Power Supply Requirements for Vista Home Premium

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The Vista Upgrade Advisor reported to my daughter that she needed to upgrade
her graphics card before she could install Vista Home Premium.
She took her computer to Best Buy. The salesman told her that she needed a
new power supply, but the new power supply would not fit into her Sony VAIO
Computer Case so she would need a new computer case, or a new computer.

Does installing Vista require a new Power Supply?
What level of Power Supply does Vista Require?
I cannot find anything about Vista and the Power Supply.

Also, what Video Card is best for Vista Home Premium
for a user that works with pictures and music,
but does not play games on the computer.

Please Respond.
Thank You,
 
Vista itself won't require a new or bigger power supply but if you want
to use the fancy Vista graphic features (Aero) you need a reasonably new
and powerful graphics card, that new card may require quite a bit more
power than your old card and as such you may be required to upgrade the
power supply unit so that it can adequately supply the power that the
new card needs. That is not an uncommon issue when adding new, powerful
graphics cards to older computers.

John
 
Ray10X10 said:
The Vista Upgrade Advisor reported to my daughter that she needed to
upgrade her graphics card before she could install Vista Home Premium.
She took her computer to Best Buy.
Click to expand...


Ugh! Probably one of the worst places to take a computer. The people who
work there (or at any of the big chain stores) are usually hired because of
their willingness to accept something close to minimum wage, not because of
their technical proficiency. If they knew anything, they could almost
certainly get a better job.

The salesman told her that she
needed a new power supply,
Click to expand...


Why? How does he know that?

but the new power supply would not fit
into her Sony VAIO Computer Case so she would need a new computer
case, or a new computer.

Does installing Vista require a new Power Supply?

No!


What level of Power Supply does Vista Require?
Click to expand...


Operating system don't require particular levels of power supplies. It's
hardware that does.

I cannot find anything about Vista and the Power Supply.
Click to expand...


That's because there's nothing to find.

It's possible, but probably unlikely, that if the current power supply is
minimal, installing a different power supply might stress it beyond its
maximum output, but I wouldn't be so quick to believe the salesman. How many
watts is the current power supply? What is the configuration of the
machine--what CPU, how much RAM, what drives, etc.?

Also, what Video Card is best for Vista Home Premium
for a user that works with pictures and music,
but does not play games on the computer.
Click to expand...


There is no "best." There are many good ones.
 
Hardware requires specific level of amperage per individual voltage leg from
the power supply. These are additive per each piece of hardware in your PC
(Personal Computer). Has NOTHING to do with Vista.

Vista requires a minimum level video card. The video card requires a
minimum level of amperage per voltage leg from the power supply. This is in
no way infers Vista requires a minimum level power supply.

Save your money/time. Get a PC with Vista already on it. And, of course,
has the hardware for playing with your pictures and music.
 
The Vista Upgrade Advisor reported to my daughter that she needed to upgrade
her graphics card before she could install Vista Home Premium.
She took her computer to Best Buy. The salesman told her that she needed a
new power supply, but the new power supply would not fit into her Sony VAIO
Computer Case so she would need a new computer case, or a new computer.

Does installing Vista require a new Power Supply?
What level of Power Supply does Vista Require?
I cannot find anything about Vista and the Power Supply.

Also, what Video Card is best for Vista Home Premium
for a user that works with pictures and music,
but does not play games on the computer.
Click to expand...

I have a Sony VAIO 1.8Ghz P4 system that I bought 2 years ago, and it does
have a non-standard Power Supply.

Most of these big box units that have non-standard anything have just
enough power supply to power what was/is included in the box and little
more.

Many newer video cards require MORE power than the cheap older ones, but,
not all. I was using a different video card in mine without problems, but,
when I added a second hard drive it was too much and there were some
intermittent failures.

I ended up purchasing a 480W PSU and then took the old PSU out, cut the
mounting bracket using my dremmel tool, installed the new PSU in the
bracket and then fit everything back into the case - it was very tight
fit, but it worked. (Key thing is to ensure that you don't get any metal
shavings inside the computer).

Vista doesn't know anything about power, it only knows that you are
installing it, so, it doesn't require POWER, but, it does require a LOT of
resources. Get at least 1.5GB RAM, get a 256MB to 512MB video card.
 
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