[laal]

I'm planning on purchasing a new computer from Dell and I have the choice between Windows XP or Vista. I'm tempted to stick with XP because it is what I am familiar with, but I want to get the most possible out of my computer's components seeing as I am huge into gaming and media. Any and all feedback would be highly appreciated. Thank you.

My Components
PROCESSOR : Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB)
MONITOR : 20 inch E207WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
MEMORY : 3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE : 500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE : Dual Drives: 48X CDRW/DVD COMBO Drive + 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
VIDEO CARD : Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER : Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader

Edited by laal, 15 February 2008 - 09:09 PM.

[Advertisements]

Definitely go with Vista, especially if you are into gaming, as Vista supports DirectX10, which allows better graphics. However, whether the HD2600XT could handle DX10 gaming at your monitor's native resolution (probably 1680x1050) is another story all together. You might want to look into getting a computer with a better graphics card if good graphics are important to you in games.

[stettybet0]

Definitely go with Vista, especially if you are into gaming, as Vista supports DirectX10, which allows better graphics. However, whether the HD2600XT could handle DX10 gaming at your monitor's native resolution (probably 1680x1050) is another story all together. You might want to look into getting a computer with a better graphics card if good graphics are important to you in games.

[laal]

Would you say I should downgrade my card choice from Dell (down to a basic that comes with the computer itself) then buy a better one on the side and install it myself into the system? Also, any specific graphic cards you would recommend? Thanks again. (:

[stettybet0]

That would probably be a cheaper option if you are technically-inclined enough to do so.

As for a specific recommendation, could you tell me what games you would be playing and what graphical settings would be acceptable to you?

[laal]

Recently I've been playing WoW (World of Warcraft) at low to medium settings due to lag (my current computer is a few years old and has average components, nothing spectacular). I play a few other games time to time that take about the same amount of requirements as WoW does. I'd want to be able to play games along those lines at maximum settings without my computer overloading itself. My price range is open, but I'd like to remain under a $400 or so price range.

If that's what you meant. If not, clarify what you were looking for further. Thanks.

Edited by laal, 15 February 2008 - 10:25 PM.

[Seltox]

WoW is a very very undemanding game. I'd even say that videocard is overkill for WoW. If you plan on playing some of the latest games (Crysis, World in Conflict, Unreal Tournament 3, etc) You'll definately be wanting to get a much better video card.

[laal]

I really enjoy first person shooters, and the graphic requirements for those games seem to be a lot more demanding than WoW. I just want something that's going to give me no restrictions and freedom no matter what I choose to play in the coming years. I've had some interest in Unreal Tournament before, so that's always a possibility. With having the money now, I want to be able to aim high with the components.

Edited by laal, 15 February 2008 - 11:19 PM.

[Seltox]

I really enjoy first person shooters, and the graphic requirements for those games seem to be a lot more demanding than WoW.

Graphic requirements depend entirely on the game itself. Something like Blakestone doesn't compare to WoW, but then something like Company of Heroes (Which is RTS) needs a lot more than WoW.

You can easily get a 640mb 8800GTS for under $400. I can't imagine you'd need or really want (well, we'd all _want_) something better than that for now. I run a 512mb 8800GT and i'm perfectly happy with it.

Explore some Radeon cards too. I don't like them so i've got no idea about the latest ones, but I know many people here would recommend them.

[Titan8990]

Generally the 8800GT 512MB outperforms the 8800GTS 640MB at a cheaper price tag.

[wizzy2k5]

I'm planning on purchasing a new computer from Dell and I have the choice between Windows XP or Vista. I'm tempted to stick with XP because it is what I am familiar with, but I want to get the most possible out of my computer's components seeing as I am huge into gaming and media. Any and all feedback would be highly appreciated. Thank you.

This is just my own personal opinion between xp and vista.

Windows Vista does have DirectX 10 so the newer games will play better in vista supposed to Windows XP however I feel Windows Vista still has bugs and isn't in my mind the best as it could be, however all operating systems start like that.

What I also like about Windows Vista is the start menu, everything is nice, clean and tidy so you don't need to worry about finding your documents and programs

If you go for Windows XP you can safely say almost everything will work and Windows XP is in my mind as stable as it could be however Windows XP doesn't have DirectX 10 so games will be running with Directx 9.0c which isn't as good as DirectX 10.

At the end of the day I can advise about Windows XP and Windows Vista but its upto you what you need it for, what you need to do.

If you are to play all the latest games and want or need DirectX10 then go for Windows Vista

If you are to play all the latest games but are not bothered about using DirectX 9.0c use Windows XP

For general internet useage and chat both are fine to use

Again its upto you

Edited by wizzy2k5, 29 February 2008 - 05:58 PM.

[Troy]

I feel Windows Vista still has bugs and isn't in my mind the best as it could be

Hi there,

I'm just wondering what it feels like to have a bug in Vista, especially since I haven't felt many at all

Vista is a lot more stable than XP, especially when comparing what XP was like on its release... Although SP2 really helped XP!

There seems to be a lot of debate over XP vs. Vista; plenty of information to read if you take the time and search for it. For example, here is one of our staff members having a good ol' rant about the debate. It's quite an interesting viewpoint, and definitely one I agree with. A good thread to check out

Cheers

Troy

[Rocknrollcows]

Vista SP1 is coming out soon

so now you have every reason to get Vista.

[wizzy2k5]

I'm just wondering what it feels like to have a bug in Vista, especially since I haven't felt many at all

Vista is a lot more stable than XP, especially when comparing what XP was like on its release... Although SP2 really helped XP!

Hiya Troy I agree with the SP2 helping XP yes it did help it but these are a few things i feel Vista could do a bit better with, bearing in mind it is like a year since I used it and will refuse to touch it till its my satisfactory stable, sorry I have very high standards.

When I was using Vista on its initial release I had a few problems in regards of :-

Internet

Would work for months on end and for some apparant reason it would just stop (thats stopping without the ISP making any changes, upgrades), yet I made no changes to anything at all, xp was on and never had a problem since, I need this to be like this in Vista and with it cutting out all the time to me is no good (just my own opinion)

Games

I like to play alot of games and I found with Vista it doesn't play them as well as xp does, yes it has directx 10 which is better but the fps I got was rubbish compared to xp, one game/simulator I play on a regular basis was between 90 and 100fps on xp, with vista it went down to as low as 30 which is no good.

I also like to play some of the older games which for some reason vista doesn't like them, I like to go into shops and say I want .......... without saying will it work on Vista, I need everything to run at top notch, until vista comes round I won't be going back to it anytime soon.

I still say to this day I would never trust Vista on a gaming basis, general office work I would, but gaming what I say is give it another year and I may re-try it.

Again these are just my own personal opinions.

Vista SP1 is coming out soon

so now you have every reason to get Vista.

Sorry even when SP1 does come out I won't be going back to it until I have seen the changes first hand.

Again just my own opinions

Edited by wizzy2k5, 10 March 2008 - 08:46 PM.

[laal]

Thank you for all the feedback. I've decided to settle with XP until Vista has a lot of it's bugs and issues fixed and dealt with. (: