VISTA HARDWARE GUIDE(PART 1)

ever since windows vista was released we have all had to upgrade at least one part of out p.c,even buy a whole new p.c,this is as we all know the hardware requirments for the vista os are much higher than any previous version of windows,but with new additions such as direct x10,we want to buy hardware thats going to last us at least a few years,however with technology changing every year this is easier said than done

in this article i would like to help you choose the best hardware for your vista p.c,as theres loads to choose from out there but finding the one that will work best with vista is the name of the game

lets start with processors,we all will admit the dual core processor is the first choice of xpu for a vista based p.c but with so many dual core processors to choose from the choice is hard,personally i would wait for the second half of this year when intel are going to be releasing their new range of quad core processors with 45nanometer manufacturing process,making these processors highly efficent and extremely fast,the "penry" core is the name intel have chose for the new range of c.p.u,and the processor is due out around september

as for graphic cards,we have the nvidia geforce 8 series and ati,s 2900xt,personally i prefer the ati 2900xt mainly due to its 320 stream processes compared to the nvidia 8800gtx 128 stream processes,and when you compare the price aswell,ati have delivered a masterstroke,however we all dont have the budget to buy a 8800gtx or a 2900xt,so the mid range alternatives could be the geforce 7600gt and the radeon x1650pro,both retailing at around £100 and both with pixel and shader 3.0 and dx9,and also very capable gaming gpu,s

finally in this blog we shall talk about memory,microsofts recommendations for memory in vista i think is way off,512mb for basic should be more like 1gb and 1gb for premium should be more like 2gb,and the good news is ddr2 memory is cheaper than ever,my local p.c shop is selling 1gb ddr2 (533mhz) for £28,so for £56 you could upgrade your current memory by 2gb,at prices like these theres no reason for anyone to be using less than a gig,and vista peforms better with over 2gb

in the next blog i shall be talking about the future hardware technology including blue-ray drives and also vista compatible sound cards

take care!