Windows 7 64-Bit or Windows 8 64-Bit For Gaming

[PGHammer]

The bechmarks suggest that are about the same.. I had Windows 8 on my gaming box for 1 day.. and reloaded Windows 7 back Thats just me though.. I think Steam being intergrated with the start screen would be pretty cool.. but I just like Windows 7 better..

Going down to the SSD route would be great.. Windows 8 starts up very fast with those.. One thing I did like about WIndows 8.

It's all about personal preference.

I went from 7 x64 (Ultimate) to 8 x64 (Pro with Media Center) - along with every game that I ran on 7, new titles I've added since, and even old titles that could never run right on 7 x64.

No SSD. No touch screen. What did I lose going from 7 to 8?

Waiting.

I have found 8 both more stable (less crash-prone) and more compatible (and with more games) than even 7 - which was the king of compatibility to that point.

Steam games? Not a single solitary issue or quibble. As far as the lack of Start Screen shortcuts, please; if a Steam game creates a desktop shortcut, it ALSO creates a shortcut on the Start Screen.

What I have seen (so far) is that the majority of Windows 7 fans love the Start menu and also have many nested submenus - which is something I have despised about ALL versions of Windows that supported submenus. (It gets so bad it looks like a "bracketology" seminar - if I wanted such a thing, I'd go into fantasy sports management, or run a sports book.)

I have not a single issue gaming on Windows 8 x64 today.

[count0nz]

Same windows 8 x64 treating me very well.. even Flight Simulator 2004 runs Fine under 8.

[still1]

windows 7 is much better

[droolingmonkey]

Another vote for 8 here. Since upgrading (clean install), I have been able to play all the old games I used to, without any issues. nVidia card here. Dont go backwards bro, seriously. There's nothing in 7 that isnt just better in 8, aside from the easily avoidable start screen, if you simply cant get used to it...

[trag3dy]

Won't matter unless your GPU supports 11.1.

edit: Looks like the Radeon HD 7850 supports 11.1. Newegg has it labeled wrong.

Which won't matter if the game isn't using dx 11.1 either. How many games even use dx 11 these days? Not enough that I'd think that should even be a deciding factor in what you use.

[Luke777]

Go for Windows 7 and install this update too.

It is needed for IE10 Preview, but it also speed up win7

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2670838

[spaceelf]

Which won't matter if the game isn't using dx 11.1 either. How many games even use dx 11 these days? Not enough that I'd think that should even be a deciding factor in what you use.

Five DX11 games came out in the last month and a half. I'm guessing over the neat year DX9 releases will be much rarer than they were this year.

[WildWayz]

Thanks guys

I've asked the company I am getting it from to throw a 120GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD into the build too. I've also done a trial run about using the Audit Mode scripting to change ProgramData and Users folders from being on C: to D: (the 1TB drive). On my test bed at work, it works very well in Windows 8.

Now, do I install Steam to the D drive or leave it on the SSD? Trouble is, I have things like

Dishonored

Hitman Absolution

Far Cry 3

Battlefield 3

Modern Warfare 2

Black Ops 2

Worms Revolution

Batman: Arkham City

Which I imagine, if I install all of them to SSD, then i'll have about 200kb of space left :p

So would it be best to run games from D: and applications from C: ?

I think i'll go with Windows 8 64Bit. I was using it for gaming when I had the laptop with it on there, and didnt have issues (other than HP not updating gfx drivers!).

Any tips for optimising the SSD?

Thanks again all.

[Setnom]

I'd say keep the SSD for Windows and software and the HDD for games, docs, videos, music, etc. You can also partition the SSD in two and install BF3 to the second SSD partition.

[Rohdekill]

Did WIN8 resolve the issue with the hot corners on games outside of metro?

I ran Company of Heroes in WIN8 (dev) with a map in the bottom-left of the screen. Each time the map was clicked to quick-jump to that portion on the screen, the game stopped and the OS took over.

I considered this a major flaw.

[Guest]

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Add-Your-Steam-Games-to-the-Windows-8-Start-Screen-with-Pin-Steam-309773.shtml

[threetonesun]

Did WIN8 resolve the issue with the hot corners on games outside of metro?

