It somewhat depends on what version of windows 7 you will be going with, if your going with the 32bit version more then 2-3gb of memory won't even be recognized much less used. If you go with the 64bit version of Windows 7 you can basically go with 8gb/16gb system setups (depending on what the max is that your motherboard supports). As far as how much windows 7 will ACTUALLY use that is really hard to determine at this point. The more ram the better in most cases, but it someone depends on what you plan on doing. Obviously if your a software designer/graphic artist/etc. a lot of memory will drastically increase the performance of the OS.

On the beta version of windows 7 that i'm running, the system has 4gb of memory and Windows 7 runs like a dream for the most part.

[QUOTE="ProudLarry"]Although Intel and especially AMD have made big strides in reducing the amount of power needed and he heat produced by the CPU, nVidia and ATI have almost taken a step backwards when it comes to video cards. The cards are requiring more power, are producing higher temperatures, and are physically larger than video cards have ever been. All of this makes it especially difficult to scale everything down to be installed in a laptop, and kills battery life; which practically defeats the purpose of laptops, portability. Until they make a concentrated effort to reduce the "footprint" of GPUs, like AMD did with the Athlon 64 and Opteron CPUs, we're not going to be seeing laptops replacing desktops in the near future. And even then, desktops will still have an advantage in price for some time.Bebi_vegeta

I guess you haven't heard of the 8800 GT with a single slot cooling solution?

Let's wait till whenever the 9 series cards come out.... Though I have to say that I was quite impress with the 8800 GT.

With Processors and Graphics cards rapidly decresing in size yet increasing in horse power do you think the desktops will evenually die out in the not to distant future?? (~ 10 years)

It makes sense doesn't it? If you have a powerful computer than can be mobilized why shouldn't it?? Maybe a intergration of both sides? (a Lapop that can sinc up to a home system (like a current desktop without a Tower).

What are your opinions on this?

BET8390

It's hard to think that mobile computing will eventually replace desktop computing. Not all the components in desktop computers shrink just take a look at the new line of graphic cards from NVIDIA, the 8 series DirectX10 Cards. Having two of these cards in my system actually required me to buy a bigger full tower case to accommodate. Sure the Intel Core 2 processor I have is insanely small but the heatsink more then makes up for its change in size. I think that the smaller devices tend to get in computer technology the more ways developers and hardware manufacturers are going to find ways to fill in that excess space. Sure it might lead to smaller overall components in the future but instead of shrinking the size of the case required, they are just going to find some new device or technology to integrate into the motherboard to occupy the additional space left behind by the penny sized processors.