x300 and Vista Aero

Hi all..

Just wondering will my X300 graphics card be able to handle Windows Vista AERO in all its full glory. eg glass mode etc.

I have a Dell Insperon 6000 w/ 512 ram, 1.73 ghz Centrino with -
dedicated X300 64mb. I probably will need to upgrade the RAM, but only if the graphics is adequate.

Would it be worth while installing Beta 2 at this stage?

 

Graphics card is fine, but going to 1GB of RAM would be most helpful. I'd suggest getting a single 1GB stick.

No, I don't think it is worth it to install Beta 2 . . not really useful.

 

thanks for the response!
Ill hold out on installing vista then but certainly do the ram upgrade.

 

x1600 will run vista fine right?

 

Errmmn, I've read the GE 200M and Intel 950 (with 2G system ram for the latter) will run Vista fine, so I think you're pretty safe with the x1600.

 

Yeah, thats what I thought so too, lol

 

64 mb card is not enough for Vista aero unless you run very low resolution. You need at least 128 according to Microsoft. Check here for more info. You can also download the Vista upgrade advisor found on that page and run it. It will tell you wheter you'll be fine or not. But you definitely need at least 1GB of RAM. Vista runs like junk on 512. I think its usage by itself is somewhere in the 400MB range.

 

if the 200m integrated can then youll be fine

 

AFAIK, Microsoft designed Vista to work with GMA and the Xpress 200M (and maybe Geforce 6150), but you'll need more RAM. Those integrated cards can borrow from RAM and provide up to 256 of vRAM.

 

So 64MB of dedicated video ram on x300 might not be as effective as an integrated card that can borrow system ram?

 

That's what I've read. Keep in mind I haven't tested any of this out. But that's what Microsoft is saying. Like I said, d/l the Vista Upgrade Advisor and see what it tells you. That's one way to find out for sure.