What kind of performance could I expect from Vista on my system?

[JMI]

Helllo,

I've tried to run the Vista Upgrade advisor on my system but the window pops
up and then simply closes with no error message and no results whatsoever.
So I booted with no start up items, Antivirus disabled too. No change. I
can't get the thing to give me any results. (I'm also running 32bit version
of XP not the 64 bit version)

So now I'm trying to figure out what kind of performance could I expect. I
know that my system meets the minumum system requirements, but is it enough
to be "robust"? Should I expect performance that's on par with XP, slightly
faster or slower? Anyone out there with similar system specs as mine?
What index value does the Upgrade Adivsor show you?

Also where does the "sweet spot" seem to lie regarding system RAM? Is a gig
of RAM suitable for good performance or is more necessary? My system tops
out at 1gig so I can't upgrade that. And, hell, I've about run out of
things that I can upgrade (other than hard drives) Ideas?

Dell Dimension 4500
2.8Ghz Pentium 4
1024 MB of RAM
1 SATA 36 Gig Western Digital Raptor (10,000 RPM) drive
1 SATA 300Gig 16mb cache Maxtor drive
1 EIDE 250Gig 16mb cache Maxtor drive
ATI X800-XT 256mb AGP video card
Sony DRU-530 DVD-RW
Pioneer DVR-110D DVD-RW
Creative Lab X-Fi Extreme Music soundcard

 

[Beck]

Helllo,

I've tried to run the Vista Upgrade advisor on my system but the window
pops up and then simply closes with no error message and no results
whatsoever. So I booted with no start up items, Antivirus disabled too.
No change. I can't get the thing to give me any results. (I'm also
running 32bit version of XP not the 64 bit version)

So now I'm trying to figure out what kind of performance could I expect.
I know that my system meets the minumum system requirements, but is it
enough to be "robust"? Should I expect performance that's on par with XP,
slightly faster or slower? Anyone out there with similar system specs as
mine? What index value does the Upgrade Adivsor show you?

Also where does the "sweet spot" seem to lie regarding system RAM? Is a
gig of RAM suitable for good performance or is more necessary? My system
tops out at 1gig so I can't upgrade that. And, hell, I've about run out
of things that I can upgrade (other than hard drives) Ideas?

Dell Dimension 4500
2.8Ghz Pentium 4
1024 MB of RAM
1 SATA 36 Gig Western Digital Raptor (10,000 RPM) drive
1 SATA 300Gig 16mb cache Maxtor drive
1 EIDE 250Gig 16mb cache Maxtor drive
ATI X800-XT 256mb AGP video card
Sony DRU-530 DVD-RW
Pioneer DVR-110D DVD-RW
Creative Lab X-Fi Extreme Music soundcard

Your specifications look fine to run Vista. I don't know anything about
your graphics card so its worth looking at whether you will get full Aero or
not, but even without full aero you should get a stable, fast OS.

Just as a comparison I run Home Premium (with no aero)
80gb hdd
1.5 celeron mobile processor
1Gb ram
128mb shared crappy graphics.

 

[Navilyn]

Sorry to butt in, but do you not run no aero by choice? Or, is it your
system not able to run it?

 

[LaRoux]

This looks like a perfectly adequate setup. Your X800 should have adequate
drivers in the box and will slightly exceed the minimum for Aero glass
performance-wise. If you wanted to upgrade before moving to Vista, I would
probably focus on the mobo as your 1gb limit will probably be noticed before
anything else.

 

[Beck]

Sorry to butt in, but do you not run no aero by choice? Or, is it your
system not able to run it?

Don't worry you are not butting in

My graphics chip is not capable. Or rather the chip is capable, but Intel
refuse to create wddm drivers for the 910 chip.

 

[BSchnur]

As long as you are not running Aero you should be OK with that hardware
-- I'd look to increase the memory at some point to 2G, but I have
systems which OK on hardware similar to yours (AMD 939, 1G memory, AMD
3500, X550 PCI-X16).

 

[BSchnur]

Ouch -- just noticed that, that motherboard supports 1G max -- sort of
lame given the processor supported.

 

[JMI]

Yeah, my system is actually 4 years old. I've just upgraded and upgraded
and upgraded over the last 4 years. When I bought it I got it with the
fastest CPU available and have been upgrading all the other components over
the years! I don't want something thats slower than what I've already got.

Since I can't upgrade my RAM anymore would purchasing a 2Gig flash drive and
enabling "Ready Boost" make a signicant difference in speed?

I've also considered upgrading the CPU since the system is well out of
warranty. It takes a socket 478 CPU and I think I've seen a few Dual Cores
that might fit, particularly the Intel Core Duo T2400 Processor 1.83GHz,
667MHz FSB, Socket 478, 2MB Cache, 65nm. Mostly cause it's got a
compatable socket (478) and I like the price ($203.99) But how much of a
speed difference would I notice with this CPU? Granted it's got two
cores, but they are each slower than my single core. And I don't think the
two don't add up to 3.6 Ghz (or do they?)

Are there anymore speed upgrades that someone could recommend?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[BSchnur]

Since I can't upgrade my RAM anymore would purchasing a 2Gig flash drive and

enabling "Ready Boost" make a signicant difference in speed?

Might be a case of the BIOS on the system not supporting this either.

Really, if you are looking to a collection of upgrades, I'd suggest
instead the time has come to move to a clean, new system. Since it
seems you are fairly alert and willing to tinker, why not build a
system up on your own.