What version of Win 7 for gaming pc?

E

Epilon

n00b
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
49
I feel retarded for even asking this, but I assume if I am building a new PC i should put Windows 7 64bit on it? Is there an advantage to using ultimate over home premium, or what version should I get?

Thanks!
 
Just get 64 bit hp, there is no difference between any edition for gaming. And unless you need to join a domain or use windows in 30+ languages, ultimate will do nothing for you.
 
Exactly. I run ultimate 64 on my desktop (got it free) and run hp 64 bit on my gaming laptop and second gaming system and there's no difference between them. Any version but starter will work fine.
 
Ultimate is never needed for gaming purposes & isn't actually worth it unless you can get it for dirt cheap. At most, Professional is best if you need more admin tools but other than that, I don't see much of a point with Ultimate's extra features beyond Pro & Home Premium.
 
Remeber: HP 64 is limited to 16G ram.

This is my reason for going pro...
 
Remeber: HP 64 is limited to 16G ram.
Click to expand...

It's a good point. The percentage of builds for home use that exceed 16GB is very small but it's something to keep in mind.

I don't see much of a point with Ultimate's extra features beyond Pro & Home Premium.
Click to expand...

I agree. It's just the rare case you run into and it's never anything you really need, there's always another way around whatever you're trying to do.
 
Robstar said:
Remeber: HP 64 is limited to 16G ram.

This is my reason for going pro...
Click to expand...

More and more builds are using at least that amount, if not more, with increasing density of memory sticks combined with dropping memory prices.

If you're planning on upgrading memory past 16GB, get Professional.
 
Epilon said:
I feel retarded for even asking this, but I assume if I am building a new PC i should put Windows 7 64bit on it? Is there an advantage to using ultimate over home premium, or what version should I get?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Don't say retarded, it's not a nice word.

Windows 7 Home Premium x64 is the perfect OS for a gaming PC.
 
bigdogchris said:
Don't say retarded, it's not a nice word.

Windows 7 Home Premium x64 is the perfect OS for a gaming PC.
Click to expand...

Right, Premium contains everything a home user needs. Kuddos to MS for not putting anything of value in the more expensive versions of Win7. :cool:

IMO, only people with 4GB+ RAM should install 64-bit Win7. 64-bit does come at the cost of a bit lower performance on low-memory machines, and a slight loss of software comparability (e.g. old games won't install). With no corresponding benefit.
 
Stone Cold said:
Right, Premium contains everything a home user needs. Kuddos to MS for not putting anything of value in the more expensive versions of Win7. :cool:

IMO, only people with 4GB+ RAM should install 64-bit Win7. 64-bit does come at the cost of a bit lower performance on low-memory machines, and a slight loss of software comparability (e.g. old games won't install). With no corresponding benefit.
Click to expand...

What old games won't install? Even with dosbox?

Also, do you have benchmarks to support the "lower performance on low-memory machines"?
 
Tawnos said:
What old games won't install? Even with dosbox?
Click to expand...

Many Windows games from the 9x era had 16-bit installers. There's XP mode and virtual machines but IME there are some rare exceptions that just don't work out that well in those environments either.
 
Tawnos said:
Also, do you have benchmarks to support the "lower performance on low-memory machines"?
Click to expand...
Windows x64 has a larger disk footprint and uses more memory than x86. For sake of absolute compatibility, if you are running 2GB or less of ram, I also recommend 32 bit Windows.
 
bigdogchris said:
Windows x64 has a larger disk footprint and uses more memory than x86. For sake of absolute compatibility, if you are running 2GB or less of ram, I also recommend 32 bit Windows.
Click to expand...

That's just a bad recommendation, though. Upgrading to 4 gigs is dirt cheap, but the time needed to reinstall everything is terrible (compared to adding another stick of RAM). Unless some application or driver specifically blocks you from using x64, that's the way you should go. Period.
 
GushpinBob said:
Many Windows games from the 9x era had 16-bit installers. There's XP mode and virtual machines but IME there are some rare exceptions that just don't work out that well in those environments either.
Click to expand...

I repeat: "even with dosbox"?
 
Tawnos said:
I repeat: "even with dosbox"?
Click to expand...

Short answer: No, Windows 16-bit applications won't run through DOSBox or natively on 64-bit Windows.

Long answer: DOSBox only enumerates a PC BIOS plus enough of the DOS API for most things written for DOS to work. A good amount of games from the Windows 9x era have Windows installers that expect to run in real mode (16-bit, think Windows 3.1 era). The amd64 architecture (x86-64, Intel EMT64 are all included in the amd64 architecture) doesn't support virtual 8086 mode so these Windows 16-bit programs can't run natively.

You can however run them via a virtual machine.
 
Isn't XP mode only for Ultimate and Pro? If you need that you only have two choices.
 
Sovereign said:
More and more builds are using at least that amount, if not more, with increasing density of memory sticks combined with dropping memory prices.

If you're planning on upgrading memory past 16GB, get Professional.
Click to expand...

more and more on [H] maybe, but most home users, no.
 
MrGuvernment said:
more and more on [H] maybe, but most home users, no.
Click to expand...

He didn't specify. This is [H] after all. It would help if the OP clarified what the PC's use is. I've also seen pre-built systems configured with 8GB RAM at retail six months ago, so I don't think we're that far off from seeing computers which hit Home Premium's limit.
 
Tawnos said:
That's just a bad recommendation, though. Upgrading to 4 gigs is dirt cheap, but the time needed to reinstall everything is terrible (compared to adding another stick of RAM). Unless some application or driver specifically blocks you from using x64, that's the way you should go. Period.
Click to expand...
OK, maybe on this board I can see it as advice to second guess. Howver, most normal people do not run out and buy memory upgrades. If you give them a computer with 2GB of ram, it stays with 2GB of ram until it finds a home in a dumpster.
 
Yeah Home Premium for a gamer definitely, though if you are also a network power user or better yet a developer then Professional for another $30 is very appealing (it's what I use at work and home).

The "Ultimate" edition is the same thing as Enterprise, just with single instead of volume licencing. What Enterprise/Ultimate delivers is advanced terminal services and IT management features of use to large corporations. About the only feature that any home user might want in Ultimate is if you are a Windows webmaster and want multi-monitor support when remoting into servers in a far off data center, which is usually only the case if you are actually doing a lot of work right on the server rather then just making configuration changes or other maintenance tasks.
 
I normally recommend Home Premium, but for a desktop gaming machine.

Avg Base ram is 8GB
AVG Gaming Video card = 2GB (3GB for 580...) / card

So a regular computer with an 2 cards in sli = 12-14gb used. And thats just a prebuilt. If you did it yourself you would undoubtedly be at 12 or 16gb base ram...

I have 12gb and I regularly get down to sub 2gb range on my system in normal gaming (I heavily multi task..)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top