Build a Windows Vista System Today! - ' Systems Specs ' (
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First, let's take a look at a table of systems in different categories, and then run down the components in more detail:
PC Type
Basic/Office
Cost
Home Multimedia/Photo
Cost
Processor
Pentium D 820
$245
Pentium D 830
$322
CPU cooler
HSF Included
0
HSF Included
0
Motherboard
ASUS P5LD2-VM (Intel 945G chipset)
100
Intel D945Pvs
115
Case
Antec TX640B
90
Antec P150
150
Power supply
400W included
0
430W included
0
Graphics card
eVGA GeForce 7300 GS*
100
eVGA GeForce 6800 GS 256MB
199
Memory
2 x 512MB Corsair ValueSelect DDR2/533
80
2 x 1GB Kingston DDR400 (KVR400X64C3AK2/2G)
210
Hard drive
Western Digital WD1200JS 120GB
77
Western Digital WD2500JS 250GB
105
Optical drive
NEC ND-3550A DVD Rewriter
38
Sony DRU-810A DVD Rewriter
60
Audio
Integrated HD Audio
0
Integrated Audio
0
Display
ViewSonic VA912B 19" LCD
270
Gateway FPD2185W 21-inch widescreen LCD
599
Keyboard
Microsoft (A4B00007) keyboard/mouse
29
Logitech MX3100 Keyboard/Mouse
100
Pointing device
Included mouse
0
Included mouse
0
Speakers
Creative SBS 270 speakers
15
Logitech Z4 speakers
76
Tuner
N/A
0
N/A
Total:
$1044
$1936
PC Type
Media Center
Cost
High End Gaming
Cost
Processor
Athlon 64 X2 3800+
$322
Athlon 64 X2 4800+
$775
CPU cooler
Zalman CNPS 7000-Cu
40
HSF Included
0
Motherboard
ABIT AN8-Ultra
115
ASUS A8R-MVP
110
Case
Silverstone LaScala LC-17
120
Antec P180
130
Power supply
Antec NeoHE 430W
75
Antec NeoHE 500W
96
Graphics card
ASUS EAX1600XT Silent
220
ATI Radeon X1900 XT
549
Memory
2 x 1GB Kingston DDR400 (KVR400X64C3AK2/2G)
210
2 x 1GB Corsair TwinX-2048 3200Pro
195
Hard drive
Seagate NL35 400GB SATA
300
Western Digital WD4000YR
215
Optical drive
HP DVD740 DVD Burner
90
Sony DRU-810A DVD Rewriter
60
Audio
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
105
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
105
Display
NA
0
Dell 2405FP
899
Keyboard
Microsoft ZV1
75
Logitech G15
66
Pointing device
WMCE Remote Control
35
Logitech G5 Laser
48
Speakers
NA—Your home-theater speakers
0
Creative Labs Progamer G500
220
Tuner
Vbox Catseye DTA-150 HDTV tuner and ATI TV Wonder Elite (PCI) analog tuner
199
N/A
Total:
$1906
$3468
* Note: Not shipping in the U.S. until February 2006
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Before we dive into discussions of individual components, we should point out that these are suggestions, rather than rigid requirements. Depending on your budget, you may want to vary some of the component choices. Note that these are complete systems, including displays, speakers, keyboard and mice. However, these systems all have some commonalities:
All have dual-core CPUs. Given improvements in the Windows scheduler and the emerging generation of multithreaded applications, dual-core processors will be more attractive in the Vista timeframe.
All the CPUs are 64-bit capable. Since Vista will probably ship 64-bit binaries in the same box as the 32-bit version, this will facilitate the move to 64-bit computing. The driver situation for 64-bit should be improved by then, too.
Two of the four systems have widescreen, high resolution displays. The media center PC implies the use of a widescreen HDTV. Wider aspect ratios and higher resolutions will be more usable with Vista's compositing engine. Even the entry -level system sports a display with 1280x1024 resolution.
Three of the four graphics cards have 256MB of RAM or more. Even the office system has 128MB of video memory. We'll get into why that's useful in a bit. For roughly $20 more, you'll be able to get an Nvidia 7300 GS card with 256MB.
All four graphics cards are DirectX 9-capable.
Three of the four systems include two gigabytes of system memory. Continued...
