windows vista vs windows XP(Gaming)

[ScyferDown]

ok i have my aluminum 2.4GHz 4gb RAM aluminum macbook with the geforce 9400m. and i was wondering. is DirectX 9 better then DirectX 10?. even if the difference is only 8 FPS it still counts.(really the only game im going to play is elder scrolls 4 oblivion) Thanks
FTW

 

[apfhex]

Does Oblivion even use DX10? I think it's just 9, in which case you probably won't see a performance increase from Vista.

 

[LtRammstein]

Go with Vista for DX10 support.

DX10 is by far faster and has, from what I am reading, a bit bigger buffer to handle larger files.

To give you an exam, I have run a LAN party, and we always have a massive projector. So I'll play games, when I can, and have a PPT to display the server info. In cases of Left 4 Dead, I mirror the main desktop and run it. In L4D, I get on averagea bout 60-70 fps, and running a big projector, I drop by 50%, because it's a DVI to VGA.

Plus, I just got FEAR 2, and it runs about 60 fps on Vista x64.

 

[Stridder44]

Go for Vista (64-bit would be best). You'll rarely ever lose FPS in games, and if anything you'll typically gain FPS. This used to not be the case with Vista but since SP1 came out (early last year) it's only gotten better everyday what with updates and GPU driver improvements.

One thing I do recommend though, and this is for anyone and everyone, is updating DX9. For some stupid reason (and this is true with XP, Vista, and even Windows 7) you can run the DX9 updater and it will update files. You can snag it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2DA43D38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en

 

[Jeffrosproto]

I was running Vista, until I ran across one bug - No sound in Bioshock. Well, Bioshock was one of the main reasons for Boot Camp for me, which ruled out Vista. However, Vista is generally better for gaming.

 

[ScyferDown]

looks like im getting vista. but im only going to partition 45gb of HDD space. will vista still work?. and could some one give me a link of were i can buy 64-Bit vista home premium? Thanks!
FTW

 

[Stridder44]

I was running Vista, until I ran across one bug - No sound in Bioshock. Well, Bioshock was one of the main reasons for Boot Camp for me, which ruled out Vista. However, Vista is generally better for gaming.

That sounds like a driver or application issue, not an OS issue. I mean common sense would say if it works in the OS and in everything, but it doesn't work on one game, then is it really the OS's fault?

looks like im getting vista. but im only going to partition 45gb of HDD space. will vista still work?. and could some one give me a link of were i can buy 64-Bit vista home premium? Thanks!
FTW

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

That's just the first thing I found off Newegg. It might not be the best price around.

 

[ScyferDown]

i saw it said "for system builders", do i need any other piece of software?. do i need win XP? or can i just put in the full version of windows vista on it.( via bootcamp)

 

[cathyy]

I can vouch that TF2 runs much faster in XP as compared to Vista. I've tried them both on the same computer many times, and TF2 runs about 10 fps faster.

20 - 40 fps under Vista.
30 - 50 fps under XP.

I didn't notice any difference in all my other games though.

 

[Jeffrosproto]

The "for system builders" version just means that it doesn't come with Microsoft's technical support (it still will use their software updates). It's a lot cheaper, and I would suggest it over the Retail version.

 

[sickmacdoc]

The "for system builders" version just means that it doesn't come with Microsoft's technical support (it still will use their software updates). It's a lot cheaper, and I would suggest it over the Retail version.

Agreed! It also does not come in a fancy retail box (yeah, big loss!) and licensing is a little different technically. The retail editions are licensed to allow for the OS to be uninstalled from one computer and re-installed on another, but the System Builder disks are supposed to stay locked to a single computer (allowing for reinstalls if the logic board is swapped out, etc.).

Other than that though they are identical full installations disks and work great. I have purchased and used them on over a dozen client machines now (XP Pro, Vista Home Premium, Vista Ultimate 64 bit and others) with no problems at all.

