- WinSAT: Is Your Computer Ready for Gaming Under Vista?
- How to Check Your WinSAT Score
- The Perfect CPU
- How Much RAM?
- DirectX 10 Graphic Cards: What? When?
- Fast Hard Disk
- Gaming Performance and Compatibility Under Vista
- Compatibility Mode
- Example: Age of Empires III
- DirectX 10 Changes the Way We Look at Hardware
- Geometry Shader
- Unified Architecture
- Where Are the Other DirectX Features?
- Games Explorer
- Bottom Line
How Much RAM?
If you’re running Windows Vista, you should upgrade to at least 1GB of memory. Games are a totally different story, however. With larger maps, more enemies, and more details, you’ll need over 1GB of your system memory even with current games. We’ve seen Age of Empires III matches with 8 players, 1,600 units, and a huge map that took more than 1.2GB RAM alone. Considering that Vista itself uses 400–800MB of RAM, even a 2GB machine looks more or less mediocre. DirectX 10 and the upcoming Vista-only releases will benefit from more memory, but currently I don’t suggest more than 2GB of RAM (unless you’re running a 64-bit version of Vista, which, by nature, needs twice as much RAM). Instead, invest in quality RAM with at least 667/800 MHz.