Assembling a Vista Premium capable PC
March 6th, 2007
I set out to build this PC in Dec 2006, primarily for the purpose of testing out Windows Vista. I wanted a PC that was suitable light work, some surfing, occational videos, etc. As such the specs were fairly modest, also the PC was reasonably inexpensive (under 100K, including monitor).
Target configuration:
Vista premium capable
Dual core processor
Dual channel ram, at least 1GB ram
decent 17inch monitor
DVD writer.
Complete black system (I’ve always wanted to assemble one of these!)
Motherboard
I needed a motherboard with support for dual core processors and dual channel ram, also reliability and staibility.
After considering many different motherboards. I finally chose a Gigabyte 8i945gzme-RH, as it was affordable (around 10k from IT LAND, Unity Plaza), had an Intel chipset, and supported Intel dual core processors (Pentium D and Core 2 Duo).
Processor
I chose an Intel 820D (Stepping B0, SL8CP) (2.8GHz X 2) as it was cheaper (around 12k from ITLAND) than a Core2 which retailed for over 20k then (I decided to use the money saved to get a better monitor).
Ram
I chose Kingston ValueRam. As I wanted to enable dual channel ram, the ram had to consist of identical parts from the same manufacturer. I used 2 512MB Kingston DDR2 ram modules (KVR533D2N4/512 total cost 13,500/- One from IT Land, and the second from Mitech computers, Unity plaza, as IT Land only had one on stock).
Hard disk
Since all modern motherboards include SATA and IDE support is mostly for legacy drives, I chose a Hitachi SATA 250GB HDD - cost exactly 9k, from Mitech computers (Unity plaza)
Case
Generic case with a 450Watt power supply (400W+ power supply recommended for dual core PC’s). I chose a case with a fresh air intake for the CPU. Case cost under 3K, from Asian Computer Systems (Unity Plaza)
Monitor
I chose a Viewsonic VA702, (24,500 , Asian Computer Systems, Unity Plaza)
Graphics
I rarely play computer games, so the onboard graphics were OK. Thankfully the motherboard has a PCI Express slot available, should I decide to upgrade at a future date.
DVD
I used a spare NEC 8X DVD writer I had.
Performance
Performance under both Vista and XP was absolutely stellar. Using dual channel ram and SATA HDD (Originally I used an ATA133 HDD) had measurable benefits.
Conclution
So thats my spec for a decent general purpose Vista premium capable PC, taking into account Sri Lankan prices and availability (As of Dec 06).
Update: Am looking to upgrade, so this PC is for sale. If you are interested in purchasing the PC alone or PC + Monitor, contact me at nsharp [at] nsharp.org. I’ve owned this PC for the last 3 months but havent really used it much except to install and test Vista (and it includes a 3 year warranty).
6 Comments Add your own
1. Theena | March 8th, 2007 at 3:13 am
How much for the PC alone?
2. n# | March 11th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Hi, sorry it was sold.
However I would be happy to assemble you (or anyone) a custom PC.
Just let me know the specs you want.
3. JL | March 16th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Would you be interested in giving vLite a spin (vlite.net)? Would be interested in finding out just how much of a difference it makes.
4. n# | March 18th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Wonderful suggestion thanks! I must try out both nLite and vLite. Thanks for reminding me. I particularly want to see how nlite can chop off the random garbage in XP. And there is a lot.
These guys claim to have got Vista down to a single CD. Now that’s a miracle.
Will try it out and write a review. THANKS!!
5. JL | March 19th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
You’re welcome. I’ve been thinking about doing a new nLite install. The one I’m using now has been running for about eighteen months right now (without a hitch) but there’ve been some new features added since then. And I’ve also got a better idea now just how much more I can chop off without screwing things up.
6. n# | March 20th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Could you consider writing a review on your site about nlite?
Perhaps you could give people an idea on the config/options you chose/why?
I must try this with vista, but truth be told I’m loth to touch Vista as I don’t see much in it.
Actually I’m more interested to see how it would trim Windows XP down!
I hear those guys claim they got Vista down to a CD. If thats so this can probably fit XP on a floppy, almost.
Or at least, like 100MB or so.
I’m curious to see how much memory/system resources can be saved by turning off garbage in XP, and vista also
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