How good are these specs?

PainlessTorture

Official Best Member
Vista Pro
  • Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
  • 2048MB RAM
  • 120GB HDD
  • TFT15.4 Screen
  • DVDRW

Are they good or bad for running vista ultimate?

Thanks
-Fearghal
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett Packard
    CPU
    3.40Ghz / 2.20Gz Duo Core
    Memory
    2GB / 3GB
    Hard Drives
    160 GB / 160 GB
  • Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
  • 2048MB RAM
  • 120GB HDD
  • TFT15.4 Screen
  • DVDRW

Are they good or bad for running vista ultimate?

Thanks
-Fearghal

Go for 4Gb of ram for Ultimate
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q6600
    Motherboard
    MSI P36 NEO2
    Memory
    4GB 5-5-5-12
    Graphics Card(s)
    8800GTS 512Mb Overclocked
    Sound Card
    5.1 surround sound
    Hard Drives
    500Gb Samsung SATAII XP
    500GB Samsung SATAII
    PSU
    1000W CoolerMaster power supply
    Case
    CoolerMaster Cosmos 1000 case
    Cooling
    120mm ThermalTake Big Typhoon CPU cooler, 3 x 120mm exhaust
    Keyboard
    Wireless Keyboard and mouse 3000
    Other Info
    1TB WD My Book Office edition external drive x 2, Dual layer LG DVD-Rom burner,
    15 in 1 card reader
    Triple boot: XP, Vista Ultimate 64 and Windows 7 Ultimate 64
I started off with those kind of specs and mine run fine, the only difference was that I had a Core 2 Duo 2.13Ghz, Nvidia 8600GT 512Mb Graphics Card, memory 2Gb @ 667mhz and a DVD burner. So I say Go For It!

As for memory its very cheap now and that's no obstacle unless you want to play games like Crysis and stuff like that.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HOME BREW
    CPU
    Core 2 E8500 3.16Ghz @ 4.05Ghz
    Motherboard
    EVGA NVIDIA NFORCE 750i SLI FTW
    Memory
    2x2Gb Patriot PC2-6400 LL
    Graphics Card(s)
    Inno3D GeForce GTX260 216 SP
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS VW222U 22" 2ms Response time
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    SATA 150GB
    SATA II 250GB
    USB IDE 300GB Ext.
    PSU
    HYTEC 600W & Thermaltake Toughpower Power Express 650W
    Case
    Thermaltake Armor LCS (Liquid Cooling System)
    Cooling
    Liquid Cooling System
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse
You do NOT need 4GB ram to run Ultimate but it helps if your into benchmarking, gaming, photo editing and video editing.

I ran Ultimate for 7 months on 2GB ram and all games worked fine however my problem stemmed from using Photoshop which pushed me to upgrade to 4GB.

The CPU is good but you might want to invest in a good heatsink and OC it just so you get more bang for your buck.

Hard drive is good and so is the screen. Because the CPU isn't overly expensive you could get a bigger screen but i dont know your budget.

You might know but my Ultimate uses about 25GB on my disc so is 92ish usable GB's enough for you? (92GB instead of 95GB's taking into account the 10 bits to a byte thing HDD makers use)

As for the heatsink i use a Tuniq Tower 120 and i can get my e6750 to go at 3.8GHz at just above stock voltage but im not sure you can still buy it...

Suggestions on a good heatsink anyone?

Read this article which talks about entry level CPUs, overclocking and cooling them
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    E6750 @ 3.6GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P35 DS3
    Memory
    4GB 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    POV GTX285
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" Widescreen LG
    Screen Resolution
    1400x900
    Hard Drives
    2 x WD 500G
    PSU
    Coolermaster Silent Pro 700M
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120 LFB
    Keyboard
    Logitech EX110
    Mouse
    Logitech MX400
    Other Info
    Graphics Driver - 190.38
Hi Fmjc001, You could run Vista Ultimate quite happily on that system although as the guys mentioned a bit more memory would help.

Microsoft says for Home 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
  • DVD-ROM drive
  • Audio Output
  • Internet access (fees may apply)
Additional requirements

Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor can help you determine which features and edition of Windows Vista will run on your computer.
While all editions of Windows Vista can support multiple core CPUs, only Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise can support dual processors.


