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I've just obtained a copy of Vista Ultimate and have a few questions about it before I decide whether to install it on my machine:

• Is the media centre any good? My current tv card software is rather crap and others I download seem rather temperamental.
• How much better is directx10 compared to directx9?
• Anyone successfully sorted out Vista and XP in a dual boot configuration and does this work ok?
• I currently have 2gb RAM. Would an upgrade to 3 or 4gb be worth it? The memory is cheap enough to upgrade.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/install-windows-xp-on-your-pre-installed-windows-vista-computer/#comment

As for the RAM definately upgrade. 2gb is sufficient, but as its so cheap its worth doing.

I think I will be fine at getting it installed, it's whether it will lead to any issues I'm more concerned with. I already have xp on my machine, so I won't be able to use that method in that guide unfortunately. But it's more or less the same.

That should be hell of a lot easier then!

DX 10 over 9 is only any good if you have hardware and games to take advantage of it....

Unfortunately there are very few applications that support DX10 fully so most will only take advantage of DX 9 anyway...

Of course you have to have a DX10 graphics card as well...

I've got XP and Windows 7 on dual boot with no problems. I just created a new partition (40GB) and installed W7 on the new partition as if it were a new install. Worked a charm.

DX10 is virtually no improvement whatsoever...even on Crysis which has 64bit and DX10 compatibility.

However this may change in the future but dont hold your breath.

I am running 64bit Ultimate and there is virtually no difference with bog standard Vista.

I use dual boot XP and Ultimate 64 but I boot them on different 500gb drives with no trouble whatsoever but I have not tried it on partitioned drives yet.

As Sheepy says you do need a DX10 card...but they can be bought for as little as £25 now so thats not much of a problem.

2gb is NOT enough for Ultimate to run smoothly, I know as I use DDR3 1366 2gb and its not enough for Ultimate, I do strongly suggest going for 4gb as it swaps in and out of applications much smoother with little lag and gameplay frame rates go up by about 10-20% too.

Overall.....if you feel the need for Ultimate and dont use Vista already then go for it.

While you Boffs are on,a simple question for you...ime getting Champ manager is it ok for a laptop and is it straight forward to load.....will it effect the time for other files etc...any tips would help me....thanks.

dont get champ manager, get football manager leefer

OK...not getting it till next month....is it basicly just better for a lappy or just a better game.

Champ managergerer is not very nasty to a system..unlike FM I am pretty sure it only needs about 1gb of hd space and 2ghz processor and 512mb of ram to run, and if your system is nice and tidy with a fair bit of disk space it will run fine.

But as Tans says...go for FM2009 if your system can take it.

Thanks...just what i needed to know,

Seeing as other people are piggy-backing on this thread, I might as well join in.

I'm looking to upgrade the RAM on my machine and haven't for a couple of years so don't know what the shizz is with RAM at the moment. What's the best/cheapest DDR2 PC2-5300?

www.overclock.co.uk has PC5300 for about £7.20 for 1gb thats about the average...even cheaper if you can have PC6400 which is about a quid cheaper per gig.

I'll have to check when I get home. I know I've got PC2-5300 in there at the moment but I'm not sure of my FSB speed off the top of my head.

I need a new graphics card anyway and was planning to upgrade soon. All the new ones are dx10 compatible anyway.

I've just looked at some screenshots and there does appear to be a difference between 10 and 9. Not enough to upgrade specifically for, but as I said I need a new card anyway as I'm only running a pair of geforce 7600gts in sli.

Generally speaking all 8 series and 9 series NVIDIA and all 4 series ATI are DX10 but some of the cheap cheap ones arent mate, read the small print but 99% are.

Should be alright. I need to upgrade so not looking at the cheap ones.

I've had a look around and I'll probably go for something like a 9800gtx+ or something similar. I don't need to go too mental as I only need resolutions up to 1440x900.

The 4830 is a good budget model for about £75 I am using an overclocked 4870 which is a bit pricey at £175 and its not bad but I want to crossfire it but I dont think I will gain a lot.

