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My PC is about 2 years old. It is a 2.667 GHZ Pentium 4 with 512 MB RAM and 128 MB Radeon 9250 video card. Currently it runs XP SP2. Since my PC is old and has a weak video card and small amounts of RAM it struggles to run modern games. If I install vista on it will it become even slower when playing games ?

I'd suggest better memory and a new video card. Otherwise don't bother with Vista until at least SP2, if there's no features in it you absolutely have to have.

Sarevok, you would be much better off saving your money and saving up for a major upgrade of your motherboard, processor, memory, and video card.

General Zod wrote:I'd suggest better memory and a new video card. Otherwise don't bother with Vista until at least SP2, if there's no features in it you absolutely have to have.

You're assuming there will be a Service Pack 2.

There's already a service pack 1 due out late 2007.

I've got a free version on order as I recently bought a new laptop that MESH decided to throw some free crap in with.

Is there any reason for me to install it when it finally comes as I've only got 1gb of ram.

Probably a better question would be "Why do you want to install Vista?"

Darth Tanner wrote:I've got a free version on order as I recently bought a new laptop that MESH decided to throw some free crap in with.

Is there any reason for me to install it when it finally comes as I've only got 1gb of ram.

Vista runs, well enough, with 1GB of RAM, just be aware that with Aero, you're looking at more basic RAM usage then with XP, but in the end, preformance will be mostly the same.
The largest differances in preformance between Vista and XP come from immature drivers(if you are a gamer).

Uraniun235 wrote:Sarevok, you would be much better off saving your money and saving up for a major upgrade of your motherboard, processor, memory, and video card.

General Zod wrote:I'd suggest better memory and a new video card. Otherwise don't bother with Vista until at least SP2, if there's no features in it you absolutely have to have.

You're assuming there will be a Service Pack 2.

Well, if it makes it to SP2, then it's got something resembling longevity. If it doesn't, you know it wasn't worth bothering with.

Darth Wong wrote:Probably a better question would be "Why do you want to install Vista?"

Because I can! Seriously. Windows has the software (*cough* games *cough*) I want to run, and its my dev platform at work, so switching to Linux or Mac isn't something I want to do, and I getting tired of XP. Its a new, shiny toy, debates over who ripped off who aside. Once a couple of games have DX10 support (looks like Company of Heroes will be first with a patch, and I'm guessing Supreme Commander shortly after), and Nvidia gets out decent drivers, I'm switching (but I will have XP ready to go on another drive).

I've already decided I need to get Ultimate (I need the networking features for those times I have to work at home, either for finishing up stuff in the evening or because of weather). The only questions left are if I get OEM or Retail, which comes down to how much of a hassle it will be move the OEM copy to a new machine (ie motherboard upgrades), and if I want to run 32-bit or 64-bit.

General Zod wrote:Well, if it makes it to SP2, then it's got something resembling longevity. If it doesn't, you know it wasn't worth bothering with.

Either that, or there simply won't be a need for SP2 (unlikely, but possible).

Arrow wrote:I've already decided I need to get Ultimate (I need the networking features for those times I have to work at home, either for finishing up stuff in the evening or because of weather). The only questions left are if I get OEM or Retail, which comes down to how much of a hassle it will be move the OEM copy to a new machine (ie motherboard upgrades), and if I want to run 32-bit or 64-bit.

Vista64 drivers are scarcer, unfortunately. And some programs just don't want to run on it. Older 32-bit applications that use a 16-bit installer won't install due to AMD64's architecture.

phongn wrote:Vista64 drivers are scarcer, unfortunately. And some programs just don't want to run on it. Older 32-bit applications that use a 16-bit installer won't install due to AMD64's architecture.

Because of that, I'm leaning toward doing 32-bit first, and switching to 64-bit later. However, as I understand it, I'd have to buy a retail copy to get both versions; the OEM copies are sold as either 32-bit or 64-bit. Microsoft went apeshit with all the different versions...

Does the retail version include both the IA32 and AMD64 media? I received my copy through MSDN so I don't know how that'd work.

phongn wrote:Does the retail version include both the IA32 and AMD64 media? I received my copy through MSDN so I don't know how that'd work.

Yes, the retail has both media. OEM doesn't.

Retail also has the less restrictive EULA, so if MS ever decides to go all Nazi on enforcing it, the retail EULA will make upgrades easier.