I ran Company of Heroes in WIN8 (dev) with a map in the bottom-left of the screen. Each time the map was clicked to quick-jump to that portion on the screen, the game stopped and the OS took over.

I considered this a major flaw.

I've never had an issue with it running in full screen. Maybe it's a problem with Windowed full-screen.

Steam Pin + Windows 8 start menu looks pretty cool. Plus it's easier for me to remember which games I haven't beat yet that way. :laugh:

Also, I'd put steam on the spinny-drive, the difference in load time is minimal, and considering some new games are at the 30 GB mark already, an SSD is going to fill up fast.

[WildWayz]

Thanks again guys.

I know this has gone from "what os to install for gaming" to general advice, so apologies. Hopefully one more thing...

When I install Windows 8 to SSD, I read somewhere that I need to disable my normal HDD - or at least, delete all partitions on it. Is that normal? Anything I need to know about SSD? Thanks again - very much appreciated!

[threetonesun]

Thanks again guys.

I know this has gone from "what os to install for gaming" to general advice, so apologies. Hopefully one more thing...

When I install Windows 8 to SSD, I read somewhere that I need to disable my normal HDD - or at least, delete all partitions on it. Is that normal? Anything I need to know about SSD? Thanks again - very much appreciated!

Where did you read this? :huh:

I had a storage drive in my PC when I installed Windows 8 on my SSD, there were no issues.

[tsupersonic]

Thanks again guys.

I know this has gone from "what os to install for gaming" to general advice, so apologies. Hopefully one more thing...

When I install Windows 8 to SSD, I read somewhere that I need to disable my normal HDD - or at least, delete all partitions on it. Is that normal? Anything I need to know about SSD? Thanks again - very much appreciated!

Nope, you don't need to disable any HDD's during the install process. I think what you may have read probably said something along the lines of disconnect your HDD's just in case you don't make mistakes when you format/install W8, so you don't format the HDD by accident or delete any partitions on the HDD, etc. Just be careful when you format/install W8 and select the SSD (just like any other OS installation). Windows 8 will recognize and optimize the OS for the SSD.

[WildWayz]

I read it here: http://www.seven.......stallation.html (remove dots in the seven forums bit - think it is being blocked)

(Bottom of the 1st page)

[burnsflipper]

http://news.softpedi...am-309773.shtml

That seems like a very useful app :) thanks

[psionicinversion]

the 11.1 is a useless point to upgrade to 8 because like other ppl have said most games arent even built for directx 11. There mostly all built for consoles and ported to PC so i wouldnt expect any built for dx11 till the next xbox and playstation comes out. Those that do have directx11 stuff is mostly after thoughts.

Any problems with gaming on 8 would be driver issues me thinks and id put your games on your separate HD they dont need to go on SSD cus it may take longer to load a level but once its loaded its loaded and wont be calling up the stuff on the HD much. For me personally im going wait till sometime next year to upgrade to 8, let em release patches and updates to it to fix any niggling problems and then itll be sorted.

[Gaara sama]

Windows Vista ....... lol

[spaceelf]

Those that do have directx11 stuff is mostly after thoughts.

That might have been true at some point but now it's a load of crap.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

Both OS's are going to give you pretty much the same performance, just use which one you like. I use Windows 8 at home. Having said that, I still to this day have trouble running Games for Windows games on Windows 8 (Fable 3 for instance).

[*RedBull*]

Dual boot win 7 and 8. I do, just I find win 8 easier to work with now. So I don't use 7 so much if at all. Haven't had a reason to use 7 lately.

[spaceelf]

Both OS's are going to give you pretty much the same performance, just use which one you like. I use Windows 8 at home. Having said that, I still to this day have trouble running Games for Windows games on Windows 8 (Fable 3 for instance).

heh Bulletstorm is the one I can't get to work.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

heh Bulletstorm is the one I can't get to work.

Me either lol

[BeerFan]

For me, I use Windows 8 because Battlefield 1942 (old as hell) doesn't crash. It has crashed for me with some regularity on every OS since it's release until 8. It doesn't make much sense, I'll admit, but Windows 8 runs it better than every other OS i've tried.