For the new rig - XP or Vista?

Go with Vista, but build the system with 3GB of ram.SuperBeast

[QUOTE="SuperBeast"]Go with Vista, but build the system with 3GB of ram.Doom_HellKnight

Well, the extra GB isn't going to do any good unless you decide to get 64bit.

I'd stick with XP if I were you. You said yourself you're used to having games run without a problem and you still enjoy your older games. If you're not sure about Vista then just stick with what you know. At least then you know old and new games will run fine and you'll still get amazing graphics playing Crysis on DX9 on high instead of DX10. After a few years you could always buy Vista if you want, so that's peace of mind.liquidzero123

I'd stick with XP if I were you. You said yourself you're used to having games run without a problem and you still enjoy your older games. If you're not sure about Vista then just stick with what you know. At least then you know old and new games will run fine and you'll still get amazing graphics playing Crysis on DX9 on high instead of DX10. After a few years you could always buy Vista if you want, so that's peace of mind.liquidzero123

Problem is there are already games coming out that absolutely require Vista to play them. The number of such games is just going to get bigger and bigger as time goes on. I don't know about you, but when I build a new rig I love having the peace of mind that I can play "any" game out there maxed out. It's true that the current games that use DX10 don't show a significant difference in visuals compared to DX9...However there IS a difference, and once you see the difference you can't go back to DX9 mode.

Personally I've never had a problem running older games on Vista. In fact, in some cases I've had an easier time. X-Com: UFO Defense (best game ever made) for example was a pain to get to run on XP without problems. For some reason it's MUCH easier to run now that I have Vista. I just can't think of any cases where a person was unable to run a game they wanted to. Some games require certain work-arounds to get it going, but eventually they run.

go for vista. Everything is being built around it, not xp. coughing

Future games will be XP and Vista compatible, so even if you have XP you're still getting the same experience apart from DX10.

[QUOTE="liquidzero123"]I'd stick with XP if I were you. You said yourself you're used to having games run without a problem and you still enjoy your older games. If you're not sure about Vista then just stick with what you know. At least then you know old and new games will run fine and you'll still get amazing graphics playing Crysis on DX9 on high instead of DX10. After a few years you could always buy Vista if you want, so that's peace of mind.SuperBeast

Problem is there are already games coming out that absolutely require Vista to play them. The number of such games is just going to get bigger and bigger as time goes on. I don't know about you, but when I build a new rig I love having the peace of mind that I can play "any" game out there maxed out. It's true that the current games that use DX10 don't show a significant difference in visuals compared to DX9...However there IS a difference, and once you see the difference you can't go back to DX9 mode.

Personally I've never had a problem running older games on Vista. In fact, in some cases I've had an easier time. X-Com: UFO Defense (best game ever made) for example was a pain to get to run on XP without problems. For some reason it's MUCH easier to run now that I have Vista. I just can't think of any cases where a person was unable to run a game they wanted to. Some games require certain work-arounds to get it going, but eventually they run.

Not all older games will work on Vista even with work-arounds, Freedom Fighters being one of them. Some have said using one CPU instead of dual-core for Freedom Fighters works for them, others it doesn't for some strange reason. Max Payne 1 has sound problems on Vista that can't be resolved. I haven't heard of one future game coming out that won't run on XP. You haven't named any names. Even if you knew of one, there's no guarantee that the number will get greater and greater over a short space of time, it could take 4 or 5 years in which case he might then feel comfortable getting Vista when the time is absolutely right. I would rather have XP knowing older and newer games will run fine, than having DX10 games run maxed out, even if there is a noticeable difference.

I am a Vista user, I've had it for about a year now and it's true you do get used to it, but it's not as friendly as XP when running older software. Yes you can fix problems with some older games like switching compatibility to XP and only using one CPU instead of two, but alot of software still won't run right on Vista and that's why alot of people are still staying away from it.

get xp, windows 7 is coming out nxt yearUKLTLEMON

About 18 months or more from now (according to MS) is not exactly next year is it?

[QUOTE="UKLTLEMON"]get xp, windows 7 is coming out nxt yearDanielDust

About 18 months or more from now (according to MS) is not exactly next year is it?

Yeah exactly and there is no official release date, it's probably more than 18 mons. from release. 2010 is the goal but who knows with ms.

I'm facing the same question in a few months, and the only reason I'm even considering Vista is because of DX10. With the release of Windows7 being brought forward to 2010 or so I might hold off untill then.

idSoftworks' John Carmack has openly critisized Vista basically calling it rubbish. The best solution would be to build a dual boot system, but that's a whole different qestion. Let us know what you decide.

I have XP and Vista on dual boot. I'd stick with XP if I were you. I prefer its interface and it feels much less sluggish. Plus I have directly compared game performance between a bunch of games and XP ran just about every game 5-15 FPS faster.GodLovesDead

at new hardware that 5fps means nothing (1-3 actualy with SP1) since you are running games at around 60-70 anyway. beside thats actualy so with every windows switch, win98 also ran games faster then winXP when xp got released. And DirectX 10 is a nice addition

the most complains about vista came from people with crappy hardware who expected it to run the same as win xp or who used old XP drivers on it and wondered why it constantly crashes, vista also had some 3rd party drivers "broken" at the begining (for which MS can't really do much). Overall Vista is much safer and much more stable then XP is and if you get 4gig I see no reason to not get 64bit Vista (home premium imo) to fully use them. Oh and mac adds also did they thing regarding Vista (especialy the new ones are nothing but Vista bashing (mostly lies btw), they don't even really mention the mac anymore)

oh and you can always dual boot XP (or hell even better: win 98 SE) for old games

Here's a great link to understand the benefits of utilizing Vista.

http://www.tweakguides.com/VA_1.html

Vista is indeed a superior OS for today and the future of Windows Gaming.

I'm facing the same question in a few months, and the only reason I'm even considering Vista is because of DX10. With the release of Windows7 being brought forward to 2010 or so I might hold off untill then.

idSoftworks' John Carmack has openly critisized Vista basically calling it rubbish. The best solution would be to build a dual boot system, but that's a whole different qestion. Let us know what you decide.

psychot1c

Windows 7 will feature dx 11, but vista will also utilize dx 11 as well. So why delay 2 years of pc gaming when vista does offer dx 10 and will be dx 11 compatible upon release.

Here's a Game benchmark at the time period of Vista SP1 release.

Thanks guys. I may end up going with Vista, in the end. I'm still on the fence though.
Which edition of Vista would be the best bet? Well, I know Ultimate is the best (but is rather costly) but is it necessary (or better) for gaming?

Thanks again.Doom_HellKnight

Thanks guys. I may end up going with Vista, in the end. I'm still on the fence though.
Which edition of Vista would be the best bet? Well, I know Ultimate is the best (but is rather costly) but is it necessary (or better) for gaming?

Thanks again.Doom_HellKnight

home premium is I think the best offer (64 bit ofcourse if you get 4 gig ram) and it got everything a avarage windows user needs. Althrough it doesn't over thigs like data encription and remote desktop (it in windows but I have yet to use it...)

look here and see for yourself if you can survive without the things ultimate offers:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/compare-editions/default.aspx

Thanks very much guys. I've decided that I will be switching to Vista.

Thanks again for your help. Much appreciated.