You don't mention graphics, but with on-board there just isn't enough grunt for the Aero eye-candy. Also DirectX 10 is very hard on the GPU. You probably won't get any blistering speeds. Depends on your useage.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Scratch Built
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core 6600
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B
    Memory
    4096 MB Xtreme-Dark 800mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac Amp Edition 8800GT - 512MB DDR3, O/C 700mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 206BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680 X 1024
    Hard Drives
    4 X Samsung 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II HDD w. 16MB Cache .
    PSU
    550 w
    Case
    Thermaltake
    Cooling
    3 x octua NF-S12-1200 - 120mm 1200RPM Sound Optimised Fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft
    Mouse
    Targus
    Internet Speed
    1500kbs
    Other Info
    Self built.
If I remember correctly thtere is a 365mb graphics card in there.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett Packard
    CPU
    3.40Ghz / 2.20Gz Duo Core
    Memory
    2GB / 3GB
    Hard Drives
    160 GB / 160 GB
Without knowing a little more about the card, and I'm guessing it's not your computer, all I could say is that the owner won't be playing Crysis anytime soon, but I'd be pretty certain there isn't much else they wouldn't be able to do. Those specs aren't real bad. Not everybody has a high end computor and a 2ghz Core 2 Duo is not a bad little processor. As for overclocking, you can, but there is a monetary and equipment cost. You have to weigh up if it is worth it. Unless the person is a high end gamer there is no real benefit for slight gain in performance you would get. For the cost of the cooling gear you could probably get a bigger processor. An extra gigabyte of memory would improve performance though and memory is pretty cheap/
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Scratch Built
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core 6600
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B
    Memory
    4096 MB Xtreme-Dark 800mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac Amp Edition 8800GT - 512MB DDR3, O/C 700mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 206BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680 X 1024
    Hard Drives
    4 X Samsung 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II HDD w. 16MB Cache .
    PSU
    550 w
    Case
    Thermaltake
    Cooling
    3 x octua NF-S12-1200 - 120mm 1200RPM Sound Optimised Fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft
    Mouse
    Targus
    Internet Speed
    1500kbs
    Other Info
    Self built.
This laptop will not be playing any games at all. Its for work, it will be running MS Office 2007 possibly 2008 if its worth it. Have maybe a movie or two and thats it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett Packard
    CPU
    3.40Ghz / 2.20Gz Duo Core
    Memory
    2GB / 3GB
    Hard Drives
    160 GB / 160 GB
No problems then. You might have to load your movies onto the hardrive to play them if thay are AVI. DVD's seem to work ok though in the Disk Drive. My daughter has a system with similar specs and apart from being slow to load and a bit sluggish compared to a higher end system it does all her work ok. She uses Office 2007 and Adobe Photoshop CS3 primarily. Adobe can put a strain on a system and although she has no trouble she can't open too many photo's at once. Best not to use all the pretty graphic stuff that's all.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Scratch Built
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core 6600
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B
    Memory
    4096 MB Xtreme-Dark 800mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac Amp Edition 8800GT - 512MB DDR3, O/C 700mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 206BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680 X 1024
    Hard Drives
    4 X Samsung 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II HDD w. 16MB Cache .
    PSU
    550 w
    Case
    Thermaltake
    Cooling
    3 x octua NF-S12-1200 - 120mm 1200RPM Sound Optimised Fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft
    Mouse
    Targus
    Internet Speed
    1500kbs
    Other Info
    Self built.

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Scratch Built
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core 6600
    Motherboard
    Asus P5B
    Memory
    4096 MB Xtreme-Dark 800mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Zotac Amp Edition 8800GT - 512MB DDR3, O/C 700mhz
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 206BW
    Screen Resolution
    1680 X 1024
    Hard Drives
    4 X Samsung 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA-II HDD w. 16MB Cache .
    PSU
    550 w
    Case
    Thermaltake
    Cooling
    3 x octua NF-S12-1200 - 120mm 1200RPM Sound Optimised Fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft
    Mouse
    Targus
    Internet Speed
    1500kbs
    Other Info
    Self built.
You know Vista Ultimate isn't much different from Home Premium. It has Bit-Locker, which nobody I know of uses, and the Ultimate Extra's which are a waste of time and provide no value that I can see.

I'm sure somebody, somewhere uses Bit-Locker.... maybe.... The Ultimate edition was a bit of a waste, feature wise.

As for specs, I've got a dual core 2.8 (pre-core2 duo) , 7600GS and only 1.5 gig of ram and Ultimate runs very nicely with those specs. It's the extra 512meg that makes the difference ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    i7 3770K HT ON 4.7GHz
    Motherboard
    P8Z68 Deluxe Gen 3
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill Ripjaws X 2133mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x Gigabyte GTX 670 OC WindForce SLI
    Sound Card
    X-FI Forte + ATH-AD900
    Monitor(s) Displays
    x2 Dell U2410 / 58" Samsung / "40 Sony
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1200 / 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    2x Intel 520 240GB * Crucial M4 128GB * 2x Samsung F3 1TB (RAID 0) * 2x WD Caviar Blacks 2TB (RAID 0)
    PSU
    Corsair AX1200W
    Case
    Lian Li PC-V1020A
    Cooling
    NH-D14: 3x140mm Gelid Wing 14: Sunbeam Rheobus Extreme
    Keyboard
    Topre Realforce // Ducky Shine Cherry MX Black
    Mouse
    Razer Imperator + Thermaltake Theron
    Other Info
    Laptop Specs:
    Clevo Sager P170HM //
    17.3 Matte 1920x1200 //
    i7 2720QM // 8GB 1333mhz //
    Dedicated GTX 485M //
    240GB Intel 520 + 750GB + Blu-Ray //

    Samsung Story 2TB USB 3.0
If it is really only for movies, and MS Office then that computer is great.

My sisters laptop is a little under those specs and ran vista business fine (apart from that she has 512MB ram so it got too slow and she went back to XP).

With 2GB ram, and if you use it for what you have said, i doubt you will ever use more than 50% of it. That said don't take one stick out 2GB is much better than 1GB and i have found that even though vista doesn't use the extra 1GB very often it still makes it run better.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    E6750 @ 3.6GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte P35 DS3
    Memory
    4GB 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    POV GTX285
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" Widescreen LG
    Screen Resolution
    1400x900
    Hard Drives
    2 x WD 500G
    PSU
    Coolermaster Silent Pro 700M
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120 LFB
    Keyboard
    Logitech EX110
    Mouse
    Logitech MX400
    Other Info
    Graphics Driver - 190.38
Back
Top