will this PC run Windows Vista
- Thread starter ithaqua
- Start date
Depends on how you define 'Run'.
Its a 64bit CPU, so it will run Vista's 32bit, or 64bit kernels, The 80 gig hard drive is large enough for Vista, as long as your not running too demanding applications.
You may find the onboard 'Via' graphics are not good enough to the 'Aero' desktop, but Vista still includes a 'Classic' mode so no problem there, and to be honest in my testing of Vista Aero wasnt that hard to get running even on quite low spec hardware.
The biggest problem is the memory, 512mb just isnt enough. My copy of Vista was a late beta, and still had some debugging code in it, but it used over 600meg just to boot. While the final versions may be a little smaller, I wouldnt want to run Vista on a system with less than 1GB of ram even as a 'basic' system.
As a 'Gamer' myself, I'll avoid vista until the last possible moment, and when I do switch, I'll make sure I have the 64bit Vista, and have at least 4GB ram installed.
Its a 64bit CPU, so it will run Vista's 32bit, or 64bit kernels, The 80 gig hard drive is large enough for Vista, as long as your not running too demanding applications.
You may find the onboard 'Via' graphics are not good enough to the 'Aero' desktop, but Vista still includes a 'Classic' mode so no problem there, and to be honest in my testing of Vista Aero wasnt that hard to get running even on quite low spec hardware.
The biggest problem is the memory, 512mb just isnt enough. My copy of Vista was a late beta, and still had some debugging code in it, but it used over 600meg just to boot. While the final versions may be a little smaller, I wouldnt want to run Vista on a system with less than 1GB of ram even as a 'basic' system.
As a 'Gamer' myself, I'll avoid vista until the last possible moment, and when I do switch, I'll make sure I have the 64bit Vista, and have at least 4GB ram installed.
Hi
It depends on what your going to use the system for, but the memory is incredibly low, the hdd space will be fairly low once vista is installed along with your programs and you will find that the onboard graphics just simply will start to show signs of slowness in normal use, let alone light gaming!
Mike
It depends on what your going to use the system for, but the memory is incredibly low, the hdd space will be fairly low once vista is installed along with your programs and you will find that the onboard graphics just simply will start to show signs of slowness in normal use, let alone light gaming!
Mike
At a pinch, even just a ram upgrade should be ok, as I said, you may or may not be able to run the Aero interface, as that requires a DX9 graphics card, I dont know if the VIA will have any/enough DX9 to do the job.
Vista will need around 8GB of disk space, plus some more for the swapfile. An 80Gb hard disk will actually give around 74GB of usable disk space, you'll probably have around 60GB or so free for applications and data. Its up to you to decide if this is enough for your needs.
Not everyone would agree, but I like XP 64bit edition, there are some issues with drivers sometimes, so you need to make sure you can get drivers for any hardware you have (printers/keyboards/mice etc). And XP64 is a lot lighter on memory requirements.
In the long run, XP64 bit is a dead end, its unlikely that many hardware manufacturers will develop 64bit XP drivers, they will simply do Vista drivers. However if they currently have the XP 64 bit drivers available then I would expect they will continue to release maintainance upgrades etc.
Another thing to remember, is there are going to be a dozen different versions of windows Vista. The 'lighter' versions will have less features, but also a smaller systems requirement to work efficiently. So it all depends on what you are planning to do with the computer.
Vista will need around 8GB of disk space, plus some more for the swapfile. An 80Gb hard disk will actually give around 74GB of usable disk space, you'll probably have around 60GB or so free for applications and data. Its up to you to decide if this is enough for your needs.
Not everyone would agree, but I like XP 64bit edition, there are some issues with drivers sometimes, so you need to make sure you can get drivers for any hardware you have (printers/keyboards/mice etc). And XP64 is a lot lighter on memory requirements.
In the long run, XP64 bit is a dead end, its unlikely that many hardware manufacturers will develop 64bit XP drivers, they will simply do Vista drivers. However if they currently have the XP 64 bit drivers available then I would expect they will continue to release maintainance upgrades etc.
Another thing to remember, is there are going to be a dozen different versions of windows Vista. The 'lighter' versions will have less features, but also a smaller systems requirement to work efficiently. So it all depends on what you are planning to do with the computer.
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it will run it
i had RC2 running on a P4 3.06ghz, 256mb ram with a 32mb intergrated graphics chip, it was some shoddy packard bell effort... didnt run very well though, but ran none the less
i had RC2 running on a P4 3.06ghz, 256mb ram with a 32mb intergrated graphics chip, it was some shoddy packard bell effort... didnt run very well though, but ran none the less
Associate
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- altrincham, manchester
i answered the question, elaborated alittle, and if you read i said it wasnt worth running on that spec...