Building A System Capable Of Using Vista

[WeaponX 0]

I will be building a new computer soon and want to know if the motherboard really decides if Vista will work on my machine or not. I'm looking at a Intel 945GCLL Intel Socket 775 MicroATX Motherboard and from what I found, it only will support Vista Basic Edition. I have read that it's better to get Premium over the Basic Edition and I will probably do so in a few more months when Vista is out for a while (probably with lots of patches released by then). Will Premium Edition work if I install it?I don't see how the motherboard can be a really big issue here as I will look for a video card that supports the Aero user interface and also buy enough memory to support it.Thanks.

[Saint_Michael 3]

Althought this coming from amazon.com it says this mother board will support home premium:

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-945GCLL-Socketd/dp/B000IE7TWU


but also with this mother board you could put any processor in it then you want From Intel D to Dual core and most likely you are already going to drop the cash for a dual core processor to run vista.

That what my plan is going to be when I have to build a PC for that hardware class I will be taking in the summer.

If you want Vista to run smoothly (LMAO) then you will need the right power to use it.

Home premium is supposed to install great on computers from 2k3-2k4 and beyond, this computer I am typing on now, doesn't have the power it need ot run it and yet the program I ran to see which vista could run it said home premium.

The only difference between basic and premium is Aero and some security stuff and some others things I can't think of at the moment and the fact it costs more.

[Alegis 0]

If you want Vista to run smoothly (LMAO) then you will need the right power to use it.

Works excellent here. More smooth and reliable than XP ever was for me. Maybe we're not talking about the same Vista here, or you need to grow up from such prejudices. People who come here ask for hardware advice from people they expect are reasonable in comparing programs. This isn't the chit chat room, and people could make bad purchase decisions based on other's unfounded emotions.

 

But I digress, it's about this guy seeking help.

 

 

Here is a feature chart of the versions, although you're better off with more concise comparisons of course in case you're still not sure on which version to obtain

 

I will probably do so in a few more months when Vista is out for a while (probably with lots of patches released by then).

Which was true for previous Windows versions. Bear in mind that Vista has gone through a much longer testing phase than XP and pre/post launch has been excellent in driver support. Despite that though many seem to think it must need a service pack in order to be usable because of XP. I doubt you'll see "many" patches soon as they aren't in a dire need as you presume. Don't expect to download 2 service packs and 100 KB updates when you finally install your operating system.

 

Will Premium Edition work if I install it?

Yes, it will work. The question is if it work adequately (which is certainly possible, saint-michael - and no I don't work for the NASA on a supercomputer so you can hold that joke). You're right in assuming that the memory and video card are more important factors in deciding in whether or not it will run great. All I can say now whether or not your motherboard will cause a bottleneck, which doesn't seem to be the case. I'd say to get at least 1 GB of RAM. not just for Vista alone, but applications in general - having 1gb of ram at least is very enjoyable.

[ethergeek 0]

Just for the hell of it, I installed Vista Ultimate on my Dell Inspiron 5150 (3.2GHz HT, 1GB RAM, GeForce 5200Go) and it worked fine, with aero right out of the box. I was actually shocked, the only hardware that did not work post-install was the MiniPCI 56k modem, but who the hell uses those things anymore anyway?

[Grafitti 0]

Your motherboard will support Vista Ultimate. It's the graphics card embedded that won't support it. If you're going to be buying a separate graphics card, then that motherboard is fine. But if you haven't bought it yet, why not go for the 946? that has the new GPU that natively supports Ultimate, and doesn't cost much more.

[WeaponX 0]

Yes, I will be getting the Intel Pentium D 940 3.2GHz processor along with 1GB of RAM to start off with until I actually get Windows Vista. I will probably be buying a PCI Express video card that supports the Aero interface as well.I'm sure Windows Vista is pretty stable at this point as you pointed out. They have released their beta versions and have undergone extensive testing as you mentioned, but I have yet to test any of them out myself yet. I just don't want to install it and find that something won't work with it later on (not just hardware wise, but also software).

[Saint_Michael 3]

I have seen reports that lot of online games are having problems just being installed, due to the security protocols Vista has and if installed successfully don't even run or cannot connect to the games server.

Works excellent here. More smooth and reliable than XP ever was for me. Maybe we're not talking about the same Vista here, or you need to grow up from such prejudices. People who come here ask for hardware advice from people they expect are reasonable in comparing programs. This isn't the chit chat room, and people could make bad purchase decisions based on other's unfounded emotions.
But I digress, it's about this guy seeking help.

That not prejudices that's factual MS OS's have always had software and hardware problems on either new patches or New OS versions every time. So people have to wait like weeks or months just for the software or hardware to send it's updates to work properly. But by then some would end up just buying new stuff anyways so just to get their computer to work. Also where did NASA come from??

Of course it won't be patches for windows early on it will most likely be patches for software that can't work properly on vista.

Alegis you are correct that vista has been designed the longest so they could have plugged up most of the holes in the code. Look at 98, ME and XP I believe it they had a 2 year gap when they came out on the market. Of course ME was a mistake to begin with and so MS had to build XP. But of course MS is boasting about their new security system and so far it has failed against elite hackers who have tested it. I would say the major patches won't be showing up till late summer early fall.

