Is this PC spec high enough to run Win 7 Enterprise?

Hi,

This following PC spec is running very s-l-o-w-l-y on Windows 7 Enterprise – particularly Outlook and Firefox. I've been told by our IT team the spec is too old to run Win 7. The user profile is streamed from a central server giving roaming profiles, i.e. your Outlook inbox and desktop is available from any PC you log into. All software is remote via data packages to give users bespoke software. This PC is used for general office work (MS Office) and reviewing video rushes in VLC player.

Current spec:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz, 1333MHZ, 6MB Cahce CPU
Zotac GeForce GTX 295 1792MB, DDR3, Dual DVI, HDMI G/C
Samsung Eco Green F2 500GB SATA 3.0 Gbps16MB Hard Drive
Intel MicroATX DQ45CB, VPro, 1333MHz FSB, Dual DVI, Sound, 1K Lan, DDR2

Funds are tight for IT but we're told we need 8Gb RAM (or better still 16Gb/32Gb), with at least i5 or i7.

Judging from Microsoft's spec it looks like we exceed the minimum spec? Windows 7 system requirements - Microsoft Windows.

Cheers

If I had to wager a guess, I believe the real bottleneck on that computer is the hard drive. The HDD in question is a Samsung EcoGreen. As the name suggests, the EcoGreens are so called "green" drives that spin at a slower velocity (5400rpm, confirmed with some Google-fu) and aggressively power down to lower power consumption and heat output.

While such a drive is usually not problematic when just used for additional storage, I don't even want to know what kind of performance hits you would incur trying to run an entire operating system off it.

Zammo said:

Hi,

This following PC spec is running very s-l-o-w-l-y on Windows 7 Enterprise – particularly Outlook and Firefox. I've been told by our IT team the spec is too old to run Win 7. The user profile is streamed from a central server giving roaming profiles, i.e. your Outlook inbox and desktop is available from any PC you log into. All software is remote via data packages to give users bespoke software. This PC is used for general office work (MS Office) and reviewing video rushes in VLC player.

Current spec:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz, 1333MHZ, 6MB Cahce CPU
Zotac GeForce GTX 295 1792MB, DDR3, Dual DVI, HDMI G/C
Samsung Eco Green F2 500GB SATA 3.0 Gbps16MB Hard Drive
Intel MicroATX DQ45CB, VPro, 1333MHz FSB, Dual DVI, Sound, 1K Lan, DDR2

Funds are tight for IT but we're told we need 8Gb RAM (or better still 16Gb/32Gb), with at least i5 or i7.

Judging from Microsoft's spec it looks like we exceed the minimum spec? Windows 7 system requirements - Microsoft Windows.

Cheers

You are running at the low end of the system requirements. The "best bang for the buck" would be to upgrade the ram; although, 8 gigs may be a bit overkill. Personally, I always go for more is better than less.

HTH