Decideing which OS to use.

Hello guys, right now I have an Acer Aspire 5730ZI in my possession.
Which has:
Intel Dual Core T3200 2.0GHz
Intel GL40 X4500
2048MB DDRII 667MHz
160GB SATA 5400 RPM

Now the question is, what OS would suit me better for gaming?
I know it's not a gaming laptop.
I wasn't looking for one either. I just want to play some older games to pass time between classes, i.e. NFS-prostreet, which should run at lower settings(I;ve seen few videos running it on a x3100 card).
Anyway could anyone advise me which OS would suit my needs better?
I mean Vista is great and stuff, but it takes up to 1GB of my RAM.
I'm not sure which one to use because I've heard that Vista has better drivers and something like that.

Thanks folks!!

 

in your case, i'd go with Windows XP SP3. mind you, that IGP will be under a lot of stress.

 

Why don't you try GLadDOS? Not only does it screw with your computer, it'll screw with your head too!

lol... just kidding.

Actually, whizzo is right. Windows XP would probably be best.

 

My older games play great on the x3100! It's a matter of taste I think. If compatibility isn't an issue with vista, I don't think it matters either way. XP SP3 is a good OS though, and the windows I use now. You can get XP Home SP3 pretty cheap on the net.

 

Thanks guys, but isn't Vista better for gaming?
Many replies on the forum saying that Vistas' drivers and some kind of other stuff makes games run better.
Tough my laptop would most likely choke running vista. xD

 

Vista can be better for computers with gaming gpu's, which you do not have. XP for your system is the best option, problem is its very unlikely you will find all the drivers needed to downgrade to vista.

 

XP fanboys are really annoying.

fyi, xp sucks just as bad as vista. They just have different downfalls.

/thread

 

If your system is built for Vista, it'll run Vista just fine.
That being said, give Ubuntu a spin just for fun. Who knows, you might like it!

 

How come it can be better? Curious because I switched from Vista to XP and noticed smoother gameplay (possibly a placebo effect).

Wow, you're arrogant...

 

At the company my friend bought the same comp at, they've said it's made for vista and it had a Vista on it.
Nothing has been said about it at the place I've bought mine and iI have no idea what to do.
Can a comp really be made for Vista? I mean it's a pretty lousy comp which would have troubles running Vista on.

 

"Made for Vista" can mean driver wise as well. If the drivers for your parts are in more variety made for Vista, then chances are your computer will run better in Vista.

XP is basically only better than Vista for a lesser performing machine in general. Vista's requirements resource-wise are higher than XP's so if you have a lower end machine(ex: a single core processor with 1Gb of RAM), switching to XP will yield a better performance since the OS will chunk out less of your resources.

Other than that, Vista and XP pretty much have similar Pros and Cons.

 

XP and Vista perform similarly in current games...

Its all about what drivers are available for which OS and which programs you plan to run.

Some programs (especially older games) may run better in XP as they were designed for XP.

 

I experience better performance of my games in XP. Although I like Vista, there are many things to look over, like Superfetch, the type of game, the drivers, and so on. Maybe some of the games that I play is unoptimized for Vista (or the graphics coding itself), which might make it slow. I myself should actually test that out again but anyway, you should try dual-booting first to see which one you like the most.

 

Yeah i would go with XP. Since you dont have a high end laptop rig, try to go for the least taxing configuration so that it will run at it fastest possible.

Congrats on buying a new laptop.


AND WELCOME TO NBR

 

Thanks.

And.. ernn what did you mean by the "least taxing configuration"? Hehe

 

I think he means that you should set the settings on the computer so that it doesn't stress out your GPU, computer or whatever too much.

 

Go with XP unless you are going with Linux and willing to pay monthly for Cedega (Which also does not support all game titles, but most).

 

Technically, the computer will run Vista without a problem as your specs are acceptable. As others have said, Vista has advantages over XP in that it supports new graphics tech and is a legitimate 64 bit system (for gaming - more RAM). But your GPU doesn't allow you to use these. So the only real issue is program compatibility. As you will be using older programs, it would be reasonable to use XP SP3 to prevent any conflicts with Vista.

 

In Linux there's Crossover, Cedega, and WINE. But for example, you can use 64-bit Vista without 4GB and just 3GB of RAM to run 64-bit applications if your CPU supports them. I have NFS Prostreet and it works just as fine in Windows Vista as it does in XP.

 

Only reason why a sane guy would pick vista over xp would be for the DX10, and your GPU isnt DX10 compliant. XP SP3 > Vista for stability and isnt such a mem hog.

 

This is false.
The above is quite simply mindless fanboyism or parroting.

Vista does have more overhead than XP, but uses (and releases) its memory better than XP.
The result is the same performance provided you have adequate hardware.
The OP has good hardware and adequate memory (2GB makes Vista quite happy), just not a high-end GPU.

Vista is quite stable and for our IT department is gaining a LOT of credit.
Our Vista SP1 machines have less infections, less problems, and less tech time on average than our XP SP3 machines. (all of our machines have a corporate security package)

There is nothing wrong with a well-taken-care-of XP machine, but Vista SP1 is a solid choice now.

 

What if the OP had the same specs, but a weak video card. Would you have said no to Windows Vista? I do agree that Windows Vista has better memory management though. But also most new games might be Vista only since some gaming company might make their games DX10 only (no DX9).

 

Yes, in terms of gaming, Vista has the advantage of DX10 on its side.

As I said before, XP only seems to yield a better performance on lower end machines because the OS doesn't need lots of resources to operate compared to Vista(even though Vista may be better at managing the resources it takes).

If you have 1Gb of RAM or less for example, I'd say stick to XP because Vista will not run properly(it needs 1Gb minimum and 2Gb preferably).