Win7: What Can I expect?

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VoicesOfTheVoid

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Just wondering, with my current hardware, what I can expect in terms of performance, compatibility etc. with moving from XP 32 to Win7 64?

I'm currently running: ASUS Rampage Formula, E8600, GTX 280, 2GB RAM, 1920x1200 res and am a seriously hardcore gamer. Pretty much what I use this system for, with the exception of some music-related things.

I would probably go with 64-bit so I upgrade to at least 4GB of RAM.

With my hardware (and the upgrade in RAM) and Win7, can I expect any solid gains in performance regarding gaming and just in general?

I've not run 64-bit with any OS presently, and since Win7 seems to be really "shining", I'm just curious how games and things in general might run with my current hardware.

What ever feedback anyone has on this would be appreciated.
 
Windows Vista and 7 both slightly outperform XP on newer hardware:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1383898

I haven't done a full set of benchmarks with the 7 RTM, but my experiences with the RC and RTM haven't differed significantly from the beta. You won't see a noticeable increase in performance (although many people find that the Aero Glass GUI "feels" smoother). What you get is much better security, a beautiful GUI, and lots of small improvements and features. Its definitely worth the upgrade, your system is fine.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
Windows Vista and 7 both slightly outperform XP on newer hardware:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1383898

I haven't done a full set of benchmarks with the 7 RTM, but my experiences with the RC and RTM haven't differed significantly from the beta. You won't see a noticeable increase in performance (although many people find that the Aero Glass GUI "feels" smoother). What you get is much better security, a beautiful GUI, and lots of small improvements and features. Its definitely worth the upgrade, your system is fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response.

So, I'm basically looking at: better security, nice GUI and if going 64-bit, some other small advantages and the advantage of being able to utilize far more RAM (w/ 64-bit), which could improve gaming and general performance.

Sounds good thus far...

...but I seem to be having trouble finding 64-bit drivers for my mobo. I don't assume that's already on the disc (that I've noticed) and ASUS' site is not listing (that I can find) any 64-bit driver for this mobo anywhere.

If they're not supporting this board with 64-bit drivers, I'm not sure what to do, because I'm not ready to upgrade to any i7 set-up with a new board, CPU etc. just to move to Win7 64, and I don't know that moving to Win7 32-bit would even be worth it, since I'm then lacking the ability to add more RAM to my set-up.

I have Win7 pre-ordered, but not really sure what to do about the driver situation if moving to 64-bit.
 
VoicesOfTheVoid said:
...but I seem to be having trouble finding 64-bit drivers for my mobo.
Click to expand...

Install Windows 7. Let it (and Windows Update) find drivers for you. You will probably later want to install GPU manufacturer drivers for your display card (and maybe audio manufacturer drivers if you have an add-in soundcard) but Win 7 will most likely set everything else up for you.
 
If you're a seriously hardcore gamer, you want to check with each game you play..see how it runs on Win7. Hitup forums specific to your game(s). Most games aren't having problems, but if you're still in XP land and run some older games that aren't fond of Vista 'n Win7...well, it's good to know ahead of time if your fave games is one of those.
 
You shouldn't need to install any drivers on your own at all. Windows Update takes care of all that for you.

Now, the Nvidia or ATI driver that it installs is a good stable driver, but its a little outdated so you might want to install the latest directly from either ATI or Nvidia site. That is the only driver you will have to install manually.
 
I noticed with the RTM compared to the RC shut down and start ups were faster...Either way it still only took a few seconds, but that's not the point :p

W7 worked great on 1 gig, 2.66 P4, 7600gs 512mb AGP video card. Aero and everything was fine.

So you can expect greatness :D
 
That's right, Windows Update is supposed to find all drivers for you.

Good to see someone else running the same mobo and some set-up info and that Win7 runs great.

Would it find all the mobo drivers needed and dl/install them properly?

I did manage to figure out which drivers were x64 on ASUS' site, but I'm not sure exactly which ones I would need or how exactly to install them.

Boot them off a flash drive? Including the BIOS update? I already updated the BIOS when I first got this mobo, but seems you have to do it again with x64 drivers?

Eh, bit confused regarding all this.

Otherwise, I'm definitely hoping to experience "greatness" (ha ha) of Win7 and finally running x64 so I can slap more RAM in this beast.

Good advice regarding checking into games as well, thanks. Yeah, coming from "XP land" (ha ha) where everything works just fine, I suppose I'd better make sure. Especially given the fact that my wife games with me (she's into shooters etc., believe it or not, ha) it would definitely suck if I ran into major problems. Not too many old games anymore, however, but I'll be checking, just in case.

OK, so in case Win7 doesn't snag everything I need (or if I want to do it manually), which drivers/utility stuff do I need for the mobo and do I need to update the BIOS again?

Thanks, all!

P.S.
I've seen that it seems people are having trouble running ATi's latest 5870 on XP (some threads around here regarding that). Anyone know if it would run up-to-snuff on Win7? Been thinking about trying it out.
 
Last edited:
Windows should install the latest WHQL'd drivers for your hardware. The only thing it fails at is Creative hardware.
 
TheGamerZ said:
Windows should install the latest WHQL'd drivers for your hardware. The only thing it fails at is Creative hardware.
Click to expand...

Well, there's quite a few different options regarding the mobo, and then there's the BIOS update, which Windows Update cannot dl/install. But I'm not sure if I need to re-update the same BIOS revision with 64-bit drivers or not.

Maybe I should ask this in the mobo forums...

As for everything else, no problem. Pretty convenient.
 
I'm not so sure why you are still so caught up on your motherboard.

Install Windows 7, run windows update, install the newest video driver you can find from either ATI or Nvidia and your done.

You don't have to manually install a motherboard driver, this isn't XP.

Hell, my mobo is a much older P35 board that works perfectly fine and has done so ever since the original Beta.
 
criccio said:
I'm not so sure why you are still so caught up on your motherboard.

Install Windows 7, run windows update, install the newest video driver you can find from either ATI or Nvidia and your done.

You don't have to manually install a motherboard driver, this isn't XP.

Hell, my mobo is a much older P35 board that works perfectly fine and has done so ever since the original Beta.
Click to expand...

Heh, I know... I get ya.

Not concerned with mobo in general, just the issue of whether or not I have to update the BIOS, because that can be a real PIA if it's necessary and I don't do it.
This board is very picky, regarding the BIOS.

I don't know if there's a "revision of the revision" for 64-bit; a 64-bit version of the update I did when I got the board. Make sense?

That's the only thing I'm "stuck" on.
 
Why would you have to reflash the BIOS?

The BIOS and the installed OS are independent of eachother.
 
What can you expect?

Fucking awesomeness.

/thread

On topic, I just let Win 7 install all the drivers for me minus video card.
 
Right, I know they're independent of one another, but I was not sure if moving to 64-bit required some update of the BIOS. I guess the answer to that is "no" ;).

Been building systems for many years, but I've never moved to 64-bit, so I was totally clueless regarding the issue between switching.

Was confused more by the fact that, under ASUS' 64-bit driver section for Win7, was the same BIOS update as I've already implemented, so I didn't know if that was specifically for 64-bit, or if they were just listing it in general.

Ha ha, OK then... I be expecting the "awesomeness" of Win7 64 to engulf me.

I'll let Win7 update my drivers, except the GPU drivers, which I'll do manually.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
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