Microsoft Vistra...Vista...whatever

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Layzie Bone
Mr. Computergeek Salad Guy
Mr. Computergeek Salad Guy
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I'm not sure I like it or not. I think it has it's pros and cons.

One of the biggest problems people are going to have is right now:

Do you have a 64-bit processor?
Do you have a recommended 2 GB of RAM?
I'm sure it'll take at least 2-10 GB of space.

Considering the amount of resources it takes, you're better off with not only a new system, but a monster of a system. This is what I have laid out for my new system that would be Vista compatible:

Intel Core2 Duo E6300 1.86 GHz LGA 775 1066 MHz FSB ($180 USD)
Intel BOXDG965RYCK Socket T (LGA 775) Desktop Board ($119 USD)
Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) ($330 USD)
Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA150 Hard Drive ($229 USD)
ATI Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 CrossFire Video Card ($270 USD)

This system $1118 USD, add a good $100 for a decent aluminum case. A very good starter system for Vista, you probably will not have to upgrade anything for a good 3 years. Cooling this stuff is important, you will ruin a lot of crap if you do not have enough cooling, I cannot stress that enough. Also if you do build this thing, invest in some air duster, and do it probably every 1-2 months, or your computer will die.

Look at this stuff closely, consider your steel case not a good place for all this stuff. Be sure to get a aluminum case, plenty of cooling, even the Dual Core processors run very hot to begin with.

Keep this in mind Intel projects by the end of next year to have up to 16 cores on one chip, talk about some serious computing.

So is it worth upgrading my system? Depends on whether you plan on going to Vista or not, XP will probably have support until 2010. If you are still running 98, you need a new computer, because you can't hardly get anti-virus protection any longer, unless your functions are to surf the internet and play cheesy 2D games, it's way past the time to upgrade.

To answer some questions that may have arisen a while ago...

2 GB of memory, what the hell were they thinking?

That's reccomended for the full options, mainly in graphics, such as thier glass desktop theme.

I don't have a dual core or a core 2 duo processor, is mine compatible?

Most likely if your processor is 32 bit, probably not, if it is a 64 bit it needs to support EM64T for sure, if you're buying this offline look for "Vista Ready" on the specs.
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