XP Pro SP2 or XP Pro 64-bit for gaming?

I'm still not sure about joining the Vista crowd yet, so I'm down to these two OS's for my new build.

Now, I have a lot of old(er) games from 1999-2003 that I hear have major issues running on the 64-bit or don't run at all. I still haven't gotten a chance to play older games like DeusEx (believe it or not lol), so I still want to be able to do that when I pick them up eventually.

But on the other hand, 64-bit will be able to read and use the complete capabilities of the 4GB of RAM I will be putting in there which will of course be good for newer games, etc.

So, I'm kind of on the fence here and paranoid about everything. lol So, hopefully you guys can help.

Thanks in advance.

if you want to go x64, go for vista since xp x64 actually has worse driver support than vista x64.teardropmina

Yeah thats what I've read. But how about my older games like I mentioned? Can they work with Vista64?

Overall, would you say that any 64-bit OS, at this point, is fairly unreliable?

If you're going to play older games get XP SP2, don't worry about not being able to use all 4GB of RAM since those games wont need more than 512MB anyway. Overall XP 64 seems like it's just alot more hassle to get all the driver support than there is to gain from using it.Oom_Gert

Well I also fully plan on playing games like Bioshock, Crysis, etc. So thats why I'm on the fence because I want my older games to work, but also want to take advantage of the DX10 capabilities. But, I'm starting to lean more towards what you're saying. My GPU is good enough, I'm not too worried about not having DX10. I'm also not sure if games I have like KOTR, Warcrafr 3, and Bloodlines will work that great with Vista (64bit or not) anyway.

[QUOTE="Oom_Gert"]If you're going to play older games get XP SP2, don't worry about not being able to use all 4GB of RAM since those games wont need more than 512MB anyway. Overall XP 64 seems like it's just alot more hassle to get all the driver support than there is to gain from using it.TheUberKnight

Well I also fully plan on playing games like Bioshock, Crysis, etc. So thats why I'm on the fence because I want my older games to work, but also want to take advantage of the DX10 capabilities. But, I'm starting to lean more towards what you're saying. My GPU is good enough, I'm not too worried about not having DX10. I'm also not sure if games I have like KOTR, Warcrafr 3, and Bloodlines will work that great with Vista (64bit or not) anyway.

XP is still the better OS. There are still a lot of issues with crap drivers and poor hardware support. Unless you have a game built specifically to take advantage of DX10 you aren't going to see a real difference except poorer performance.

[QUOTE="TheUberKnight"]

[QUOTE="Oom_Gert"]If you're going to play older games get XP SP2, don't worry about not being able to use all 4GB of RAM since those games wont need more than 512MB anyway. Overall XP 64 seems like it's just alot more hassle to get all the driver support than there is to gain from using it.weirjf

Well I also fully plan on playing games like Bioshock, Crysis, etc. So thats why I'm on the fence because I want my older games to work, but also want to take advantage of the DX10 capabilities. But, I'm starting to lean more towards what you're saying. My GPU is good enough, I'm not too worried about not having DX10. I'm also not sure if games I have like KOTR, Warcrafr 3, and Bloodlines will work that great with Vista (64bit or not) anyway.

XP is still the better OS. There are still a lot of issues with crap drivers and poor hardware support. Unless you have a game built specifically to take advantage of DX10 you aren't going to see a real difference except poorer performance.

But if Vista has better drivers and hardware support, wouldn't there be a better chance of my older games working?

I'm so confused. lol

I'm still probably going to stick with XP to be on the safe side.

I'd recommend Vista, but if you are planning to stick with XP, what feature of XP Pro are you going to use that XP Home doesnt have?XaosII

Well, its just the OS my friend suggested for my new build, thats all. On my last machine, I used XP Home. Is it cheaper? I suppose I dont really need the features Pro has, whatever they may be.

Uhm, in case you didn't realize this, XP is on SP3... O_o

I got that request this morning to update to SP3 for my XP system. Anyone have any experience with it so far, is it running alright?

Also, DX10 does not work without Vista, what a rip!

Uhm, in case you didn't realize this, XP is on SP3... O_o

4th3ist

Yeah but I'm looking at new egg, and SP2 is cheaper. I can just buy that and download the SP3 once its installed.

How is the stability of SP3?

I got that request this morning to update to SP3 for my XP system. Anyone have any experience with it so far, is it running alright?

Also, DX10 does not work without Vista, what a rip!

Amigro

Yeah, I know. lol

How is gaming on SP2 working for you? Do you have older games (ones that came out in 2003 or before)?

Do you plan on getting Vista soon?

SP2 has been working fine, I run Crysis at a good framerate with high settings on an EVGA 8800 GT. I don't plan on "upgrading" to Vista any time soon.

As far as older games are concerned, I've been able to run all of the ones that I have tried for the most part. The oldest game that I have tried on my current PC is Serious Sam and that jerked around like crazy.

SP2 has been working fine, I run Crysis at a good framerate with high settings on an EVGA 8800 GT. I don't plan on "upgrading" to Vista any time soon.

