Win XP X64 vs Win 7 X64

Hi all, since i am building a new machine and it will have 8GB ram i will be using an x64 operating system.

I already own windows 7 in x86 and x64 but the last time i used it i couldn't get some of my older games going on either version.

I have been reading around and from what i've read XP x64 was initially a demonstration and therefore not many manufacturers developed drivers for it but i was wondering if anyone had used it and has an opinion?

Or should i just use my windows 7 and use one of my older p4 systems for the older games?

Thanks

Mike

Best option would be to use your old p4 systems for older games...
Personally for that purpose I have built a tualatin PIII@1,4ghz with a voodooo5 that runs winME :D
I would stay clear from XP_x64 , I don't really see it being more compatible than 7_x64

Quote:

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Originally Posted by keropi

Best option would be to use your old p4 systems for older games...
Personally for that purpose I have built a tualatin PIII@1,4ghz with a voodooo5 that runs winME :D
I would stay clear from XP_x64 , I don't really see it being more compatible than 7_x64

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+1^^^

We've been running WinXP 64bit on some machines, driver support is in general good..
but for gaming = waste of time, games for Windows XP are only 32bit so can max use 4GB ram (incl mem on graphics card)
(perhaps a few games for XP has been made for 64bit but is probably most unlikely)

a dualboot of WinXP 32bit and Win7 64bit is highly recommended if you want to secure your future games too (DirectX10/11+)

You could also just start your old games in a Virtual Machine. there is 3D support in VMWare player and VirtualBox which both are free to use.
Though I have no experience with the performance.

Its not really a big deal there's only 3 games i've struggled to get working on either 32 or 64 bit versions windows 7.
They are all Win98 games but they all play fine on XP

Championship Manager 01/02 - installs but crashes on startup, plays perfect on xp.

Hasbro Interactive Risk - installs but refuses to play saying not designed for this version of windows, try the manufacturer for an update.

Age of Empires: Rise of Rome - crashes on start of a new game. This one will work if i launch the game then launch task manager and close explorer.exe

I play the above games over the internet with family members so i guess i will have to keep my old p4 system setup then.

Try them out on WinXP inside a VirtualMachine then
get vmware player and make a new virtual machine with 3D support

edit: I just remembered.. did you change the settings of the executables so they are WinXP compatible ?

Yeah buddy, i tried all different compatibility modes but none of them worked. I'm downloading the free vmware player at the minute and will try running an xp virtual machine within 7 once my new build parts arrive.

If you can run Win 7 Pro or Ultimate then you can install XP mode. This is basically VirtualPC running a virtual machine with Win XP Pro installed. It can work very transparently once installed, allowing you to launch XP software from the start menu and into a window as if it were a native application.

For gaming definitely Win 7 over XP. 64bit XP isn't good and driver support was never up to scratch. Also remember that XP only supports DirectX 9, so if you are builting a new PC with a new graphics card you will want Direct X 10 support at least, and newer GPUs with Win 7 also DX 11.

BTW, what are you using the PC for other than gaming? No game will ever need more than 4GB at the moment, so 8GB is really only useful if you are encoding, editing video, doing large batch file conversions, or something similar. However with current ram prices it is fairly affordable to get 4x 2GB DDR3 matched ram at a good price so it is worth it.

I have recently build a pc with windows 7 64 bit and 32 bit and ubuntu 32bit, but I used the 64 bit version so far - I even do not know what games to try :lol:

It works ok, but I had to invest according to the pc seller in an expensive graphics card for direct x 11 and windows aero ...

---------- Post added at 15:51 ---------- Previous post was at 15:49 ----------
O one remark, I need windows for foto editing. Nef(nikon raw) is even not readable in linux. While the gimp could replace photosop, adobe lightroom is not replacable...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Harrison

BTW, what are you using the PC for other than gaming? No game will ever need more than 4GB at the moment, so 8GB is really only useful if you are encoding, editing video, doing large batch file conversions, or something similar. However with current ram prices it is fairly affordable to get 4x 2GB DDR3 matched ram at a good price so it is worth it.

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I will only be using the pc as my main internet browsing and a few games. Main games played will be, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas and GTA IV
The only reason for 8GB (2x4Gb) ram is because the motherboard/cpu/ram come as a bundle and the difference between the 4GB ram bundle and the 8GB was only £10 so i thought why not.