Vista AERO on Intel 915GM Video card (Inspiron 6000)

Question

i know the integrated video card has a dynamic video ram capability (taking from the system memory).  what is the limit of memory that is used by this system?  right now, my system is drawing 96mb, which isn't enough to run Vista's AERO program (128mb minimum).   anybody know whether my system will be able to run Vista's Aero, if it is able to take a full 128mb of ram from the system for video memory?  (i'd have to upgrade memory to make up for the added drain on the system).   thanks for the assistance.   Message Edited by FIJIGabe on 01-26-200702:08 PM

ejn63 · Answer

It'll run Aero, but you may not be pleased with the performance hit vs. running XP. You'd be better off with one of the lower end Vista versions, without Aero, if you want to run Vista.

kschannen · Answer

I don't think it will. I don't have the 6000, but I do have the M140 with the 915GM, and it doesn't run Aero. (It shows that it's using up to 128 MB RAM, too.) I think you need the 945 for Aero.

cmspaz · Answer

You can always turn things off, and MS has yet again included the Windows Classic interface, so you can make it look no different from your previous version of windows.

The main Vista theme still works without Aero, though, so you at least get some of the aesthetic upgrade.

FIJIGabe · Answer

thanks for the help guys.  i think i'm just going to skip the Vista upgrade and keep XP running on the system.  eventually i'll upgrade the computer to something better.

FIJIGabe · Answer

no, at this point there's no reason to upgrade.  i'd probably have to upgrade a bunch of other programs also, that i've been told may not be compatible (Quickbooks 2006 is the big one).   however, i'll wait at least a 6-8 months before doing any upgrade of the OS, till some of the bugs are fixed.  also, it'll give me an opportunity to upgrade ram/cpu to max them out.

kschannen · Answer

For what it's worth, I have Vista Ultimate running on a notebook with very similar specs (Pentium M 1.7 mhz, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB HD, and the 915/910GM video) and as I said, Aero doesn't work but Vista itself actually runs just as well, if not better than XP Pro did on the same notebook. It's rock solid and my reliability index (a cool feature) is well over 9.   Of course, there's no compelling reason for you to do it, but don't shy away for performance reasons. You'd be fine.

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