Best Performing OS [Gaming]

[VirusType2]

Best OS for Gaming

I figured we could use a discussion on which operating system is best for gaming and why.

I now have 3 operating systems installed. (XP, Win7 32bit & Win7 64bit) Since I have a DX9 card, I'm not sure which OS to install my games to for best performance.

I was thinking XP since I only have a DX9 card, but I do have 4GB of RAM (which can't be fully utilized in Windows 32 bit environments). However, I'm skeptical that any of my games would use 4GB in the first place.

I plan to reinstall the games again later anyway, because I want to put my games on a separate hard drive from my OS (though I can't do that yet).

What do you recommend? I'm leaning towards Windows 7 32 bit since my games are 32 bit, and because I'd like to take advantage of some of the features of the OS for other tasks without rebooting to play games.

Anyway, advice for me would be great, but this is your thread too.

Some have claimed they get better gaming performance in Windows 7, which definitely isn't expected when comparing to the super-light 8 year old Windows XP. Maybe you could explain why you think 7 is performing better for you. Is it because of DX10/DX11 or something else? Not just performance (Frame per second) but other advantages, if any.

Would be a good place to also discuss game compatibility.

 

[stemot]

If you are going to put Win7 32bit on you may as well install the 64bit version. I did that and every 32bit program has worked flawlessly so far in 64bit.

As for gaming, yes, the main advantage Win7 brings over XP is not only the support for the latest and down the line DirectX, but the actual FPS are better than when I was running XP, not to mention any stuttering I had in my games is gone in 7.

 

[The Brick]

Gaming performance is unnoticeably higher in w7. With w7 being a vastly improved OS, it's going to manage your system resources a lot better, which means you should have a smoother overall experience (including installing and background processes). W7 is easier to use, looks a lot better and is modern and future proof. I'll eat an apple if anyone can bring a valid reason why one would stick to XP.

Also, use 64 bit. There's no downside anymore as far as I know. Driver support has caught up and I've never seen a negative impact on performance (XP did).

Edit: might be an interesting read for you http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/windows_7_gaming/default.asp It pretty much confirms what I said. Performance is mostly the same, but w7 wins with multi GPU setups.

 

[Asus]

If you played with mostly older games (DX9) then you might want XP installed depending on your preference. If the games don't need a lot of addressing space or DX10/11 then you are probably thinking you won't need the feature set (DX11, 64bit) of Vista or Win7 and can run the 'lighter' OS.

But I would definitely put on a new OS with DX11 and 64bit for more demanding games (I guess as far back as 2007).
If you go with Vista or Win7 then use 64 bit. Not for FPS performance but because of memory addressing. Games crash when they run out.

Anandtech has had a couple articles on games and memory addressing from when his Supreme Commander game kept crashing (came out in 2007) due to the 2gb limit per app in a 32bit OS for virtual memory addressing which was being hit.
Adding memory or getting a GPU with more RAM is not the answer.
32bit XP doesn't seem to have the issue as bad as 32bit Vista (see article 2).

Some games/apps that are large address aware.
Article 1 with Vista
Article 2 Vista vs XP
Again, not RAM but virtual addressing and not related to FPS performance...

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Some of the newer games are also going win7/vista only so if you plan on future proofing...

 

[VirusType2]

OK thanks for the help guys. I'll stick with Win7 64Bit. I only wanted the other 2 operating systems installed because of my expertise and familiarity with XP and because I wasn't sure if everything would be compatible with Win 7 64 bit.

And yeah, I have all 3 installed on partitions of a 1 TB drive and I select the operating system when I boot my computer. If I never seem to have any problems then I can always delete one or 2 of the OS's for extra space.

I just installed GTR2 on Win7 64 bit with no issues. It's nice being able to max everything out with a perfect frame rate. This will probably be the case with all of my games to be honest. That CeleronD was garbage for gaming compared to the i5-750. =D

 

[Adabiviak]

I have WinXP 32 bit and Win7 64 bit, and have been trying out games on 7. Very few of the older games hang on Win7, and they usually just need admin rights or things of that nature (which can be set up in the shortcut and forgotten). Win7 gives me DX10 (and 11, although none of my games support it), and that makes newer games look slightly better (emphasis on slightly). I don't notice any major differences otherwise - Crysis has the same framerate at full settings, XP just does it in DX9. Clive Barker's Jericho seemed to play better, but again, not super noticeably. Halo 2 plays much better (the hack to get it to work in XP came with some oddities). I haven't tried S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (SoC or CS) yet besides a trial to see if it'd even work - I expect those will be a good barometer, as they'll take advantage of DX10 and do come with an extensive set of bugs, although I don't think the OS will be able to do anything about those.

 

[VirusType2]

Bioshock crashed after installation (Win7 64bit)

It said "Bioshock has stopped working". Then, W7 gave me the option to check online for a solution to the problem and I pressed the button and it never did anything (that I could see).

So maybe I can find a solution from google, BRB.

Do I need to install DX11 even though my card is DX9? (I have DX9.c installed)

 

[Adabiviak]

I haven't migrated Bioshock yet. If you find anything useful online about it, let me know. If I don't hear back from you before I try (and it works), I'll post here.

