Is Windows 7 any good for Gaming?

**Scratch** · July 11th, 2009, 07:11

Or should I just stick with XP?

**Blade124** · July 11th, 2009, 07:18

Scratch,

We have had a beta of Windows 7 up for a couple of months. So far, I like what I see with Windows 7. At least it gives the appearance of simplicity, however, I am not sure this simplicity is more than skin deep.

While I would definately take Windows 7 over any version of Vista, I still like XP and I think we need to see how the public views the comparison between it and XP once it is out.

Personally, I will like whatever is leaner and more simple.

Scott.

**idancesafetydance** · July 11th, 2009, 07:57

I thought windows 7 is microsoft's attempt at a gaming and multimedia platform, it sure looks like it, in the beta, people have been getting a 30 or so FPS boost in FSX and other games switching from Vista to windows 7 beta. I have heard good things and I even pre-ordered it through besbuy for half-off! Can't wait till October now.

**RyanJames170** · July 11th, 2009, 08:02

I would say win 7 being you can can run that XP mode thing. and its more upto date. win 7 on my lappy runs pretty good. its task bar is different but its certainly very nice once you get to know it

i normal see about 1 GB of RAM usage with 4 Firefox windows open and skype and MSN running. it seems to know how to manage memory better then vista letalone XP ever did for me. programs seem to run better.

i am able to do some Work in GMax and 3ds max 9 on my lappy witch is not much of an puter
Intel Pentium D 1.86 Ghz and 533 FSB, 2 GB of DDR2-533 RAM

i would if you still can go to newegg and preorder it http://www.newegg.com/win7NOW/ would make it much cheeper to get

Ryan
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***Panther_99FS*** · July 11th, 2009, 08:12

Scratch,
One of the reasons I'm still not simming is because when I get my new system, I want Windows 7, not Vista....

**doublecool** · July 11th, 2009, 08:19

Panther I would be interested in what your rig config may be

I now you been shopping:ernae:

**spotlope** · July 11th, 2009, 08:37

I'd say yes. I've been running FSX on a Win7 RC1 machine for a while now, and performance has been rock solid. Whatever lessons they learned from Vista seem to have been applied here. In fact, Win7 almost reads like an apology note from MS for the Vista debacle. Have no fear of running games on 7.

**Bjoern** · July 11th, 2009, 08:40

Gonna give Windows 7 a try during summer break. I haven't heard much bad about it.

***Panther_99FS*** · July 11th, 2009, 08:43

Originally Posted by doublecool

I now you been shopping:ernae:

I have....PROBLEM is, all the stuff I've bought recently has been photography stuff (Camera, additional lense, bag)

***FAC257*** · July 11th, 2009, 09:07

I've had the W7 RC up and running for about 3 weeks now and I'm really pleased with it so far.

Gaming has been limited to FSX 99% of the time and one full campaign in Empire Total War.

By the end the of the flight I'm currently on today, I'll have right at 90 hours flight time with FSX & W7 since converting. W7 rates an easy two thumbs-up from me so far in that amount of air time. The odd thing that I'm not quite 100% convinced of yet, is that I think I'm getting a tiny bit better FSX performance over XP. But... I also think my car gets better performance just after cleaning the dried puppy snot off the inside of my car's passenger window, so that doesn't hold a lot of weight.

So far I've only run into two small FSX utility programs that would not install. I might have been able to work around the problems by tinkering more with the compatibility mode. At this time I'm not that interested in getting non-W7 compatible stuff to work so I didn't waste anytime trying.

I did try to re-install the First Eagles WWI flight sim the other night, out of curiosity and that was a no-go. That didn't surprise me at all as Thirdwire states very clearly that FE doesn't work on Vista. Since it didn't run on Vista, I didn't really expect any different for W7.

W7 is going to be a keeper for me. I love XP, but I've want something new to look at and tinker around with between flights for a long time.

Can't wait to see how W7 will work on a new system, which I'll put together after the actual W7 release date. Most of the parts and pieces of the system I'm running W7 on right now are 2 1/2 years old.

FAC

**some1** · July 11th, 2009, 09:07

Actually, the benchmarks that can be found over the net like: http://www.pcformat.co.uk/article/xp...-vs-7-02-07-09 (just google for "vista versus 7" to find more) say that there's not much really difference between vista and 7, sometimes one system wins, sometimes other. Given the fact that they are both very simillar systems that use the same driver model (7 can even use the same graphics drivers than vista), I wouldn't expect 7 to be the ultimate cure for FSX problems with performance

Some time ago I made a FSX test run using the standard benchmark from avism (FSXmark07) and the performance was almost identical that on Vista, with difference less than 2%.

