Windows 8 & gaming: yes or no?

[Setnom]

Windows 8 or Windows 7, doesn't matter, they're virtually the same regarding games. About DX11.1: it isn't all that much of an improvement, it's basically more stuff for 3D gaming.

[theyarecomingforyou]

So basically it's just a matter of preference to have Windows 8 installed instead of Windows 7 on a gaming rig

(performance-wise is Win 8 slightly faster I guess)

Yup. Windows 8 is fractionally faster in some games, while some older games show some performance drops - there's no meaningful difference.

[kiddingguy]

I guess I'm sticking to Windows 7 on my gaming PC for some time...

[syobon999]

Windows 8 is somehow considerable faster in some games that make heavy use of scripts, like Civilization IV.

[alphaomegainfinity]

I find no difference with games like Skyrim but maybe my GPU is now weak :p

[PGHammer]

Eh? Been a long time since I used windows but back when I did (xp/7) I never really remember many game crashes at all.

The issue isn't necessarily game crashes - but crashes elsewhere (especially drivers) bringing either the game or the OS to a screeching halt.

As good as Vista and 7 (especially x64) are in this area, Windows 8 Pro (x64) is even better.

It was that particularly surprising discovery that had me do the entirety of my participation in the Diablo III and GW2 betas on Windows 8's Consumer and Release Previews (no Windows 7-based testing at all).

Stability FTW - and this is especially true if you are a gamer.

[dtytfyiutiufg]

I love Windows 8. It is rock solid and performance is always at least as good as Windows 7 if not better most of the time.

[soulburner]

Crysis 2 doesn't work in DirectX 11 mode under Windows 8. The first run may work fine, but any further runs result in a weird wide window on the desktop, showing the game menu squashed in the center. When attempting to change resolution, the menu says "undefined". Pressing alt+tab takes you to full screen, but you get a very low resolution squashed game in the center. I don't think Crytek cares enough about Crysis 2 and/or Windows 8 to fix that. Bummer.

[syobon999]

Crysis 2 doesn't work in DirectX 11 mode under Windows 8. The first run may work fine, but any further runs result in a weird wide window on the desktop, showing the game menu squashed in the center. When attempting to change resolution, the menu says "undefined". Pressing alt+tab takes you to full screen, but you get a very low resolution squashed game in the center. I don't think Crytek cares enough about Crysis 2 and/or Windows 8 to fix that. Bummer.

I think they launched an update to Crysis 2 in Windows 8... I only own Crysis 1 and Warhead on Steam so I can't confirm...

[+Ryster Subscriber²]

The only game I have problems with is Batman Arkham City, everything else works fine :)

Arkham City works fine in Windows 8. Did you update your GfWL client?

[watsxn]

love it. i play l4d2 all the time.

[PGHammer]

I think they launched an update to Crysis 2 in Windows 8... I only own Crysis 1 and Warhead on Steam so I can't confirm...

The issue was unique to the Preview versions of Windows 8 - I have a fully-updated Crysis 2 (1.9, DX11, and high-resolution texture patches) installed on my Pro x64 RTM Windows 8 and it runs just fine - albeit with a VERY hooptie (AMD HD5450 PCI-E for now) GPU (1280x720 @ 30 fps in DX11 High Settings) tag-teameed wwith a Q6600 and 4 GB of DDR2.

[muffinsyay]

The only downside is the windows key doesn't get disabled in full screen games. It is really annoying to have the start screen come up in a game.

Performance wise it's the same.

[Aergan]

Some games that used to crash if you ALT+TAB'ed out or WinKey out seem to resume now (Unsure if OS or GFX card drivers), otherwise it's the same thusfar.

[PGHammer]

Some games that used to crash if you ALT+TAB'ed out or WinKey out seem to resume now (Unsure if OS or GFX card drivers), otherwise it's the same thusfar.

Precisely, Aergan - Alt+Tab is a necessity if you ALSO have background tasks (such as IM clients or even Skype) running while you game. (And unless you are so obsessed that you kill every background task before launching a game, you WILL have background tasks, if not whole applications, running.)

