Does O/S matter with gaming?

gopal · Jul 8, 2012

Does OS matters in gaming?
Currently i am planning to upgrade my rig!(This is the link to my new rig: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168626 )
And i am thinking that does it will be okay with Windows XP Pro SP3 or i need to upgrade it to Windows 7 and i know Windows XP only support DX9 and W7 supports DX11!

My Question is -
Do i need to upgrade my OS to play latest games ?

Solaris17 · Jul 8, 2012

gopal said:
Does OS matters in gaming?
Currently i am planning to upgrade my rig!(This is the link to my new rig: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168626 )
And i am thinking that does it will be okay with Windows XP Pro SP3 or i need to upgrade it to Windows 7 and i know Windows XP only support DX9 and W7 supports DX11!

My Question is -
Do i need to upgrade my OS to play latest games ?

no i dont think any games currently refuse to work in DX9 but someday they might. But it will be limited by DX9 and it wont look as good as it could even if you crank the settings all the way up.

Jstn7477 · Jul 8, 2012

Yes, it can. Some games only support Vista/Win7 (e.g. Just Cause 2), and others easily run into the 2GB-per-program memory limit imposed by a 32bit Windows OS. XP is over a decade old, but whether you will see the difference with your older computer is debatable.

If you had a newer machine, I would go Windows 7 64bit without a doubt. You'd be losing a lot of potential by using such an old OS on it.

gopal · Jul 8, 2012

Why 64-bit Is it will not okay in 32bit ?

Darkgundam111 · Jul 8, 2012

gopal said:
Why 64-bit Is it will not okay in 32bit ?

best answer to this is this post by Mussels:
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91260

Jstn7477 · Jul 8, 2012

32bit only supports 4GB of RAM total, including the ram on the GPU. Also, I've seen a 30% performance advantage on a quad core CPU in IntelBurnTest using a 64bit OS. Sure, there aren't any 64bit only games out right now, but I don't see why you would want to hold yourself back on a 32bit OS.

INSTG8R · Jul 8, 2012

XP is going to be limited to 4GB of usable RAM max.

Jetster · Jul 8, 2012

Thats a loaded question. If you want DX11 or over 4 Gb ram then you will need 7 64 bit. And by the way W Xp 64 is crap

RejZoR · Jul 8, 2012

Well if you have 4GB of RAM or more you can only use Win7 anyway as WinXP 64bit sucks plus it has no real support. Since Win7 has all that + DirectX 11 support it kinda makes a logical option.

FordGT90Concept · Jul 8, 2012

Solaris17 said:
no i dont think any games currently refuse to work in DX9 but someday they might. But it will be limited by DX9 and it wont look as good as it could even if you crank the settings all the way up.

There are a lot of games that DX10 and up exclusively. They will not work on XP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_DirectX_10_support

Look for ones that say "only supports." For example:
-Battlefield 3
-Dirt: Showdown
-Hamilton's Great Adventure
-Just Cause 2
-Krater
-Need for Speed: The Run
-Renegade Ops
-Shattered Horizon
-Sniper Elite V2
-Stormrise
-Sword of the Stars II: The Lords of Winter
-ARMA 3
-Command & Conquer: Generals 2
-Medal of Honor: Warfighter
-Need for Speed: Most Wanted

Likely not an exhaustive list.

Jetster said:
Thats a loaded question. If you want DX11 or over 4 Gb ram then you will need 7 64 bit. And by the way W Xp 64 is crap

It is not but XP Pro x64 still can't play DX10 games and that's what got me to upgrade.

gopal · Jul 8, 2012

Okay i will upgrade it to Win7 64 bit !
For my new rig(buying in a month)!

Sinzia · Jul 8, 2012

One thing to remember, Steam is dropping support for XP-SP1 in August.

That's kinda the writing on the wall, if you will. I doubt in even a few more years you'll get support for SP2/3.

gopal · Jul 8, 2012

SO i need to get W7 64bit SP1?
But the only problem is all of my current programs and setup are 32 bit how am i going to install 32 bit progrems in a 64 bit OS?
Is there any converter to convert 32 bit setups to 64bit?

Jetster · Jul 8, 2012

No, you can install them. W 7 64 supports 32 bit programs

gopal · Jul 8, 2012

Jetster said:
No, you can install them. W 7 64 supports 32 bit programs

Great This was the only thing stopping me to get a 64 bit OS now i am sure that i will get a 64 bit W7 for my new rig!

micropage7 · Jul 8, 2012

Jetster said:
No, you can install them. W 7 64 supports 32 bit programs

yeah and 64 bit can address ram that more than 3 gig which 32 bit OS cant
it would help when you do multitasking or your apps need more ram :toast:

gopal · Jul 8, 2012

So i am going with Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate 64 bit SP1 !

FordGT90Concept · Jul 8, 2012

gopal said:
SO i need to get W7 64bit SP1?

That should be all that is available now. If it doesn't come with SP1, Windows Update can get it.

gopal said:
But the only problem is all of my current programs and setup are 32 bit how am i going to install 32 bit progrems in a 64 bit OS?

Most will work fine but some might not. For example, no 16-bit applications will work on Windows 64-bit. Anything that installs a driver may also have problems.

gopal said:
Is there any converter to convert 32 bit setups to 64bit?

No, it would require the source and most applications are closed-source.

gopal said:
So i am going with Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate 64 bit SP1 !

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/compare

Only advantages of Ultimate is it has BitLocker and the ability to switch between 35 languages. I'd go with Pro.

gopal · Jul 8, 2012

I don't really have 16 bit programs and i am getting Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit!

Frick · Jul 8, 2012

gopal said:
I don't really have 16 bit programs and i am getting Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit!

Good. No point in wasting good hardware on old software.

gopal · Jul 8, 2012

all clear!

ThE_MaD_ShOt · Jul 8, 2012

Also depends on your vid card. If it supports up to dx9 then thats where the game will run regardless of os and dx installed.

Black Panther · Jul 8, 2012

Is there a point to choosing the Pro over the Home Edition?

FordGT90Concept · Jul 8, 2012

More memory capability, namely.

Mussels · Jul 8, 2012

Black Panther said:
Is there a point to choosing the Pro over the Home Edition?

more ram support (For future hardware, keeping in mind that XP lasted 10 years), and extra features like remote desktop, and better native backup features.

The big key here for the OP is that while 32 bit apps and games run fine, 32 bit drivers dont. so keep that in mind when you prepare for the new build, and make sure things like wifi adapters have such drivers already downloaded onto a USB drive or somesuch.

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Does O/S matter with gaming?

Do i need to upgrade my OS to play latest games

It will be okay in WinXP Pro SP3

NO! You must upgrade it to Win7

In some games you may need win 7

gopal

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