**IanHenry** · July 11th, 2009, 09:47

I think it is fantastic, far better than Vista.

Ian.

BananaBob · July 11th, 2009, 09:58

Still using XP here too, it's just running too good right now to even think about it, LOL :ernae:

**dswo** · July 11th, 2009, 11:02

Originally Posted by RyanJames170

i would if you still can go to newegg and preorder it http://www.newegg.com/win7NOW/ would make it much cheeper to get<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">

Thanks for mentioning this! Today's the last day for the preorder discount (which is also available at Amazon, Fry's, and Best Buy). I'm not in a hurry to migrate from XP, but at least one of the machines we have around the house will get an upgrade sometime, and I don't think we'll see a lower price.

**JT8D-9A** · July 11th, 2009, 11:34

For se german members click

I wouldn't pay more for it, since i bought Vista and i'm quite happy with Ubuntu.
Win7 seems to be more stable than Vista at its start but the drivers and applications have improved a lot. The performance in games is nearly identical like with Vista.

**Scratch** · July 11th, 2009, 15:41

Thanks for the info fellas. I would like to take advantage of the half price discount right now, but XP is handling things pretty well. I still might take the plunge though.

**heywooood** · July 11th, 2009, 18:06

if it aint broke....

its going to take a mountain of endorsements to get me to switch from Xp to anything else

**Bjoern** · July 12th, 2009, 09:57

Originally Posted by JT8D-9A

For se german members click

Speaking of, which 7 Edition is the rough equivalent to XP Professional?

I want to have a bit more control over my OS than the average user.

***FAC257*** · July 12th, 2009, 10:26

Here's a link to a side-by-side of the main versions.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...mpare-editions

An important item to look at is the " Run many Windows XP productivity programs in Windows XP Mode." that is only available in the Professional and Ultimate.

I'm only guessing, but without that feature things might get a little frustrating for folks still wanting to hang on to older programs.

FAC

**Bjoern** · July 12th, 2009, 10:50

Originally Posted by FAC257

Here's a link to a side-by-side of the main versions.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...mpare-editions

So "XP Professional" = "7 Professional". Good to know and way more logical than that Vista subversion terror.

An important item to look at is the " Run many Windows XP productivity programs in Windows XP Mode." that is only available in the Professional and Ultimate.

I'm only guessing, but without that feature things might get a little frustrating for folks still wanting to hang on to older programs.

The "XP mode" is crucial for me, since quite some AI management and flight planning tools for FS9/FSX run best under XP x86.

**JT8D-9A** · July 12th, 2009, 11:06

Bjoern,
Premium is enough. Premium E (E=Europe=without IE).
For Backup and security solutions i tend to not use MS products and i don't plan to carry my PC to work, to connect to a domain-based network...

Regarding "WinXP mode".. you can download Virtualbox for free and you will have your WinXP mode (WinXP mode= virtual machine + WinXP license).
I'm already using a virtual machine under Linux but it's not very fast, so it's not really fun...

***FAC257*** · July 12th, 2009, 11:16

There are actually at least 11 or 12 different versions of Windows 7 if you count the 64bit ones. Partly in order to reduce the Vista multiple version nightmare only a few are going to be available off the shelf.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/artic...5&pageNumber=1

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...explained.html

FAC

**robrealair** · July 12th, 2009, 11:56

Originally Posted by spotlope

I'd say yes. I've been running FSX on a Win7 RC1 machine for a while now, and performance has been rock solid. Whatever lessons they learned from Vista seem to have been applied here. In fact, Win7 almost reads like an apology note from MS for the Vista debacle. Have no fear of running games on 7.

I'm considering getting Win7 but what disappoints is that it is clearly still over the top bloatware. Any operating system that needs a gig or more of RAM just to run, let alone effectively use, is by definition a ludicrously over bloated piece of software. A run down the list of default active services in any recent version of windows demonstrates just how absurd the whole O/S is. MS seems to have learned nothing from Linux over the years.

Of course you can download software which obliterates some of it when running FSX, but this barely scratches the surface.

It would have taken so little effort to offer various boot up options which loaded a "barebones" system over which efficient software can be run. When you add the now stone age FSX core engine over the top, it is hardly surprising that you need a stella system to run FSX half decently.

Rob