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• In the old days, when Windows 95 reigned supreme, processor power was the first item on a buyer's hardware specification list. With XP, the focus moved to sufficient RAM. Now with Vista I suggest that you start by making sure that your graphics card is able to deliver the Aero experience. Clearly, any specification is only as good as its weakest link, so you want a balanced system. Without hedging my bets too much, I'd say your most cost effective machine design depends on the software you are going to run on your machine. Gaming, home and business all have different hardware requirements, as do desktops, laptops and palmtops. From an environmental point of view, it is sad that so many of us are going to scrap old machines and buy new ones designed for Vista, displaying the Vista Premium Logo. On the other hand, this approach is safer and should be less frustrating, because you get a system that has been tested with Vista. If for some reason it doesn't work, someone else has to worry about assuring that everything works. You even have warranty protection. Whether you are buying new or upgrading, you should run through the requirements of each major component. Fortunately, the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor will assist you; we'll discuss it shortly. Graphics Card The graphics card is the number one consideration with Vista. It shocked me to realize that the point has come that an average graphics card costs as much as an average CPU. Trust me: running Vista with an old graphics card is disappointing - you don't get the full Aero "Glass" experience, and some features plain don't work. The official MS Vista minimum is 128 MB for the graphics card, however do check the specification of the proposed card or your Vista install may only be effective at lower screen resolutions. My suggestion is to look for a graphics card with at least 256 MB of memory, supporting DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver. It will almost certainly have Pixel Shader 2.0 and frame buffer memory of 32 bits per pixel. CPU Of course, there will always be a better faster CPU just around the corner. Fortunately, Vista will run with a 1 GHz processor. When buying new I never purchase the latest processor - I go for the next latest or the second most expensive. Any processor of over 2 GHz should be good enough for normal Vista tasks. Memory With each computer that I buy, I always spend what seems like an excessive amount of money on memory modules, but after a year, my purchase looks ordinary or even insufficient. The consensus is that Vista needs 1 GB of RAM, but Guy says go for 2 GB. Problems can arise if you decide to add more memory later; the company may tell you "we don't stock that type of SIMM any more"; or "our latest modules have a different arrangement of pins"; or perhaps, "the new stock is incompatible with your old RAM." Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (Product... (5 offers) Online shop Price Royaldiscount.com $165.92 VioSoftware.com $198.96 SoftwareMedia.com $165.91 TigerDirect $252.96 Discount Mountain $185.00 See more products

• Our tests have shown that the efficiency of a Pentium 75 Socket 5 system that is more than six years old can be greatly improved by means of selective tuning. Only an upgrade socket from Socket 5 to Socket 7 is necessary. We used an adapter from Powerleap . As a result, a processor bus clock restricted to 66 MHz offers a maximum achievable CPU clock rate of 400 MHz (66 MHz x 6 = 400 MHz). This clock increase is still quite substantial, especially when you consider that a Pentium 75 was used originally. The increase in frequency turns out to be more advantageous with some Socket 7 boards based on Intel's 430HX chipset. Some of these offer a processor bus clock of up to 83 MHz , to reach a processor core clock of up to 500 MHz. Still every user should think carefully about planning an upgrade. Unfortunately it is still impossible to tune one of those oldies as much that it would achieve the performance of today's computers. The actual purpose should be to optimize the old hardware so that it runs a modern operating system as e.g. Windows 98. The benchmark results demonstrate very clearly that our PC increased its performance tremendously with the AMD K6-2/400. The Sysmark2000 benchmark proved it. Similarly, with Quake III Arena we achieved almost twice the frame rate. Ultimately though, the optimized system is way behind the results of modern boards with a Socket 370 or Socket 462. The table below once again summarizes the costs for an upgrade. Note that we've also marked the mobile K6 versions with a "+". If you can't get hold of an K6-2/III 400 MHz anymore, you have to resort to an 450 or even 500 MHz version. Please don't forget that these models will still be limited to 400 MHz, because the old boards are not able to supply the required processor bus clock of 100 MHz. Upgrade Costs Est. Price Processor, AMD K6-2/400 $35 Processor, AMD K6-2+/500 * $75 Processor, AMD K6-III+/450 * $69 PowerLeap PL-ProMMX w/o CPU $50 PowerLeap PL-K6-III with 400 MHz CPU $199 32 MB EDO memory (60 ns, SIMM) $30 * limited to 6x66 MHz = 400 MHz Costs for the simple upgrade of an old Socket 5 system.

