Which OS for gaming?

Which OS would you take for a gaming rig like the 5793, XP Pro, XP Home or Vista Home Premium? If you were to limit the type of use it would see to gaming, surfing, basic office work (doc, ppt, xls) and image editing, does Vista offer any advantage over XP, and does XP Pro hold anything over Home?

 

XP for gaming. any flavour

 

XP Pro. Has more features than xp home. Less headaches than vista. SP3 is comming out soon i think.

 

Vista because of DirectX10

 

yeah. Vista is fine for gaming. There might be small flaws but in all vista is great.
Plus newer games are coming out for dx10.

 

I experienced a 20% increase in gaming performance when switching back from Vista to XP on my desktop.

XP pro sp2 is best imo.

 

that's true, if you hit the net. the crowd has it between 15% to 20% loss going to VISTA.

 

Any reason for XP Pro over Home? If I get the 5793, I can save around $50 with Home. I've checked the features of the two and I don't need the extra ones in Pro. Does Home have any bearing on gaming performance?

 

I`ll get VISTA Home Primium 64-bit for mine. I want to utilize all of my 4Gb of RAM and I want to make use of my DX10 capabilities. With the 8800M GTX everything runs smooth on Vista. I don`t care if it runs "smoother" on XP.

And: I am waiting on Age of Conan. That game will rock in DX10!

my 2cents

Paendrag

 

Honestly I have gamed with both i tried Vista, and Pro the ONLY way you are going to notice gaming difference is if you go ahead and have programs running counting FPS or checking 3dmark06 scores. If you are a hardcore gamer you will notice the differences, but if you are a casual gamer its not going to matter much. If DX10 doesnt matter to you go with XP if, DX10 matters to you go with VISTA.

 

The only consideration is if there are any titles that will come out only in DX10. I have used XP Pro for the past 8 years without any issues, so I'm absolutely comfy with it. However, I'm willing to dip into Vista ONLY if it won't create issues with drivers, games crashing, blah blah...

Configuring the 5793 I'm very close to my budget's upper limit, so if I can get XP Home with no issues (except the DX10 only titles) I'd be happy.

 

Vista also likes to "blue screen of death".
Go XP PRO.

 

Nobody for XP Home here???

 

Its better then vista. I just prefer pro.

 

Any particular reason for that?

 

I use pro because of a few reasons.

1. I like to be able to remote desktop to my home PC if I need something from it or if I want to play a game at work
2. Multiprocessor support. I have a server box with 2x dual cores for my home rig.
3. Better control/ease of use when connecting to a microsoft server.
4. Access control. I can limit control of programs/files to other users.

You can see the difference here.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx

 

I did check that out, but was still a little confused and thought it'd be better if I asked actual users.

I hear that MS will stop supporting XP Home 2 years after the intro of Vista, which means early next year. Should that be a cause for concern?

 

Yea, thats one reason I would not go for Home.
Another good reason to go PRO is that there are rumors that DX10 is coming to SP3. So you would have the gaming benefits of Vista without all the other garbage that comes with it.

Personally I don't use Microsoft products until they are about 2-3 years old.
More money then god and they can't get anything right.

 

Will it really be worth the extra $35? Sorry for asking a very subjective question, but money is really tight for this purchase.

 

For me yes.
You have a paypal Ill send you the 35 bucks

 

Also, are there issues with application compatibility for Vista 64?

EDIT: As a matter of fact, I do have a paypal account!

 

I haven't tried a 64 bit windows OS in about a year (XP 64-bit).
You can make a list of all the apps/progs you use daily and do a search to see if you can find a 64 bit version.
A year ago there was not alot of antivirus/firewall software on the market for 64bit XP so I switched back to 32-bit.

As for gaming I saw no difference unless the game had some sort of patch for 64-bit (Far Cry for example). Even then it was not worth it to me.

Also some of the older games (which I really enjoy) refused to install on 64-bit windows.

On this subject maybe someone else knows more then I on the state of 64-bit Windows. I still recommend making a list of the games/apps you always use and try to find 64-bit versions.

 

XP will give you a 10-15% boost in fps, sometimes even more,depending on the game.On newer games ,15% matter a lot, especially in games like Crysis.
Vista is more stable,less crashes,prettier but ...
Well, XP is the ugly chick that will get you satisfied fast and good,whereas Vista will do it pretty but awfully slow.

 

what about the 4gbram? why not use a 64 bit xp or server for gaming? just asking because i really want to know, not to suggest.

 

Even with 4 gb of ram, vista will not be faster than XP. Period.

 

and the 64bit xp?

 

My whole post above was related to 64bit Xp.
Unless you had another question about it?

