VirtualAcorn Computer Specifications
This page shows you the specification of the Windows PC required to run VirtualAcorn products.
Required Processor
VirtualRPC - Celeron (Min 500 Mhz), Pentium II (Min 500Mhz), Pentium III, Pentium IV, Centrino, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad (best budget processor), Core i5, Core i7 (best for performance), Xeon, AMD Duron (Min 700Mhz), Sempron, Athlon, Mobile Athlon, Athlon 64, Athlon X2, Opteron and Turion. Although VirtualRPC will run on 500Mhz+ processors we strongly suggest that you have a machine with a 1Ghz processor or above.
VirtualAcorn products are not suitable for use on machines with AMD K6/2, Cyrix, Pentium I/II, VIA C3/C7 or Winchip processors.
Required Operating System
VirtualRPC requires Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Also required is Direct X (Microsoft's graphics libraries) Version 9.0 or later.VirtualAcorn products are not suitable for Windows NT or Windows 95/98/ME..
Required Memory
The absolute minimum memory required is 256Mb of RAM, and that assumes that no other programs are loaded. We now recommend that users should have at least 512Mb (preferably 1Gb) of memory under Windows 2000/XP. Using Windows Vista or Windows 7 we recommend a minimum of 1Gb of RAM and ideally 2Gb of RAM.
Required Graphics Card
VirtualRPC requires a machine with at least 16Mb of graphics memory. VirtualAcorn products will run on both stand alone and integrated graphics cards. Slower machines (e.g. 2Ghz or less) will benefit from having a stand alone graphics card such as a Radeon or GeForce. A 1.4Ghz Celeron machine with a stand alone Radeon card will perform very well. A 1.4Ghz Celeron with "integrated" graphics and sound will be noticeably slower.
If you are in any doubt please do ask, we will then be able to check that the specification of your machine is suitable.
How do I find out what graphics card I have?
The easiest way is to right click on a clear piece of the Windows backdrop, then click on "Properties" from the menu that appears. When the "Display Properties" window opens click on the "Settings" tab, you should now see the make/model of your monitor and the make/model of you graphics card below the picture of the screen.
Required Sound Card
Our products should work with almost any sound card, however note that on machines with "integrated" sound cards, for example AC97 sound, VirtualAcorn products may run slightly slower (perhaps a few percent). This is because the computers processor has to do some of the work that would normally be done by the sound card.
How do I find out what sound card I have?
Go to the "Start" button, go to "Settings" then click on "Control Panel". Now double click on the "System" option in Control Panel. Go to the "Device Manager" (sometimes a button on the "Hardware" tab). You will see the specification of your machine in the "Device Manager" window. Double click on "Sound, Video and Game Controllers". You will see the make/model of your soundcard.
What processor is in my computer?
Go to the "Start" button, go to "Settings" then click on "Control Panel". Now double click on the "System" option in Control Panel. Go to the "General" Tab and you should see the make/model and speed of your processor. For older machines you will see the make/speed of processor shown when the computer is first turned on before it starts loading Windows.
So what would you recommend?
At the time of writing (Nov 2009) our recommended specification for a machine designed to run VirtualAcorn products, as well as offer high performance under Windows would be:
- Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor (for budget machines Core2 Quad processor)
- Windows XP or Windows 7
- 2GB+ of PC4200 RAM
- 256Mb+ Radeon or Nvidia PCI Express graphics card
- 500Gb+ SATA hard disc
- On board audio
- DVD writer
- Internal IDE floppy drive (most Core i5/7 boards do not support this - Core2 motherboards do).
- On board ethernet adapter
A machine of the above specification (costing around £600) will out perform any "real" RISC OS machine, including the Iyonix, for almost all tasks.