 

[VirusType2]

http://social.answers.microsoft.com...g/thread/8c6b6657-09dd-4ba0-928e-cb8a3ee8e19c

Edit your default.ini.

Put a semi-colon in front of AudioDevice=FMODAudio.FMODAudioSubsystem, and add the following line right after it:

AudioDevice=D3DDrv.D3DAudioDevice

After editing that part of the config file should look like this:

;AudioDevice=FMODAudio.FMODAudioSubsystem

AudioDevice=D3DDrv.D3DAudioDevice

annoying permissions. I hope that won't be a recurring problem.

EDIT: that let the game launch but now sound doesn't work once the game actually starts.

 

[Adabiviak]

Mine started fine? It was previously installed on a different drive by way of XP, I pointed to the executable, it asked for a new activation, and it's running fine. This game may be an exception to the typically negligible differences in game performance between the systems - it drops from 60 fps less frequently in 7 than it did in XP (or I might be getting a false positive from the DX10 - it looks great).

 

[VirusType2]

Just spent an hour or two ****ing with this game. ****


I dont' know, everyone's situation is unique. I've got Windows 7 64 bit, but my video card is only DX9. So what do I do?

I can't even find DX11 on a microsoft website which I think is pretty strange, not that I'm sure if I'm supposed to install it.

I installed the DX version that was on the Bioshock disc...

 

[stemot]

Just spent an hour or two ****ing with this game. ****


I dont' know, everyone's situation is unique. I've got Windows 7 64 bit, but my video card is only DX9. So what do I do?

I can't even find DX11 on a microsoft website which I think is pretty strange, not that I'm sure if I'm supposed to install it.

I installed the DX version that was on the Bioshock disc...

Reedit your .ini to how it was before and uninstall your OpenAL drivers from the CP. That is exactly the same issue I had and this fixed it.

 

[VirusType2]

OK. But don't I need OpenAL drivers for other things?

searching...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAL

OpenAL Applications:

* id Tech 3 and 4 engine based games such as Doom 3, Jedi Knight 2, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Quake 4 and Prey.
* Unreal Engine 2 and Unreal Engine 3 based games such as Unreal II: The Awakening, Unreal Tournament 2003, Unreal Tournament 2004, Unreal Tournament 3, Postal², and America's Army.
* Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Freedom Fighters, Hitman, Psychonauts, Colin McRae: DiRT, Penumbra: Black Plague and Race Driver: GRID, Colin McRae: Dirt 2.
* Numerous free software/open-source games also use OpenAL. Some examples include Bitfighter, FlightGear, War§ow, Warzone 2100 and Osmos.

do you own any of these games, and do they still work? Or did they just lose positional audio?

EDIT: As a thought, I tried updating OpenAL from Creative, that didn't work.

 

[stemot]

OK. But don't I need OpenAL drivers for other things?

searching...

Other games may need em to run, but it's the only way your going to get Bioshock to run, you'll just have to re-install them again later.

 

[VirusType2]

Other games may need em to run, but it's the only way your going to get Bioshock to run, you'll just have to re-install them again later.

Thanks for your help.

Hm, that's lame. I've got other games to install that use OpenAL. 4 just off the top of my head.

I want to call them and bitch at them about it, but they'll just say it wasn't listed as compatible with Windows 7 on the box.


Ok that worked, I had to restart my computer after uninstalling it. Thanks again.


Some further reading - Bioshock/X-Fi:
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/gaming/article.asp?articleID=71545&categoryID=13

It would be nice if Creative was good at setting up their software - like who wants to go through control panels and switches for individual games, music, and movies. It should automatically detect what you are doing and use your settings accordingly.

 

[stemot]

Thanks for your help.

Hm, that's lame. I've got other games to install that use OpenAL. 4 just off the top of my head.

I want to call them and bitch at them about it, but they'll just say it wasn't listed as compatible with Windows 7 on the box.


Ok that worked, I had to restart my computer after uninstalling it. Thanks again.


Some further reading - Bioshock/X-Fi:
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/gaming/article.asp?articleID=71545&categoryID=13

It would be nice if Creative was good at setting up their software - like who wants to go through control panels and switches for individual games, music, and movies. It should automatically detect what you are doing and use your settings accordingly.

Glad it worked for you as well. It took me weeks of searching for a solution only to find out that's the problem. I'm hoping this issue is fixed in an OpenAL update sometime soon.

 

[Barney Fife]

I'll eat an apple if anyone can bring a valid reason why one would stick to XP.

XP Plays my Soldier Of Fortune I, and many old-time favorites. I would not say valid, but I like to see you eat your apple. Now, would you like to have hot sauce with that apple?

Take Care.

 

[VirusType2]

I really like the Games Library feature of Windows 7. Really nice.

OK, now problems with the 2nd game I installed - DiRT

Cannot create a profile. "Save Code Error"

I figured out what the problem was when I came across my save game folder.

It seems I choose a save game folder location that Windows 7 denied permission for DiRT to modify.

I reinstalled the game, and this time choose the default save game location, and it's working perfectly.