If you can find a cheap 8800GT they are brilliant cards I used a pair for a year and loved them but they are all cheapish to buy now.

hmmmm - OK going to get my sales head on now....

ATI 4850 is a better card than 9800GTX+

Its quicker - same price and you are better future proffed as it has DX10.1 support built in hardware

9800 GTX+ is a re-hashed older chip that Nvidia have done a good marketing job on....

4830 is good but doesn't quite cut it against 9800 GTX+ - however MUCH cheaper

4850 beats 9800 GTX+ - same price and excellent in crossfire mode with two of them....

And if you buy one make sure it is a Sapphire card :)

Nvidia sucks :):):)

as Sheepshagger has said the 9*** series of Nvidia are basically re-hashed 8*** series.

i've just sold my old Nvidia 7900GT for £35 on the bay. well pleased with that.

I have an nvidia chipset so I'm not going to be doing crossfire until the next complete rebuild.

I did some research and the 4850 and 9800gtx+ both seem similar in performance. The 9800gtx+ has the advantages of being quieter and cooler, has PhysX/CUDA support (not that I will probably ever see that performance boost) and miles better at folding.

I'm no nvidia fanboy and have really considered all options. I don't think there is much in it at all.

Fair enough - its each to their own on this one really...

4850 is definitely quicker than 9800 GTX + in 3D mode
Nv card is a bit cooler - although I run a 4850 and it is as quiet as a mouse
DX11 will be a new build (with extras) over DX10.1 - the 4850 supports 10.1 so will have more future proof built in as Nv only support DX10

Both cards will do what they say on the tin - but I get paid when you buy a Sapphire card so go and get one now :):):)

who do you work for the Sheepshagger??

i've recently got the Sapphire 4870 512mb version with the toxic cooler attached and was thinking of a second for Crossfire. How much discount would you get me??!!!

I've checked the benchmarks and there really isn't anything in it.

Back on topic, has anyone used the media centre function with a tv tuner card and is it any good?

I must admit i havent used the media centre function of Ultimate yet so I am unable to answer that one Si.

No problems, it doesn't sound like anyone has. I think I'll read up some more on it first and see if it looks any good.

There sounds like no harm in doing the dual boot option and giving it a go, but just thought if I was going to get no use for it, the copy could be given to a better home.

Magic - I run Sapphire for Northern Europe so obviously have a small vested interest :)

PM me and let me know what you need and I will see what I can do....

I have not used media centre either with a TV Tuner card - although VERY interested to see how anyone else has got on with this as I am tempted to try...

It gets a bit boring working from home with only you lot to talk to sometimes :):):)

pm sent.

do the x2 versions come with new said coolers too????

mate I PM'd you...

X2 do not come with new cooler though - they are still being built to an ATI design - until we do our own the cooler will always be the red one with the Sapphire sticker on....

got it. cheers

I use a Sapphire 4870 but it doesnt quite get near the GTX260 I installed in my mates PC a few weeks back, and it was only £6 cheaper.

The jury is out on the ATI vs Nvidia for me.

this is my first bash at ATI and i'm quite pleased with them.
Also the added bonus i had was receiving said card with the new cooler attached.

clocked it up to 800/1000 and i've now a faster c ard than the Toxic version and for only £160.

i was tempted with the XFX Black Edition 260 but a saving of £60 swayed me in the end.

Performance wise i've not stretched mine yet really. I only game at 1440x900 so i need a bigger monitor to really compare.

with the new clocks i score 15656 in 3D Mark 06 which i'm pleased with

on what apps jj - in the tests we have carried out the 4870 beats the 260 all ends up ?

I play Crysis and Unreal and WIC on 1920x1200 at 4aa and 16af mostly but even in lower resolutions the Nvid seems much clearer and smooth IMO.

But saying that the 4870 is still a good card and does most of what I throw at it, I think the 4870x2 1GB might be a better option in the future methinks.

Crysis though is endorsed by Nvidia so is tuned to perform better for it.
Not sure if it's the same with Unreal or WIC