 

Psycroptic, when did you hear/read about the DX10 on SP3? Was it quite some time ago or recently? (this could make a difference to a purchase I'm making ).

KK3~

 

Merely a rumor now. We can all wish right?
I've played games in DX9 and DX10 on the same machine and I really don't see all the hype.

 

Only reason I asked is because I will be ordering a NP5793 and chose togo with the Vista-Business, because of the 4g ram, 64bits and DX10. But if SP3 is getting DX10 thoughts can be "recalculated" . Meh, we can all wish is right.

KK3~

 

Well.... It all comes down to what you want out of the OS.

3gb in xp vs 4gb in vista = no difference.
32bit vs 64bit = compatibility issues for some games/programs. Only games made for 64bit will see differences. You can see the full 4GB.
DX9 (maybe DX10) vs DX10 = IMO not worth the hassle of Vista. I have it installed on my desktop since a year maybe? I just got Halo2 to run when SP1 came out...

Most people will tell you XP pro is the way to go. In another 2 years Vista might be on par with it. Its the way Microsoft works.

 

I understand, thanks for the help Psycroptik! (Could always install vista after those two years if need be )

 

I am not sure, but what about optimizing a system. I read on some forums that vista needs a little bit more care to get it to run as good as xp. Only most users don`t want to invest their time to get into it and optimize vista...

Any exp. with that?

If you are noit decided which to take you could always build a dual boot system, I guess...

Paendrag

 

With all due respect, even if that's true, it's simply one more reason why there's no reason to switch to Vista right now - like most people, I'm basically lazy , so why would I go to all the trouble to install Vista and tweak it when I can get at least the same (if not better) by simply installing XP?

 

True, guess when you look for the max performance in most games you`ll have to go with xp. I used XP Home SP2 for 5 years and yes, I had very fiew problems with it. The blue screens never returned (like in Win98).

I was hoping to change my OS because its all about progression. We can`t stay forever on XP. And I want to play Age of Conan in DX10 in May. That and my 4GB RAM are the main reason I go with Vista 64-Bit. I saw same compatibility list. Wasn`t that bad, really.

I have loads of games still around I`d like to play on my ne Sager (like HoMM5/Total War2/Oblivion/WoW/CSS/GalCiv2/Civ4) . For those I`ll probably only need half the power of my nb. 10-15% don`t count that much there.

I have no Crysis. I am not really interested in it. I play fps, but since Crysis is more of an graphics benchmark to me than a innovative game I can live without it...

I still have XP arround. Maybe I`ll make a dual-boot config...

Paendrag

 

Bah... with all the fuss about Vista, I'd rather take XP now. Moreover, as already said, I can always put Vista on it later if I feel I'm dying for looks (read Aero)... or maybe just skin XP!

 

when drm is hacked to death and removed.

then I might consider going to vista.

 

Vista is pretty and all , but cannot give you the performance of XP no matter how much you tweak and optimise it. It`s just how it is.

 

http://us.gamespot.com/features/6188289/index.html?tag=topslot;title;1

XP FTW!

 

...which brings me to a completely off-topic question. What does FTW mean???

 

FTW = For the win..

 

Aaah, now the light shines...

 

Going OT again (sorry), does anyone know for how long the 4GB free upgrade for $35 in the 5793 with the 8800 is valid?

 

March.... end of the month... only a few days left!! That was the official statement... never know if they extend it, but I doubt...

 

Hey Prasad, you got yourself the 5793, right? What are you doing about the warranty?

 

I haven't GOT it yet.... I'm worried about the warranty myself... but I hope to maintain it well (I know myself... I take TOO much care of all my things ) ... if anything goes wrong that can be fixed, I'll do it myself... if some big hardware problem comes up, I'll probably stick to one of many comp geniuses that are around in India (where I'll be doing college).... lot of workshops like that... these ppl can and will do anything/everything... Else, I'll send it back if it's something too major!

 

Where are you going for college? (I think I'm hijacking my own thread! )

What's the shipping time for your notebook (and when did you place the order)?

 

lol
I placed the order on 20th.... there were delays because banks were closed here due to 4 days national holidays (due to Eid), and so the wire transfer payment was delayed... It's made now and I can't wait to finally get the notebook!!
I'll be doing college in India... not sure exactly where (yet)..

 

I always thought FTW means funny torpedo weasels.
There you have it, I`m a

 

I ordered my Sager NP5793 from Japan on the 21st., payed on the 24th via wire transfer and yesterday it arrived in Osaka
Thats less than a week. I expect it to arrive at my place this evening or tomorrow...

Paendrag

P.S.: I also hope that my unit comes without any issues. I payed 225 US$ for insured shipping. Don`t want to pay the same price to get it fixed...