Buying new computer

[eichenberg]

I will be buying a new computer here very shortly with Windows Vista Premium. According to Microsoft's website, 1G of memory is suggested. I want to know is the recomendation like it was for XP. You know, bare minimum was 256 but worked best with 512 or more. Is Vista the same? Bare minimum is 1G but works best with 2G. Not doing any gaming or memory intense applications. Just playing music, surfing the internet, e-mail.

[P Smith]

With Aero it (32 bit ) sometimes hogging 700 MB; so, yes start level is 1GB, but RAM is cheap now; I would go with 2 GB. Consider to buy two DIMMs if your motherboard have paired slots.

[Michael D'Angelo]

I will be buying a new computer here very shortly with Windows Vista Premium. According to Microsoft's website, 1G of memory is suggested. I want to know is the recomendation like it was for XP. You know, bare minimum was 256 but worked best with 512 or more. Is Vista the same? Bare minimum is 1G but works best with 2G. Not doing any gaming or memory intense applications. Just playing music, surfing the internet, e-mail.

I would try 2gb at least if possible. I have 3 PC's with Vista Home Premium on all. 1 has 2gb, 1 has 1.5gb, and the other has 1gb. I can tell a big difference in all. The one that has 2gb has a little better specs with everything else in the PC but the memory does make a big difference.

[davring]

My Dad bought a new Vista Premium machine and upped it to 4 gig. Not a big expense compared to the total and you won't be adding more, or wishing you had, later.

[ajsvmax]

Although RAM is definately important, Video performance is also key. Try to get the best Video card you can afford

Drew

[dpeters11]

Although RAM is definately important, Video performance is also key. Try to get the best Video card you can afford

Drew

Video performance isn't quite as important if not gaming. I'd still make sure it has enough video RAM to handle the GUI, but you don't need a high end card. It would be good to get a system with a PCI Express slot that allows you to upgrade the video if needed in the future. Definately get 2 gig RAM minimum.

[JM Anthony]

2 gigs is the bare minimum for decent performance.

Good luck!

John

[eichenberg]

Thanks guys, It looks like all are in agreement wiht 2gig. Now my next question AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core or Intel Core 2 Duo???

[jory]

Thanks guys, It looks like all are in agreement wiht 2gig. Now my next question AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core or Intel Core 2 Duo???

At this point in time, I'd recommend Intel Core 2 Duo. AMD probably has a bit lower power consumption, but Intel has more UMMFF for the buck. :lol:

Jory

[P Smith]

You just missed 4th of July Fry's one day deal - Q6600 for $300 ! Plus free ECS mATX motherboard ;).
That would be best CPU for your buck.

[nsw]

If you go with 4 gigs of RAM it may not all be accessible, at least with the 32-bit version of Vista. I built my own system and have had to run with 3 gigs instead of the 4 I was hoping for. The system can't address all 4 gigs.

[Michael D'Angelo]

Thanks guys, It looks like all are in agreement wiht 2gig. Now my next question AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core or Intel Core 2 Duo???

My new HP laptop has a Dual Core 2 Duo and 2gb of memory and runs great.

[P Smith]

If you go with 4 gigs of RAM it may not all be accessible, at least with the 32-bit version of Vista. I built my own system and have had to run with 3 gigs instead of the 4 I was hoping for. The system can't address all 4 gigs.
Actually it does. That 3 GB accessible for programs. Other 1 GB RAM exclusively used by OS and not available for users.

[jutley]

Thanks guys, It looks like all are in agreement wiht 2gig. Now my next question AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core or Intel Core 2 Duo???

I am an AMD fanboy so my vote is AMD. That being said, they are both great processors and I manage PCs at my office with both. I think you'll be happy with either.

Oh, and definately go with 2 GB of RAM, but you already figured that out.

[eichenberg]

Thanks all for your inputs. I bought a Dell 531 today with an AMD X2 Dual and 2 G's of RAM. I have always had Pentium's before and my father in law has AMD and he loves it, so I thought give it a try. Thanks again.

[AlbertZeroK]

You may also conder a Giga-byte RAM Drive card. I put one in my machine with 2G on it and moved my swap file to it. Now I have 2G RAM + 2G RAM Drive SWAP file. It does make a difference, and the odd this is that windows won't run without a swap file - even if you have plenty of ram free!

The hard drive can make a difference too, I like RAPTOR drives myself, but they say the new 1G Hitachi drive is almost as fast as the RAPTOR!

