How well would WinXP run on P3/650MHz w/ 384MB PC100 RAM?

[Epsil0n00]

I am working with a Dell Inspirion 7500 Laptop that has a PIII running at 650MHz, with 384MB PC100 RAM. It currently has Win98 on it, but I am planning to reformat it in a couple days and can't decide which OS to put on it... Win 2000 or XP Pro?

I would really like to go with XP Pro as it is much nicer to work with, but I am concerned that this lappy wont be able to handle XP. I know it will run 2000 well... but with XP I think it is right on the border line. I have a couple laptops with P3's running at 1.06GHz with 256MB PC100 RAM and they run XP alright. *Note: these units are not used for gaming... they are used for office apps, email, internet, and the occasional (minor) photoshopping.

Plus, if I go with XP on it I could always turn off all the extra visual effects and make it look like 2000 with the added features of XP. Would turning off these extra features make it run much better on this P3 system? If you think I should go with XP, what extras should I turn off to free up some resources?

Thanks for the advice!
Epsil0n

 

[Baronz]

It should be fine if you aren't doing anything heavy, RAM is usually the limiting factor in OS performance, not the CPU, your cpu will be fine for xp and so is your ram.

I run xp with 256mb on my laptop and it's fine.

 

[gregor7777]

I ran it on a lappy with a 400Mhz Pentium 2 class CPU with 128 mb RAM. It ran good, I toned down the visuals. I didn't put a ton of work on it before I sold it, so I can't attest to how well it ran under too much stress.

 

[XBoxLPU]

With all of the extra visual effects off and classic theme it should do OK. If it is a little slow add more ram, XP loves it

I had a machine on a K6-2 500 mhz with 196 ram which ran OK with XP/effects off

 

[boyRacer]

Just installed XP on a p3 500MHz with 256MB of PC100... with effects on. :Q Loads kinda slow but i think i'm just not used to it...

 

[DannyBoy]

I had XP on my Pentium 266 with 384 mb RAM with all effects etc on. Ran like a charm

Then upgraded to p2 400, which ran even better

Oh and then a p3 500, which ran smooth as hell.

Oh now im on an oc'd axp 1800 runs perfectly

 

[RyanM]

Anything Pentium with 256 Megs of RAM will run Windows XP perfectly acceptably.

I've ran it on everything from a PIII 500 to a PIII 930, with anywhere between 256 megs and 768 megs of RAM, and unless you were doing photoshop or gaming, you'd never notice. Standard Windows tasks are milliseconds apart performance wise.

On the other hand, my friend with WinXP on her 400 MHz Celly with 192 Megs of RAM can't stop bitching how slow it is. So be warned.

That laptop should run it admirably.

 

[prosaic]

I've been running Windows XP Professional on an Inspiron 7500 with the 500 MHz PIII and 256 MB RAM since RC2. I've always run the default (not classic) interface with all effects turned on. The ATI graphics subsystem on that notebook will handle it fine without slowing the system down. I ran Windows 2000 on the machine before WinXP RC2 became available. Windows XP is far better suited to the machine. Windows 2000 took almost 5 minutes to boot, WinXP took around 40-50 seconds, and that was with AV, software firewall, etc. running at startup.

- prosaic

 

[PCMarine]

I would run windows 2000 just because your computer would be running at optimal speed.

However I did run XP on a P2 400 w/ 256 ram and it was a tad slow, but functional.

 

[MadRat]

WinXp is no harder on the laptop than Win2k once you tone down the visuals. In some ways its easier on it.

 

[LouPoir]

SB fine

 

[XBoxLPU]

Originally posted by: MadRat
WinXp is no harder on the laptop than Win2k once you tone down the visuals. In some ways its easier on it.

XP may also have a few more tweaks that will save power .... not for sure

 

[nick1985]

i got a 266 celery with 128 pc-100 going. runs fine


winxp home

 

[Redviffer]

Slowest I've installed on was Celeron 366, 128 MB Ram, was a tad bit slow but what was gained (stability - in a system that didn't seem to have any - including with windows 2000), was something that the customer was willing to put up with. Slowest one I have is a Celeron 550 laptop (384 MB RAM), slow starting up and reacting to things, but I actually think it has more to do with the laptop (slower disc, slower video, etc.) than with the processor.

I think you will find that it will run just fine with your specs. Visuals will depend more on what video adapter you use, not as much as your system specs.