With The graphics I do believe that any graphics card from geforce series that has been out for about 1-2 years should be able run it properly without any serious problems.


I did find some minimum hardware specs for vista (Microsfot Site)

Home Basic

* 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor * 512 MB of system memory
* 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory
* DVD-ROM drive
* Audio Output
* Internet access (fees may apply)

Hom Premium, Business, Ultimate

# 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor# 1 GB of system memory
# 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
# Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:

* WDDM Driver
* 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
* Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
* 32 bits per pixel

Those are the minimum specs needed to run vista. However, I think the hard drive specs are weak due to the fact that Vista takes a very big chunk to run and for hard drives that smaller you will be limited to the software you can install, but of course you don't see to many pre-built computers with 20GB hard drives anymore.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

My computer is "ancient". It was built in Feb 2002 and it can run Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate fine.Intel Pentium 4 2.53 GHz1 GB PC2100 RAM200 GB HDDNVIDIA GeForce 6600 AGP (running @ AGP 4X)My detailed specs can be found in my signature.xboxrulz

[nielthan 0]

I don't think the motherboard really matters in running Vista. What does matter for certain is a fast enough CPU, fast memory, some hard drive space, and a good graphics card for Aero. If you've got all of those then you should have no problem running Vista.

[WeaponX 0]

I'm just buying the fastest processor I can afford, so Dual Core does seem reasonable in my case. Got the correct motherboard to support the CPU chip also.The system is basically ready to be setup (with Windows XP first....I'll add Vista when the time comes). Quick question though. I see that the CPU has a HUGE (I mean...really HUGE) heatsink and fan. This thing must be like a heater in itself to require that big of a fan. It also has it's own dedicated "funnel" (not sure what to call it) that takes air directly from the outside of the case. Basically, there is a funnel shaped object on the computer case that points directly at the CPU fan to get air in. I bought a 80mm fan because the case specs on the site said it has an optional room for a 80mm fan in the back. Well, I was putting everything together and found out it's supposed to be a 120mm fan due to the size. Is this crucial since the CPU has it's own big fan already and my hard drive has it's own cooler fan as well?

[nielthan 0]

Wait, does your case have those fan grills where you can put in an 80mm fan and then upgrade it to a 120mm fan? For the best performance out of your computer, you need at least 2 fans in there, 1 for intake of cool air and 1 for exhaust of the hot air being made by the components in your case. If the funnel for the CPU is the only intake fan you have in the case, I would recommend installing another fan because the CPU would be the only thing in the case getting cool air and vice versa. If you have a link to the case that would be helpful.

[WeaponX 0]

Not that I know of. It seems to be only for ONE fan and from the looks of it, I assume it's a 120mm one and NOT the 80mm that they advertised:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Seaku=I69-2146%20D

That's the exact case I have and I don't see any use for this 80mm fan I bought from them. I assume I can't mount this 80mm fan for the front of the case right? I took a look and don't see any ventilation holes in the front of the case (only a little space between the front cover and inside metal case).

[nielthan 0]

If they are wrong about the specs, you should email them or something so they can fix what they have on their page. From the page you gave me and from the info about the possabilities of the front fan, I would remove the funnel on the side of the case and if possible mount a fan where the funnel was located. That should be the intake fan and make the fan in the back of the case an exhaust fan. I can't really tell from the pictures if you can mount a fan on the side or not.

[WeaponX 0]

I emailed them and now I have to call them because they won't resolve the issue via email :ph34r:That funnel thing can be removed from the side case. But should I do this as it's made mainly to blow cool air for the CPU fan and processor area? Underneath this funnel I see another small opening (maybe 2x4 inches) but doesn't look like I could mount a case fan there.Will it be cool enough to just mount one exhaust fan in the rear of the case? Nothing is blowing or sucking air from the motherboard directly (funnel only pointing to CPU area)? I'll try to take some pictures if needed.Thanks.

[WeaponX 0]

OK, everything is basically setup now. I'm just missing the case fan and a decent video card (which I placed an order for already ).

 

I have a picture of my side panel that shows that "funnel" shape to suck in the air from the outside (see attachment). Should I remove that funnel and replace it with a 80mm fan instead? It's mainly used to bring in air directly to the processor fan. As of now, my whole system inside is not receiving any ventilation whatsoever, so I'm not going to use it until I get the fans in place. I ordered two of the 120mm fans and want to mount one in the front and one in back. I have a question though. This is actually my first time installing a case fan for my PC. Mine didn't come with any other screws or anything. The 80mm case fan I got before came with these 4 screws though. My question is, do I just drill it through the plastic? Is there a place where I can buy those "rubber screws" instead and push them in or release them if I decide to change them?

 

I took a look at my front case where the 3.5" drives go into and see a slot for another 120mm fan. I assume this is best to be used for the intake of air right? One problem though. It's kind of close to the plastic of the front cover and I'm not sure how much air it will bring in. Not sure if this is poorly designed or it will work just fine as it is.

 

Thanks.