As far as older games are concerned, I've been able to run all of the ones that I have tried for the most part. The oldest game that I have tried on my current PC is Serious Sam and that jerked around like crazy.

Amigro

Which version do you have, Home or Pro? Is one better than the other for gaming?

My one advice is stay far away from xp64bit - if u want 64bit go with vista and if u want xp stay with xp.

Right now im using vista64 and have no issues at all with gamming/software/hardware/anything, i actualy perfer vista to xp. Vista used to be pretty bad wtih driver support and things, but its much better now.

But i understand how people still like xp and cling onto it.

My one advice is stay far away from xp64bit - if u want 64bit go with vista and if u want xp stay with xp.

Right now im using vista64 and have no issues at all with gamming/software/hardware/anything, i actualy perfer vista to xp. Vista used to be pretty bad wtih driver support and things, but its much better now.

But i understand how people still like xp and cling onto it.

RingX5

I probably should've done more research about it but, what exactly are the differences between Vista64bit and the non 64 bit? One of my friends is helping me put together a gaming rig for the first time and thats the OS he chose, but I was having second thoughts about it from the get-go. I really just want to go with XP Home or Pro.

Why don't you just make your system dual boot? With say XP Pro (32) and some flavour of Vista (64). That way you can still play all of your older games, and still have the ...err.. benefits of Vista.Procrastin

lol I could, but I'm trying to save some money, but it might not turn out to be that big a deal. I'll see. All I need to do is make a partition, right, or do I need to buy another HD?

I'm getting a 750 gig HD so I'll have to figure out how I'm going to divy out the space to XP and Vista if I do that. Or I could just stick with XP Pro 32 and be able to be my older games and the new ones too. haha

[QUOTE="Procrastin"]Why don't you just make your system dual boot? With say XP Pro (32) and some flavour of Vista (64). That way you can still play all of your older games, and still have the ...err.. benefits of Vista.TheUberKnight

lol I could, but I'm trying to save some money, but it might not turn out to be that big a deal. I'll see. All I need to do is make a partition, right, or do I need to buy another HD?

I'm getting a 750 gig HD so I'll have to figure out how I'm going to divy out the space to XP and Vista if I do that. Or I could just stick with XP Pro 32 and be able to be my older games and the new ones too. haha

Just do an OEM version of XP home. It will play all of the new games and most of the old games. The limitations on old games will be if they are no longer supported and newer video drivers. The way Vista is going MS will be releasing Windows 7 ahead of schedule and Vista will be the new Windows ME.

[QUOTE="TheUberKnight"]

[QUOTE="Procrastin"]Why don't you just make your system dual boot? With say XP Pro (32) and some flavour of Vista (64). That way you can still play all of your older games, and still have the ...err.. benefits of Vista.weirjf

lol I could, but I'm trying to save some money, but it might not turn out to be that big a deal. I'll see. All I need to do is make a partition, right, or do I need to buy another HD?

I'm getting a 750 gig HD so I'll have to figure out how I'm going to divy out the space to XP and Vista if I do that. Or I could just stick with XP Pro 32 and be able to be my older games and the new ones too. haha

Just do an OEM version of XP home. It will play all of the new games and most of the old games. The limitations on old games will be if they are no longer supported and newer video drivers. The way Vista is going MS will be releasing Windows 7 ahead of schedule and Vista will be the new Windows ME.

[QUOTE="TheUberKnight"]

[QUOTE="Procrastin"]Why don't you just make your system dual boot? With say XP Pro (32) and some flavour of Vista (64). That way you can still play all of your older games, and still have the ...err.. benefits of Vista.weirjf

lol I could, but I'm trying to save some money, but it might not turn out to be that big a deal. I'll see. All I need to do is make a partition, right, or do I need to buy another HD?

I'm getting a 750 gig HD so I'll have to figure out how I'm going to divy out the space to XP and Vista if I do that. Or I could just stick with XP Pro 32 and be able to be my older games and the new ones too. haha

Just do an OEM version of XP home. It will play all of the new games and most of the old games. The limitations on old games will be if they are no longer supported and newer video drivers. The way Vista is going MS will be releasing Windows 7 ahead of schedule and Vista will be the new Windows ME.

That is true. The older games I own are Nox (2000), Anachronox (2001), Starcraft ('98), Half Life ('98), and maybe a couple others I cant think of right now. Plus I'll be buying other older games like the Deus Ex series.

This site (http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_vista_and_xp_with_vista_installed_first__the_stepbystep_guide.htm) has some pretty good guides on how to set up dual boot. You can do them both on the same hard drive.

As for space I'm pretty sure you just partition space for both OS's and then you can make other partitions that both could share if you want...

My one advice is stay far away from xp64bit - if u want 64bit go with vista and if u want xp stay with xp.

Right now im using vista64 and have no issues at all with gamming/software/hardware/anything, i actualy perfer vista to xp. Vista used to be pretty bad wtih driver support and things, but its much better now.

But i understand how people still like xp and cling onto it.

RingX5

I agree with you completely it seems just like everyone can't accept change, so what if vista doesn't have a huge difference, their price difference is like $20 and vista looks and feels a whole lot more smooth than XP