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Vista suided for Gaming?
Beermangler
Member UncommonPosts: 402
Sorry, not really a hardware topic but need some help on this.
Background: I'm the type of guy who likes to keep it simple. I use Windows (XP) for the sole role of gaming platform. I have found some years ago a uber-small version, about 100 Megs, that boiled down to the absolute basics needed for gamin (no browser support, no additional useless programs) and I've been using it since... 2006 or earlier. (I have official, legal XP licence). Other programs I use are all open source. As soon as I install XP, I turn all effects off, so it looks like a Win95.
Now there seems to be high time to upgrade from XP but I'm somewhat frightened by the glitz and flashyness of Vista. Also working in IT made me wary of experiments in operating systems, and Vista seems just a gunked version of Longhorn (anyone remember that fiasco?).
My question: is Vista a stable gaming platform? My main gaming interests boil down to WoW, NFS releases and more recently Fallen Earth, Mortal Online etc (high-end graphic based MMOs). I have a Core-Duo 2.7 Intel, 2Gbs RAM, 512 nVidia card. I don't want to spend 100 something Euros just to be frustrated by games not running on Vista and such.
Thanks!
Better to be crazy, provided you know what sane is...
Comments
Well to start, I'm fairly certain that Vista is Longhorn, and Longhorn was just it's project name.
Your system might not like gaming on Vista with only 2gb of ram. I would recommend upgrading that, but ram is really cheap these days. I skipped Vista and gamed solely on XP for the last 7 years, but I recently just upgraded to Windows 7 Pro and I love it. The graphics are flashy, but those can be turned down. Gaming is relatively stable, the only issue I have had so far is Counter-Strike Source crashing on launch when running dual monitors, but unplugging the second monitor fixes that issue for now.
Windows 7 launch is just around the corner, and it is basically a more efficient, more stable Vista. If you are looking to upgrade, I would wait a month for 7 to come out.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Short answer:
Win7 > Vista
I don't know about the Vista Lite packs (never tried one), but I think Vista will be remembered as fondly as WinME is... Win7 will give you improved performance and to me it "feels" faster too.
However, it all depends on your gaming rig specification, but the only way to get DX10 (and DX11) is to upgrade to Vista/Win7.
Win7 is everything Vista SHOULD have been. Just skip vista and get win7. I've used it since the beta and It hasn't caused me any gaming problems.
And yeah... its flashy... I love shinny things. :]
Veritas Vos Liberabit- The truth will set you free.
Yeah Win 7 coming out at the end of Oct. Might as well wait for that. Although I never had any problem with Vista, beside it being a memory pig. I actually think it is much more user friendly than XP. But what I have read about Win 7, it is basically a better version of Vista. I won't be upgrading as I am quite happy with Vista, but if you are looking to upgrade, definitely wait for 7.
My advise.Stick with XP as long as you can..Don't buy Vista..And stay away from Window 7 until the bugs are cleared out.
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
No point to upgrade with those specs. If you upgrade your computer, then get win 7.
Thanks all for the advices. Will stick to XP 'till W7 will be sweeped for bugs and then get a new rig alltogether
.
/R.
Better to be crazy, provided you know what sane is...
Vista is plenty stable enough, but as people noted, you may wish to wait for Windows 7, which is coming October 22.
Do note that Vista and Windows 7 have much higher system requirements than Windows XP. In particular, Vista by itself needs about 500 MB of memory to run the operating system, and will take a lot more if it's available--and that's before you run any programs. Trying to run Vista on less than 2 GB of memory in your computer is a bad idea. I'd expect the system requirements for Windows 7 to be comparable.
Just for your info, though i agree with the rest to wait for win7, ive no problem with gaming in vista. Especially with WoW, War, and Aion now.
Btw, i think you need around 8 gig for win 7, 4 gig min...
RIP Orc Choppa
No, actually, you don't. Windows 7 would probably run just fine with most programs on 2 GB of memory, though that wouldn't be enough for some games. Having 4 GB of memory would be enough for nearly everyone in the near future, though more memory-intensive programs will probably come out eventually. Memory is a case of either you have enough or you don't, and if you have enough (to not need to use your hard drive as virtual memory), then adding more doesn't make any difference.
Same as everyone else wait for win7 to upgrade and spend acoule bucks on RAM and such. You can buy a decent system for cheap nowadays and a really nice one for alittle over a grand. I have vista and have no problems with games or anything.
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No, actually, you don't. Windows 7 would probably run just fine with most programs on 2 GB of memory, though that wouldn't be enough for some games. Having 4 GB of memory would be enough for nearly everyone in the near future, though more memory-intensive programs will probably come out eventually. Memory is a case of either you have enough or you don't, and if you have enough (to not need to use your hard drive as virtual memory), then adding more doesn't make any difference.
Since the op use his pc for gaming, from the article here : www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vista-workshop,1775-12.html
that's why i think 8 gig will be better.
Just a suggestion...
RIP Orc Choppa
No, actually, you don't. Windows 7 would probably run just fine with most programs on 2 GB of memory, though that wouldn't be enough for some games. Having 4 GB of memory would be enough for nearly everyone in the near future, though more memory-intensive programs will probably come out eventually. Memory is a case of either you have enough or you don't, and if you have enough (to not need to use your hard drive as virtual memory), then adding more doesn't make any difference.
Since the op use his pc for gaming, from the article here : www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vista-workshop,1775-12.html
that's why i think 8 gig will be better.
Just a suggestion...
Better, sure, but not necessity.
Windows 7 is due out in less than a month I believe. Just wait for that.
Look at what they're talking about there: servers, workstations, virtual machines, etc. That's not the sort of thing that an average home user will do. Or look how they word their conclusion:
"if you often use several memory hungry applications simultaneously..."
The only memory hungry applications that most users will have are browsers and games, and even browsers and some games don't really take that much compared to 4 GB on a machine. So yes, if you like to have three or four fairly demanding games open simultaneously (as opposed to closing one game before you open another), then you'll want 8 GB of memory rather than 4 GB. But that isn't the sort of thing that most people will do. And even if you do want to do that, you probably shouldn't, to avoid using up bandwidth and processor cycles on a game you aren't playing and slowing down the performance in the game you are.
You can see how much memory you need by opening task manager while you have about as much open as you typically do at once, and seeing how much memory you have in use. Add 1 GB to that if you're using Vista, or 2 GB if you're using XP, and you'll get a figure that is more than enough for what you do.
You may want to have 6 or 8 GB of memory at some point in the future, if games come out where an individual game wants more than 2 GB all by itself. Realistically, it's more a matter of "when" than "if", I guess, but it's still probably a few years away with perhaps a handful of exceptions. But if you're only using 2 GB of memory at a time, it doesn't matter whether your system has 4 GB or 8 GB. In that case, the only reason to get 8 GB is future-proofing--and memory is easy to add later.
I game on VIsta with no problems. I only have 2GB ram, but nothing is slow on my computer.