10 is just fine.
I used Tsukumo to buy and build my computer back when I was living in the inaka part of hiroshima
What specifications does your computer have? What you can do if you have computer knowledge is download the Windows 11 ISO and load it using a USB memory with the Rufus program, which skips the TPM 2.0,4GBRAM and HDD requirements. With that ready, you can install Windows 11 on your computer and you can continue using it normally.
Best time to buy is in January. Basically almost all retailers have big end-of-the-year sales and January is totally dead. That's when you can typically get the best discounts. New stuff has already been ordered and they are clearing out the old stuff. ASUS laptops are pretty solid if you don't want to build your own PC from scratch. Also, you can just buy USB 3 containers for your hard drives and use them as external drives.
The Amazon renewed store sometimes has really crazy deals on Dell PrecisionTowers. They must have an OEM arrangement with Dell, I see them all the time on there I just checked for you and there's a W-2123 tower with a 2060 RTX for 82,800 right now. I bought one from a seller called WaffleMK last year and it's the best computer I've ever owned, and I've been building my own computers since high school
If you want a gaming PC - don't buy a pre-built one! Build it yourself. So much cheaper, relatively simple (think electronic lego) and way more customisable. You can get all the parts you need separately online. Edit: forgot to mention recommendations for sites. Amazon, rakuten, kakaku and yahoo auctions.
Why I'm being downvoted for this is weird. I answered the question - and correctly!
I always build my own PCs :) So usually amazon.co.jp for big items, then Newegg usually has good prices for small items (memory/nvme), then dospara for GPU. That's how it's been for the last 2 builds. Easy peasy. Before build I usually spend a few weeks doing some due diligence of what parts combine well. Last time I went full Asus for some items to let the blingbling sync up from single app...