Will This Computer Run Windows Vista?

[Kamex]

I'm purchasing a laptop at the end of next month, and I want to be able to install 32-bit Vista on it. Currently, I'm looking at a Toshiba Satellite M60 laptop with the following specs:

CPU: Intel Pentium M Processor 760 (2.00GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 533MHz FSB)

Ram: 1024MB (512MBx2) 533MHz PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM

Video: ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 SE PCI-E x16 with 128MB DDR SDRAM

Hard Drive: 60GB HDD (5400rpm)

Are these specs high enough to be able to run Vista, or do I need to go higher? I've read the article on this site about this, but I don't know enough about hardware to really have a firm grasp of what I'm going to need (the above is mostly copy-and-paste).

I would also like to run Aero Glass at a 1680 x 1050 resolution. I understand that this is probably an unrealistic expectation, but I thought I'd ask in case it is possible: Would this video card make this possible? If not, is there a laptop video card currently available that could?

Keep in mind that I don't need resources left for the following things:

- DVDs - I will not be playing DVDs on this laptop
- Music - I will most likely not be listening to music, and definately won't be trying to play visualizations
- Games - I may play some simple 3d games like neverball, but I'd be turning off the glass for this. Definately no modern professional games.

I will, however, be doing programming and compiling with this laptop, as I'm going to be taking college courses to learn how to do this. I haven't owned a laptop before, and I've heard they can get quite hot, so I'm also concerned I could overheat my laptop by doing all this.

I understand that this may be too early to ask these questions, but I'd like to make sure I'm well prepared for Vista if possible. Can anyone help?

[alc6379]

You could probably swing Vista with that. I have a suspicion, though, that the Video card will be the bottleneck on the system, more than likely.

If at all else, give it a shot. You'll probably be ok with that, though, since it is the current mid-range offering from ATI on portable systems.

[orange100]

I am running Longhorn on a system comparable to that and it runs fine. Beware, though, the OS requires 6gig of HDD!

[chrisbliss18]

Just my two cents.

If you are going to be using the system primarily for programming, why would you even want to bother with Vista at all? From all the press releases that I've seen, Vista doesn't offer programmers anything more than XP does (actually... from experience, XP doesn't even offer anything more than 2000 does). In my programming classes, having a computer with the least amount of bling, the smallest amount of boot time (keep in mind that you might have to reboot your system frequently if you are working with code that could crash your machine), and the least amount of bloatware and background processes offered me the best performance in class. Now if you are interested in having the coolest machine in class, your speed on compile and run times will take a severe hit. Actually, having a lean, fast machine is always the best choice for a machine that you take to class. There is nothing worse than having a machine crash in the middle of a note-taking session and having to wait two minutes for the machine to finish loading back up.

Other things of note from experience in classes:Make sure that you have a nice selection of music on your computer and bring a set of headphones when you go to class. There are times when classrooms become free-for-alls. I get easily distracted, so I would never have gotten work done during some classes if I didn't have the ability to drown everyone out with my music.
Laptops get very hot after extended use. The faster you drain your battery and the more often you access your harddrive, the hotter your laptop will become. Thus, most games quickly turn your laptop into a portable furnace. Most laptops will not overheat unless you block your fan air intakes and exhausts. Never run a laptop on carpets or bedding. As much as possible, place your laptop on a flat, table-like surface and pop out the feet in the back to improve ventilation.

[roryt]

Could someone tell me whether my PC will run Vista, and how well?

Spec-

Pentium 4 3.4ghz ht tec
1gig ram
Nvidia 6600gt
400gb Hard Disk
SB 2 platinum ZS



I will be using web design programs such as Dreamweaver and Flash. And also Paint Shop Pro. I also play a few pretty simple games.

Will my PC be good enough?

[Fiv3fing3r]

Just a random thing
If you are running a laptop with an ATI card on battery "powerplay" must be turned onto max performance to run Vista. This means that the system then eats power like a heavy set man in a cake shop.

[nizzy1115]

Just a random thing If you are running a laptop with an ATI card on battery "powerplay" must be turned onto max performance to run Vista. This means that the system then eats power like a heavy set man in a cake shop.

Thats only if you want to enable aero (the fancy looking stuff). And im sure it doesnt just go for ati laptops, but some nvidia's as well.

Anyways, my computer runs like butter with the latest release. For some reason though, the install was hanging on my laptop...

[denman]

Could someone tell me whether my PC will run Vista, and how well? Spec- Pentium 4 3.4ghz ht tec 1gig ram Nvidia 6600gt 400gb Hard Disk SB 2 platinum ZS I will be using web design programs such as Dreamweaver and Flash. And also Paint Shop Pro. I also play a few pretty simple games. Will my PC be good enough?

it should be fine on that system, ...your CPU, vid and Mobo are all better than mine, and mine runs Vista as well as Vista can run. With all the eye candy the gig of RAM seems a good choice (mine's 2X512 as well). I'm using on-board vid and the "Windows DVD Maker" wouldn't go, whining about vid. All the worse cuz Nero7 burnware won't install on mine and several others that tried, ...give'r a shot, but I'd recommend partitioning that 400 gigs at least in three, keep XP on "C" and install Vista on another partition so you can dual-boot, ...my early assessment is I wouldn't trust the new OS yet for anything real important, ...still what the hell, it's 'beta' and we're supposed to be evaluating it, thus my whining about it at this stage would be for nought ..."the Old Geek"

[goldeagle2005]

I have a nagging feeling that when Vista ships, the requirements will be higher. For example, I'm pretty sure that an onboard vid card will not run the aero interface. Also, I somehow feel that 1 gig ram will be the bare minimum for Vista.

