What's the lowest hardware you can run Win 7 on for CarPC

**nobb** · 02-23-2010, 10:47 PM

Like the title says, Im just curious what kind of low end hardware you guys have successfully run Windows 7 on smoothly. It seems alot of people dont have high end hardware for CarPC use, such as Atom based setups. I've got a Jetway J7F2WE2G mobo (2.0ghz Via C7 processor) and 512MB ram...Im just curious as to whether Windows 7 will be usable on this. 512MB is kind of low, but I rather have less ram to have faster hibernation times. I also use Centrafuse.

Also, Im wondering specifically what benefits you guys have seen in Windows 7 over XP and whether it was worth it. While we are at it, does anyone know how to make the taskbar, menu bar, scroll bars, etc... bigger in Windows 7? You can do it in the Display properties in XP but I have no idea if it's possible in 7.

**Punky** · 02-23-2010, 10:55 PM

i think if u upgrade to 1 or 2gb of ram, u can run win7 comfortably.
I think only reason you would want win7 in carpc would be for hybrid sleep, other than that there's no clear advantage over xp, boot/resume is supposed to be faster, but not anything a stripped down xp can't beat.

**justchat_1** · 02-24-2010, 12:22 AM

Minimum requirements are there for a reason...while yes you could run a stripped down win7 on 512MB of ram...that is a very slow processor and when combined with very slow/demanding software (centrafuse) your going to be very unhappy. 1GB of ram mimimum for the full win7.

**blazinlow** · 02-24-2010, 01:05 AM

I run 7 on my netbook which has an Atom 1.6 and 1GB RAM - and it runs suprisingly smooth.

**supasigma** · 02-24-2010, 04:10 AM

i ran win7 and centrafuse on an acer 3680 with celeron processor and 1 gb of ram.All is well, no hiccups.

**nobb** · 02-24-2010, 10:36 AM

So perhaps it's my 512MB ram that's the limitation and not the 2.0ghz C7. Too bad DDR2 prices are so bad right now...I wonder if going from 512 to 1GB will significantly slow down my hibernation speeds? I dont really intend on using sleep.

**Punky** · 02-24-2010, 11:19 AM

what is your reason for thinking of upgrading to win7?

**justchat_1** · 02-24-2010, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by nobb

So perhaps it's my 512MB ram that's the limitation and not the 2.0ghz C7. Too bad DDR2 prices are so bad right now...I wonder if going from 512 to 1GB will significantly slow down my hibernation speeds? I dont really intend on using sleep.

3 things here:
A) Keep in mind most of the comments here don't relate to your situation because a c7 is significantly slower then an atom or even a celeron.
B) On the other hand, win7 has significantly faster resume times then winxp on the same hardware.
C) DDR2 prices are high?? 1GB of DDR2 costs about $20.

**nobb** · 02-24-2010, 11:30 AM

More future proof, better device driver support, aesthetics.

Maybe hybrid sleep (with the M2 set to HARDOFF = 1hr) so that if I was just parking my car somewhere quick like a gas station/grocery, then the carpc resumes instantly. But this would still have the benefit of not having the battery being drained when you leave your car for long periods.

Is a C7 2.0ghz really slower than an Atom? I did a benchmark using some Crystal Benchmark tool (I think) and my CPU related scores were a tad bit better than the dual core Atoms.

**justchat_1** · 02-24-2010, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by nobb

Is a C7 2.0ghz really slower than an Atom? I did a benchmark using some Crystal Benchmark tool (I think) and my CPU related scores were a tad bit better than the dual core Atoms.

http://www.slashgear.com/intel-atom-.../#entrycontent