 

[LtRammstein]

I can vouch that TF2 runs much faster in XP as compared to Vista. I've tried them both on the same computer many times, and TF2 runs about 10 fps faster.

20 - 40 fps under Vista.
30 - 50 fps under XP.

I didn't notice any difference in all my other games though.

Just a suggestion, to make games run better, try to not run them at high textures. Also, make sure you have updated drivers and not running anything that's graphically intensive while playing a game.

To give you an idea that I get on my MBP for playing games:

100+ FPS CSS
70+ TF2, L4D
60+ FEAR 2: Project Origin

 

[Winni]

The retail editions are licensed to allow for the OS to be uninstalled from one computer and re-installed on another, but the System Builder disks are supposed to stay locked to a single computer (allowing for reinstalls if the logic board is swapped out, etc.).

That's probably only valid for the United States. In Germany, Systembuilder versions can also legally be transferred to other computers and they can also be sold again. Microsoft lost their own OEM lawsuit BIG TIME in Germany - their EULA and licensing policy that tried to enforce the bundling of hardware and software on endusers was found to be illegal. (No, I won't say again that I think that Apple will have to make a similar experience with their 'only on Apple computers' EULA in Germany, no, I won't... ;-)

 

[aznguyen316]

Okay I've had experience with both stripped versions of Vista 64bit (Damn Tiny Vista Gamer's Ed.) which fits on a CD to install and also TinyXP 32bit.

I have 4GB Ram also. Specs in sig.

I have play tested these games on both OS's on my macbook via bootcamp.

Crysis Warhead
Crysis
Half-Life 2
Left 4 Dead

These are my comparisons using FRAPS and my own data from my own gametime. I found I got better performance on TinyXP. Noticeably on Half-Life 2 and all the episodes. Also Left 4 Dead runs much better. I can have high settings except shadow/shaders and avg 35fps vs 25fps in V64.

Since my MB doesn't run Crysis well in the first place, I didn't notice much of a FPS difference b/t the two OS's though I feel Warhead plays smoother on XP32bit.

Fallout 3 I've played on V64 and it ran well, in native res, avg 30, but the way TinyXP has been running, I feel Fallout 3 would run even better.

I'm currently now running TinyXP and very happy with it. And this was even using an extremely stripped down Vista which I liked, but wanted to test XP out and am sticking with it.

One factor that made me decide to try XP is that well, my MB isn't going to play the latest games anyway, so most of the games I'm wanting to play won't need to address all the ram, b/c 2.7GB is plenty, plus not all games even have a 64bit version. Half-Life 2 does and Crysis does, but most at the moment do not, so why bother? If I had a Macbook Pro then I feel Vista64 would be a better choice. hope this helps..

 

[ScyferDown]

Yep. im getting vista

 

[cathyy]

Just a suggestion, to make games run better, try to not run them at high textures. Also, make sure you have updated drivers and not running anything that's graphically intensive while playing a game.

To give you an idea that I get on my MBP for playing games:

100+ FPS CSS
70+ TF2, L4D
60+ FEAR 2: Project Origin

Textures don't make any difference in fps. It simply takes up more VRAM and takes a longer time to load.

 

[LtRammstein]

Textures don't make any difference in fps. It simply takes up more VRAM and takes a longer time to load.

Right, and the bus between the video card to the CPU can only send so much. So by lowering the textures, it won't fill the VRAM and is able to send data out much quicker.

 

[areusche]

For those of you who are stuck with XP 32bit like myself, I would recommend you download and give DX10 for XP a try.

I've been able to run games like Bioshock with its special textures. It's a real treat. I'm not sure if the FPS count has changed since it really is just a hack.

I will say though if you guys are looking for a great game, definitely look into Fear 2. I am still in awe with the design of that world. Especially the whole city.

Opps forgot the link:
http://www.techmixer.com/install-directx-10-on-xp-with-directx10-rc2-pre-fix-3/