Is Dell hardware ready for Vista

when you configure your Dell, it should give you a choice of processors such as a Pentium 4 630 3.0Ghz.

With that, you can visit Intel's web site and look up the spec's for a model 630. It will tell you if that processor supports items such as EM64T

As far as the 945G chipset, I can tell you that the Dimension E510 I just bought a couple of weeks ago does indeed use the Intel 945G integrated Video. I slo bought my E510 with the 3.0Ghz 630 processor, which happens to support the EM64T 64-bit extensions that are required to run such things as Windows XP64.

I have tried XP64 and it runs just fine. I have not tried Vista just yet.

BTW the E510 I just ordered has 1 GB of ram.

with no monitor or producitivity software and the default 80gig HD and CD-RW-DVD combo drive, it came to about $670 or so.

The others are right when they point out that Vista is still in beta, so system specs for the final product may change before it's released.

I understand that Vista is going to require more video power than other versions, but I figure, I can always upgrade to a PCI express video card down the road if needed.

I would say just be sure that your processor supports the EM64T instructions.