Just my two cents.

[caperjack]

The minimum requirements for graphics cards from the major vendors include the Radeon 9500 from ATI Technologies and the GeForce FX 5200 from nVidia.

[goldeagle2005]

I dunno. I have 2 machines, one with a FX5200 and a 6600. The rest of the specs include Athlon64 2800+, 1 gig RAM and 120 Gig HD. Vista runs quite sluggishly on the one with the FX card. I suppose MS will polish the performance of the final product.

[vicec64]

The minimum requirements for graphics cards from the major vendors include the Radeon 9500 from ATI Technologies and the GeForce FX 5200 from nVidia.

That's acually the minimum to run Vista at it's fullest base UI experience not to actuallyrun Vista itself. I have an R9700P that runs ok with Vista but that system does have 2 gig of ram. I suspect that an X800GT0/XL (for ATI) and an VIDA 6800GS would be the base optimal card for the best experience initially even though they aren't DX10 compliant.

[roryt]

it should be fine on that system, ...your CPU, vid and Mobo are all better than mine, and mine runs Vista as well as Vista can run. With all the eye candy the gig of RAM seems a good choice (mine's 2X512 as well). I'm using on-board vid and the "Windows DVD Maker" wouldn't go, whining about vid. All the worse cuz Nero7 burnware won't install on mine and several others that tried, ...give'r a shot, but I'd recommend partitioning that 400 gigs at least in three, keep XP on "C" and install Vista on another partition so you can dual-boot, ...my early assessment is I wouldn't trust the new OS yet for anything real important, ...still what the hell, it's 'beta' and we're supposed to be evaluating it, thus my whining about it at this stage would be for nought ..."the Old Geek"

Thanks very much and i think you're right partitioning is the way to go atleast for the first year after its release.

Cheers

[alc6379]

That's acually the minimum to run Vista at it's fullest base UI experience not to actually run Vista itself. I have an R9700P that runs ok with Vista but that system does have 2 gig of ram. I suspect that an X800GT0/XL (for ATI) and an VIDA 6800GS would be the base optimal card for the best experience initially even though they aren't DX10 compliant.

This comment is entirely correct.

There is an option to turn down the graphics an incredible lot, using the Windows Classic theme. But, even still, if you were to try that theme, you'd still need a beefy system up until you got it up and running.

[jo2995]

windows vista starter and home basic editions will require a 800mhz 32-bit cpu; 512 ram; directx9-capability; 32mb graphics memory; cd drive; and 20gb hard drive with 15gb free.

while windows vista ultimate,windows vista home premium,windows vista business,and windows vista enterprise editions all need the same things and also at least 1ghz 32 or 64 bit cpus; 1gb ram; 128mb graphics mem.; support of windows display driver model; pixel shadder 2.0 software; 32-bit color; 40gb hard drive ; and a dvd-rom drive. SOURCE: Computer Shopper September 2006. Hope it helps!

[darrenw89]

I'm purchasing a laptop at the end of next month, and I want to be able to install 32-bit Vista on it. Currently, I'm looking at a Toshiba Satellite M60 laptop with the following specs:

CPU: Intel Pentium M Processor 760 (2.00GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 533MHz FSB)

Ram: 1024MB (512MBx2) 533MHz PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM

Video: ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 SE PCI-E x16 with 128MB DDR SDRAM

Hard Drive: 60GB HDD (5400rpm)

Are these specs high enough to be able to run Vista, or do I need to go higher? I've read the article on this site about this, but I don't know enough about hardware to really have a firm grasp of what I'm going to need (the above is mostly copy-and-paste).

I would also like to run Aero Glass at a 1680 x 1050 resolution. I understand that this is probably an unrealistic expectation, but I thought I'd ask in case it is possible: Would this video card make this possible? If not, is there a laptop video card currently available that could?

Keep in mind that I don't need resources left for the following things:

- DVDs - I will not be playing DVDs on this laptop - Music - I will most likely not be listening to music, and definately won't be trying to play visualizations - Games - I may play some simple 3d games like neverball, but I'd be turning off the glass for this. Definately no modern professional games.

I will, however, be doing programming and compiling with this laptop, as I'm going to be taking college courses to learn how to do this. I haven't owned a laptop before, and I've heard they can get quite hot, so I'm also concerned I could overheat my laptop by doing all this.

I understand that this may be too early to ask these questions, but I'd like to make sure I'm well prepared for Vista if possible. Can anyone help?

The Toshiba range do run hot but that's part myth. It's come about because a small number of them have just a fancy heatsink with no fan so it's almost silent. However it gets fairly warm, people have seen this and assume every Toshiba is the same - wrong! I'm actually using one now that I've got running Windows 7 with 3Gb ram; works a treat and not at all warm.

Although I did notice that you only have 1Gb ram, while this is enough to run Vista Home Premium it may be an idea to up that to 2048Mb. However due to you having two 512's as opposed to one 1024 it would mean taking both of them out and buying 2048Mb worth of ram.

Dazza :cool:

(Wow sorry just seen how old the original post is!)