graphic requirements for windows vista

ever since the start when windows 1.0 was released your computer had to meet certain specifications to run the operating system of the day,and windows vista is no different

windows xp could actually be run on a pentium 2 with just 64mb ram,this was all it needed,but vist has some strict guidelines and trying to install vist without meeting these will just make the installation fail

the main 3 requirements to run vista are the processor speed,system memory and graphics card,a processor of over 800mhz is required but i would recommend at least 1.5ghz,system memory of 512mb,again i would say 1gb is a more realistic amount

but the graphics card is were you need to be aware,microsoft state a card with 128mb video memory(256mb recommended) and pixel and shader model 3.0

pixel and shader model is a standard at which graphic cards are measured for their capability at producing effects that appear in most of the modern games such as doom3 and quake4,microsoft have taken advantage of these effects and this is what produces all the amazing aero effects you see in vista

windows vista also see,s the introduction of direct x 10,the latest installment of the driver developed by microsoft for the runnning of 3d applications and games

however only the new nvidia ge-force 8800 series of cards are capable of running applications using direct x 10,not even the powerfull ati x1950xtx cards run direct x 10,they are stuck with direct x 9.0c

however most modern graphic cards are powerfull enough to run vistas flashy garphics,all nvidia cards from the fx series upwards will run vista as can all ati cards from the radeon 9550 upwards

with the introduction of quad core processors ,pc experts are talking about the end of the graphic cards as the new c.p.u,s are powerfull enough to run graphic calculations as well as processor tasks,i hope not...theres nothing better than upgrading your current card to a better model just to watch your favourite game in better colour and higher resolutions

people may critisise vista but we can all agree on one thing,its the best looking windows by far,scroll them 3d windows!