Questions about Windows OS performance in gaming

[superme1]

Hey Hardforum,

So I'm young and pretty new to the hardware/hardcore gaming scene, and was hoping you guys could answer some questions about OS comparisons in relation to gaming. I will be building a gaming computer sometime in August, and was wondering what OS to get, or to keep XP:

-What is difference between 32 bit and 64 bit, and its affect on gaming
-Is XP even considerable as a gaming system? many people use Vista, I've been using XP, but have not been gaming. What OS will give better gaming performance and why?
-Will Windows 7 most likely have better gaming performance than XP or Vista

Thank you!!!

any additional information that would help would be appreciated.

 

[Forceman]

What questions?

 

[devil22]

Main difference between 32-bit and 64-bit is addressable memory, 64-bit allows more than 4GBs of ram to be addressed, 32-bit (windows) typically does not allow more than 3.5GBs or so, depending on devices in the system.

XP is 8 years old, Vista is stable and fast, if you are going to get more than 4GBs of ram, which would be a good idea considering ram prices, you'll definitely want Vista x64 over XP or XP pro 64, as XP pro 64 is not well supported. Vista is also much more secure, bottom line, there is absolutely no reason to not get Vista, or it's offspring, windows 7.

The benchmarks I've seen show 7 to be about the same as Vista in benchmarks, which itself was about the same as XP. OS isn't going to make a lot of difference in performance.

 

[Dangman]

In addition to devil22's answeres:

1) There's honestly no difference between 32bit and 64bit in gaming performance. However a 64bit OS will allow you to have more apps running in the background while getting the same performance in 32bit as a result of 64bit allowing you to use more than 4GB of RAM.

2) If you already have a legit and transferable copy of XP, stick with it unless you need to use 4GB of RAM or more. There's virtually no perfomance difference between XP, Vista or 7.

3) Most likely not.

 

[rampantandroid]

Main difference between 32-bit and 64-bit is addressable memory, 64-bit allows more than 4GBs of ram to be addressed, 32-bit (windows) typically does not allow more than 3.5GBs or so, depending on devices in the system.

You're right and wrong here. A 32bit OS only allows around 3.5 GB of system RAM, but a game can't use 3.5 GB. A 32 bit app that is not Large Address Aware (LAA for short) can only use 2 GB of memory. LAA apps can use up to 4 GB, 64bit apps get it all.

The only reason to use a 64bit OS is if you have 4GB or more of system memory. This basically means you can just leave more programs running in the background...doesn't help game perf. A 64bit OS (can) hurt perf, because you need to be copying 64bit addresses around (twice the size of a 32bit address.) Larger addresses also use more memory. If you have under 4 GB of memory, don't use a 64bit app.

 

[bigdogchris]

-What is difference between 32 bit and 64 bit, and its affect on gaming

For gaming it means more system memory and more GPU memory. Optimal system setup for gaming is 4GB of ram with a 1GB GPU, and if you want to use all of that memory, you need a 64 bit os. Compatibility wise it's not an issue as long as you run Vista or Windows 7. XP x64 is a poor choice for a gaming OS. It's great for workstations though.

-Is XP even considerable as a gaming system? many people use Vista, I've been using XP, but have not been gaming. What OS will give better gaming performance and why?

Vista and 7 have DX10 support, and eventually 11, but it's not really that big of a factor. 99% of DX10 games offer a DX9 client. Benchmarks on XP are going to be slightly better in games simply because the OS has less going on but the general day to day bonus of using of Vista or 7 will heavily outweigh any slight loss in gaming.

-Will Windows 7 most likely have better gaming performance than XP or Vista

7 has basically equal gaming performance to Vista but some other types of benchmarks are a little better because it doesn't use as much memory and has slightly less CPU usage. If your just a hard core gamer and that's it, there really isn't any plus to 7 but for general usage and other types of system use it's pretty slick.

I am neither for nor against 7 or Vista at this point, both are great OSes. I would not use XP though. And just to let you know, you really stirred the pot by making this thread.

 

[stiltner]

I've noticed only minor differences in Windows 7 from XP in terms of performance, granted, my XP install had 3+ years worth of software and DLL's installed, so its performance was degraded by DLL creep and all that jazz, but honestly Windows 7 is going to be a fine platform. Vista was/is also, but I see no reason to go to it over Windows 7 upon release.

Windows 7 to me is Windows 2008 R2 advancement and performance w/o the negatives that was the aura around Vista (for no reason at all mind you).

Go 64bit also, unless you're running old hardware (as I am) then there's no reason to use the 32bit version, you won't notice any differences going forward in performance, but you will when you can only access 3.5g of memory out of that 6gb your new snazzy system has

 

[ThreeDee]

Win7 x64 would be what you want to grab for your new build .. DX10/11 wont ever be available for XP

 

[Forceman]

Win7 x64 would be what you want to grab for your new build .. DX10/11 wont ever be available for XP

Depends when you want to build though - if you are building now your options are more limited unless you want to install the Win 7 RC and then re-install from scratch in October. If not, than your best bet is 64-bit Vista.