• Processor Eurocom’s entry interested us for two reasons: to begin, it’s one of two Centrino 2 examples that have landed in our lab. Secondly, it features Intel’s Core 2 Extreme X9100 processor—the fastest mobile CPU (at least in terms of frequency) available. That chip, launched in July 2008, employs a 1,066 MHz front side bus and an 11.5x multiplier to hit a 3.06 GHz clock speed. Its two cores share a 6MB L2 cache, and of course, all of Intel’s power-saving technologies help conserve battery life—a good thing given the CPU’s somewhat-lofty 44 W TDP. Of course, that’s nothing compared to the 95 W imposed by the Q9650 in Killer Notebooks’ Odachi. Memory CPU-Z recognized the memory modules installed in Eurocom’s Montebello as DDR2. However, they’re actually DDR3-1333 modules capable of 10.6 GB/s. We’d hoped to see a 4 GB configuration from Eurocom, but our sample instead came with two sticks of 1 GB each. While we’ve seen plenty of conjecture as to the benefits of DDR3 in desktops, the technology is undoubtedly a boon to notebooks as a result of a reduction to supply voltage (DDR2 runs at 1.8 V, while our DDR3 modules only need 1.5 V). Although the timings on Eurocom’s OCZ DDR3 modules sound high at 9-9-9, bear in mind that the technology uses shorter clock cycles, so the latency would be similar to a DDR2 module running at 667 with CAS 4.5 timings. Even still, ASUS has the leg up here with its Qimonda modules running at 8-8-8. It goes without saying that we didn’t need to make any tweaks to the Montebello to get its 2 GB cruising under Vista x32. Graphics While Eurocom plans to make its Montebello available with Nvidia’s 9800M GTX, our model came with the 9800M GT—the same GPU found in Alienware’s m17x, only in a single-card setup rather than SLI. The M860TU is a much smaller notebook, so there’s no room for a second board. However, the 15.4” screen maxes out at 1680x1050 anyway. We’d expect that one 9800M GT might be able to deliver playable-enough frame rates. This is redundant information by now, but just as a reminder, the 9800M GT centers on the same G92M as last-generation’s mobile 8800-series GPUs. It’s manufactured at 65 nm, sports 754 million transistors, and is fed by 512 MB of GDDR3 memory on a 256-bit bus. The GPU clock runs at 500 MHz, the shaders cruise along at 1,250 MHz, and the memory is clocked at 799 MHz. Despite its identical GPUs, memory configurations, and model names, the 176.10 driver package used on Alienware’s m17x would not install here. We instead had to use the vendor-specific 176.02 driver supplied by Eurocom. Alas, that’s just one of the caveats when it comes to non-standard notebook hardware. We’ve come a long way, but hardware is not yet as standardized as desktop components. Storage The smaller, lighter M860TU Montebello doesn’t have room for multiple hard drives either. So, Eurocom installs a single Hitachi GST Travelstar 7K320 spinning at 7,200 RPM. In our own tests, we found the 7,200 RPM Travelstar to be an average performer. It’s not a stand-out, but it does complement the other performance components Eurocom chooses to install. There’s an available slot in the M860TU for a TurboMemory card, but the notebook is fine without it. The Intel feature works well enough in laptops without enough physical RAM, enabling Vista-specific capabilities like ReadyBoost and ReadyDrive. However, given the cost of memory, we’d prefer another 2 GB of DDR3. Networking Not only does the Montebello include Gigabit Ethernet, but it also sports Intel’s new WiFi Link 5300—an upgrade from the WiFI Link 4965AGN that preceded it. Like the 4965, the 5300 supports 802.11a/b/g/and draft-n. However, the newer model leverages three antennas to help it push up to 450 Mb/s. That’s up from a theoretical max of 300 Mb/s available on the 4965AGN. As mentioned in our Centrino 2 preview, the WiFi Link 5300 also incorporates some power-saving advancements and support for Active Management Technology 4.0. Chassis/LCD Clevo shows itself again, and this time it’s the M860TU chassis powering Eurocom’s Montebello bearing the same model number. The 15.4” chassis is actually available with four different LCD configurations. The lowest-end is a WXGA panel with a maximum resolution of 1280x800. Then there’s a WXGA+ option with a native 1440x900 resolution. Our sample included the third option, a WSXGA+ screen able to handle 1680x1050. But you can also get the same screen in WUXGA trim running at 1920x1200 natively. The front of the M860TU hosts a headphone output, digital S/PDIF output, microphone input, and mini FireWire 400 port. There are also a host of LEDs indicating battery status, wireless connectivity, hard drive activity, and the various key locks. The labeling is hard to read though, and the LEDs themselves are fairly dim, making them nearly useless as indicator lights. On the left side of the chassis you’ll find the optical drive—a DVD+/-R/RW dual-layer burner, which we found to open and close with a cheap snapping sensation. Most of the I/O is on the right side of the whitebook. Gigabit Ethernet, a 56k modem jack, two USB 2.0 ports, an ExpressCard bay, and a card reader are all there. Flip the notebook around for access to one more (poorly placed) USB 2.0 port, an equally hard-to-reach eSATA connector, DVI output, and an HDMI port.