Gaming: Help choosing operating system.

[sine90°]

I know that there are dozens of threads about this but none seem to come to a conclusion, it is really frustrating. I can't pick between XP pro SP2 and Vista Business 64 bit SP1.

I just got a brand new Mac Book Pro- 2.4 Cpu, 8600 GT 256 MB. I am PLANNING to uprgade to 4 gigabytes of ram.
Am I correct in saying that I need 64 bit vista to utilize the 4 gig of ram and dual core?

I'm sitting here and my mind constantly changes, 1 second I know I'm getting xp, the next I read a comment on the forum and I think, oh no no, i need vista.

90% of the reason for me using Windows is for playing games. I plan on playing Flight Simulator X, COD4, and Crysis, thats it. Thats why I am really feeling like I want to have DX10 ability from Vista.

Is DX10 worth the possible loss of performance from Vista? I don't care about losing ~5-10 fps but I want it to be playable and decent/nice graphics.


I really wish windows would make this easier instead of being moneymongers. It is making me mad simply not knowing which to pick.
I would really appreciate just one honest, no-biased, recommendation that will leave me happiest.

 

[flopticalcube]

Any version of XP will see both cores. Only a 64-bit OS can use all 4G although XP/Vista 32 will see 3.3G. For games I think XP (with the soon to be released SP3) will be quickest although its a close call between that and Vista 64 SP1. XP will be the most backward compatible but Vista is where things are going to. I would personally stick with XP/32-bit for the next two years and then get a Vista upgrade.

 

[ozthegweat]

So are there many games that won't work with Vista 64bit?

 

[Siron]

Install Vista Business 64. I can run 32 bit games just fine (it installs them in "Program Files X32" folder) and 64 bit games (such as Crysis) run faster in 64 bit mode because they share the load between the GPU and CPUs better than DX9 games. In the next 12 months you will see more and more games programmed for DX10 and if you install XP you will be severely disappointed. I run both XP Pro 32 and Vista Business 64 and I'm glad I installed Vista.
Alan

 

[sine90°]

So are there many games that won't work with Vista 64bit?

For me this is not an issue because the 3-4 games I will play use DX10.

So, in my case, should I go for Vista and get DX10 or should I stick with XP pro so I can play it safe with performance?


Edit: Thanks alan, I think will get Vista Business 64 OEM. thanks for helping


if anyone wants to support the idea of getting xp I am still open to what you have to say, as i'm not getting it until sometime next week anyways.