advice for my machine and vista ultimate

[JamesUK]

Hi, i currently have windows xp pro on the system in my sig, i would like to buy the Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit Edition DVD - OEM.

I am just wondering has anyone else with a simular setup, or same montherboard (asus a8n-sli premium) had any problems installing vista, i have read stories about legacy raid problems and vista not detecting older raid setup's and i am not sure if my system would be classed as that ot if vista would see it right away without a problem.

would it also be worth me purchasing an additional video card to the one i already have to make it dual sli? i dont play games that much, but i know vista is memory hungry and has lots of graphic features so am wondering if a 2nd card would make any difference to me?

and also, are there any real differences between the 32 & 64 bit retail of vista ultimate to the 64 bit ultimate oem? it seems a very big price difference £130 to £352.
And is the £130 version the full dvd and not upgrade, as far as i am aware you cant upgrade from xp pro anyway u have to do a clean install, just seems a very big hike in price for the retail when you can get the exact same thing for £130 lol

any other advice or tips people have encountered with a simular system to mine would be greatly welcome

thanks

james

 

[UTmaniac]

With the retail version, you will be able to legally install Vista on any one machine at a time that you so wish throughout Vista's lifetime, whereas you will be legally restricted to the first motherboard you activate Vista on with OEM version. M$ have stated support for Vista until 2012... That's a long time to not upgrade your PC!

Think how far gaming has gone since 2002...KT333 motherboards; DDR1 memory; Socket 462 processors; AGP graphics slots; standard PCI slots.

You also get M$ support with the Retail Vista, unlike being left up the technology creek without a paddle in OEM.

 

[JamesUK]

Hi, thanks for your reply, has anyone got any other advide on my others issues, video card ect..

also with my setup, should i be able to pretty much just put the windows vista disc in at boot and i will get an option to format the drive and install and it should run smoothly or will i have a problem with my currect rail 0 setup?

thanks

James