Win Vista Home Premium- how much RAM?

[MTHall51]

Well, I am going to take the plunge, hopefully this week. Will be running Vista for the first time. I have heard so many conflicting opinions in the last month, that now I would like to see if anyone here has run Vista on just one gig of RAM?
In this case I mean 1 gig of SDRAM. I was thinking of upgrading my system, but by the time I figured out the cost I guess I will be keeping my "project" system, selling my fully functional one, And scouting around for the best bargain at Best Buy on a system with 2 gbs RAM, and a AMD 64X2.

Bottom Line: Can one gig of RAM do it, or would it be dreadfully ssslllooooooooowww?

[dlb]

Yes, Vista will run OK one 1gb RAM, esp. if you have a video card. If using on board video, then I'd up the RAM so you have at least 1gb for the system, so going with 2gb if using on board video is probably a good idea. I have seen Vista Home Basic run on a PC with 512mb and a 256mb video card, and it was acceptable. Not great or super fast, but it was usable with occasional lags when multiple windows were open.

In this case I mean 1 gig of SDRAM

What type of SDRAM? If you're referring to 168pin SDRAM of years past, that indicates a VERY out-dated PC and other specs besides RAM may be lacking. Running Vista on a Pentium3 866mhz with 1gb RAM is pointless. You could have 2gb with an old CPU and it won't make much difference. Hopefully you're talking about 184pin DDR SDRAM (or newer types)....

[baklogic]

1 gb of ram will run Vista basic, and Vista Home Premium, but in premium, you will not get all the benifits of its graphics - mostly seems to depend on how good a graphics card you have/get . I run dual boot with XP, and I am running the 64bit Vista home premium, on 4gb of ram, and twin graphics cards- so My Vista score is 4.5- with on board graphics, you would need a good motherboard to get Vista premium benifits.
I would not go for Vista basic- XP Pro is better than that, in my opinion.

[studiot]

Have you run the microsoft tool to checkout this pc for Vista issues?

It's free from microsoft and will warn you of software, hardware and driver issues.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...deadvisor.mspx

[MTHall51]

Originally Posted by studiot

Have you run the microsoft tool to checkout this pc for Vista issues?

It's free from microsoft and will warn you of software, hardware and driver issues.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pro...deadvisor.mspx

Thanks. Man, I am glad to see that. Didn't know there was such a thing.

[slopyjoemess]

I'd recommend you get 2 gigs anyway vista is to ram as cookies is to cookie monster :D