[Indiana627]

Great thread as I'm in the same boat and was going to ask same questions about RAM and processor. I still have one (perhaps silly) question: will my 7 year old Dell CRT monitor be OK with Vista Home Premium? I ask because the future plan is to get a TV that will double as a monitor but this may not happen for a while longer. Will my current CRT hold me over for another year?

Also, do the Dell 531 models have room inside for additional hard drives (I may add one later if I get into more video editing)?

Lastly, is Vista all it's cracked up to be? Or if I could buy a good refurb with XP Pro, would it make sense to get it?

[dmspen]

Your CRT will be fine as long as your graphics card has a vga out. Some cards these days have DVI so make sure the card has both.

[Indiana627]

OK thanks.

What about Vista vs. XP Pro?

[AlbertZeroK]

OK thanks.

What about Vista vs. XP Pro?

Vista has some kewl little features, but it's not main stream yet. XP will do 99% of what Vista will and will do it with less hardware and less memory.

If you plan on buying another computer in 2 years, get XP now and vista then, if you plan on waiting more than 2 years to buy a new pc, get vista.

[Mark Holtz]

Your CRT will be fine as long as your graphics card has a vga out. Some cards these days have DVI so make sure the card has both.There are adapters that will convert from DVI to VGA out.

[AlbertZeroK]

There are adapters that will convert from DVI to VGA out.

But these adapters only work if the video card supports it. Not all DVI outputs can be converted to VGA

[P Smith]

He need to know this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVI
DVI-D
DVI-A \
DVI-I / support analog output ie VGA.

[Coffey77]

I got the Dell Inspiron 1501 not too long ago with the AMD x2 (The T-52 I believe) and love it. Processor is great and I was always an Intel fan, until I tried my first AMD on my last desktop upgrade and am now a HUGE AMD fan. Even if you don't use video much, a good video card is key. That was my one complaint about the 1501 as the processor can handle just about anything I can throw at it right now but the video card is a bit of a studderer.

[Indiana627]

If you plan on buying another computer in 2 years, get XP now and vista then, if you plan on waiting more than 2 years to buy a new pc, get vista.
Well considering my current computer is 7 years old and stilling ME, I guess I should go with Vista now.

Is Vista Home Premium the way to go?

[AlbertZeroK]

Only you can decide that, here is the differences:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx

[dmspen]

Yes, get Vista Home Premium. Don't get the business junk if it's for home use.

[P Smith]

Real man must have Ultima. :D

[Kevin Dupuy]

Real man must have Ultima. :D

Maybe, but if he's buying his computer, then I haven't seen pre-installed Ultimate machines. I guess to upgrade you would have to do that expensive Windows Anytime Ready Booster Rocket Fuel Upgrader, huh?

(Seriously, MS: Next time, cut down on the names for stuff. And the Linux patent deals.)

[eichenberg]

OK, I got my new computer and love it. I went with the AMD X2 dual core and 2Gs of memory. I now have a new question.

Is it possible to set up user accounts where one user boots to Vista and the other boots to XP. I know I can install XP and have dual boot capabilities, but can I set it up so that when the wife logs on she boots to XP and when I log on I boot to Vista?

[AlbertZeroK]

OK, I got my new computer and love it. I went with the AMD X2 dual core and 2Gs of memory. I now have a new question.

Is it possible to set up user accounts where one user boots to Vista and the other boots to XP. I know I can install XP and have dual boot capabilities, but can I set it up so that when the wife logs on she boots to XP and when I log on I boot to Vista?

No. But you can use boot loaders like the one that comes with Partition Magic (although there are some free ones out there). It can stop the computer when you turn it on and ask what operating system you want to boot from. But there is no way to run winxp when you start. However, you could run Virtual PC on the computer and run WinXP in a virtual Environment (but it would be slower than dual booting.)

[jutley]

Here is a great article I used when I setup my dual boot. It has information about how to change which OS boots first. My suggestion would be to have whichever OS your wife uses boot as first priority then she doesn't have to mess with it...turn it on and she's good to go just like before. For you, when you want the other OS you just have to select it right after the POST.

My wife has her own PC now so I don't have to get in trouble each time I change something. I don't mess with hers...she doesn't mess with mine. Ahhhh, harmony again. :D

http://apcmag.com/5023/dual_booting_xp_with_vista