Remember my mentioning that I'm running 8 Pro x64 on a Q6600, 4GB of DDR2, and an AMD HD5450? More often than not, I have a good dozen background tasks and applications - at minimum - running in addition to the game of the moment (something which would bring Windows 7 to a halt) - including both Yahoo Messenger and Skype (classic - not ModernUI).. Currently among those tasks are thirty-two tabs of Comodo Dragon, three of IE 10 desktop, Spotify, uTorrent, Kindle for Win32 Adobe Reader, and (as I said before) Yahoo Messenger and Skype for Win32. I have no qualms about merely switching away to play a game, because I know the OS can handle it.

THAT is stability, folks.

[devBrian]

HD4000 performance in Skyrim in Windows 7 = 45FPS outdoors, on medium settings. Unbelievable performance for this card.

On Windows 8 = 25FPS outdoors.

Probably a driver issue, but for now, W7 is my choice.

[spaceelf]

I will note that Crysis 2 works fine in DX11 mode on my 8 box now, so when or where or how it was fixed I do not know but it does work.

[migo]

Windows 8 is somehow considerable faster in some games that make heavy use of scripts, like Civilization IV.

I understand Civilisation is quite RAM intensive late game, and Windows 8 has introduced some significant RAM improvements, so that could be it?

[theyarecomingforyou]

HD4000 performance in Skyrim in Windows 7 = 45FPS outdoors, on medium settings. Unbelievable performance for this card.

On Windows 8 = 25FPS outdoors.

Probably a driver issue, but for now, W7 is my choice.

AMD only supports the HD5xxx series and above for Windows 8, so that could be a factor. More importantly, Skyrim is one of the easiest modern games to run - if you're getting less than 60fps at maximum settings then it's time to upgrade.

[spaceelf]

I will note that Crysis 2 works fine in DX11 mode on my 8 box now, so when or where or how it was fixed I do not know but it does work.

oops I guess that was covered already :)

I had some game issues (I assume DRM related) trying to run them from a Storage Space, but I just removed those (I wanted 8 on my newer+bigger SSD) and everything's working great.

[devBrian]

AMD only supports the HD5xxx series and above for Windows 8, so that could be a factor. More importantly, Skyrim is one of the easiest modern games to run - if you're getting less than 60fps at maximum settings then it's time to upgrade.

Whoopsy. I mean... Intel HD 4000.

[Scorbing]

Tried Batttlefield 3 on Windows 8 and I went back to Windows 7. The performance is lower and it just doesn't feel and look right on Windows 8. Windows 7 drivers are more mature and the game simply performs better on Windows 7 - in my experience.

Also, I got sick and tired of Explorer crashing on Windows 8 for no reason whatsoever. Never happened on Windows 7, so back to Windows 7 for me.

Games simply crash less (far less) on Windows 8 than on earlier versions of Windows - even games that predate Windows 8 by several years.

Battlefield 3 crashes more on Windows 8 than on Windows 7.

[Motoko.]

fraps doesn't work on windows 8 which sucks

[evieluvsrainbows]

Actually there is a difference. Games load actually faster in Windows 8 than they do in Windows 7. Trust me, I tried playing games on Windows 7 and they were slow as heck.

[PGHammer]

Tried Batttlefield 3 on Windows 8 and I went back to Windows 7. The performance is lower and it just doesn't feel and look right on Windows 8. Windows 7 drivers are more mature and the game simply performs better on Windows 7 - in my experience.

Also, I got sick and tired of Explorer crashing on Windows 8 for no reason whatsoever. Never happened on Windows 7, so back to Windows 7 for me.

Battlefield 3 crashes more on Windows 8 than on Windows 7.

What are the hardware specs? Motherboard, CPU, CPU, RAM amount, etc. Also, the issues could well be driver-related (or even configuration-related). They could even be unique to your particular hardware configuration. (There are plenty of folks running BF3 on Windows 8 today - they couldn't do it if it were the game itself.)