Going from Win7 64bit to XP64 Bit (Input appreciated!)

[zarko90]

Hey everyone, I just want some opinions regarding Windows 7 versus Windows XP 64 bit. I'll start with my PC:

AMD Athlon XP 5600+ Dual Core X2
MSI K9A Platinum mainboard
4 gigs DDR2 RAM
GTX280 NVIDIA

That's the basics of my system, I don't think anything else concerns the topic. Onto my dilemma: I recently installed Windows 7 Ultimate on this machine and although it's better than Vista The only games that are unaffected are games that my computer is already overkill for (Warcraft III, SC2 beta both work on max settings fine, but games like GTA4 and NBA 2k10 are both lagging considerably worse than before on XP32bit).

I added 2 gigs of RAM to my system (was working with only 2 before) and so the move to 64-bit was necesssary. I can live without the features of Win7, that's not the issue. The issue is overall compatibility and useage. I'm sure I can find the drivers for my motherboard and graphics, and the only applications I really use are common ones (Skype, daemon tools, MSN, nero, etc..) which I would expect still run fine on XP64bit.

Is there any real pitfalls to going to XP 64 bit? I know there were tons of driver issues before, but I figure XP64 bit will handle my games much easier than Win7 currently is. Let me know your opinion.

On the other hand, I know my CPU is fairly weak and is probably bottlenecking my system. I've started looking at AM3 socket motherboards that use DDR2 (I really don't want to replace my RAM) as an alternative. My video card is DX10 but to be honest I really don't see the usefulness of DX10. DX11 may be a different story, but until developers start properly utilizing the new stuff in DX11 and I buy myself a DX11 card, I won't worry about directx at all. A possibility is to upgrade mobo/CPU and keep Win7 to see how it goes. Regardless I know my games will run faster on XP. Let me know if you think the CPU is the real problem.


ALL INPUT APPRECIATED! THANKS!

~Z

 

[13thmonkey]

xp 64bit driver scene was weak to very weak, i doubt that improved after vista came out and certainly won't have improved after win7 came out.

if you know it will run faster on xp then change, a faster cpu is always useful and is probably bottlenecking your gpu regardless of resolution.

 

[zarko90]

Thanks for your reply. I understand this was the common complaint. However how does that truly affect me? Like any examples of drivers that don't exist for xp64 that created major problems? Cheers,

 

[ericpol]

I was running 2k10 on an old e6300 3gb ram 4830 on win 7 64 without lag sounds like maybe driver issues or settings too high. Why get an am3 mobo if yours is am2+ you probably can use an am3 cpu. Microcenter had a deal buy an x4 630 get a cheapo mobo for 1 cent I got it 2 weeks ago having no problems

 

[zarko90]

I emailed MSI support and asked them... they said that my motherboard doesn't support CPUs like Phenom II etc... I looked at a CPU compatiblity chart for the K9A Platinum and the Athlon X2's were basically the best it could support.

As for 2k10, I doubt its a driver issue, I got like 2 week old Nvidia drivers. As for "settings too high", yeah, duh I could turn it down

But that's not the point. The point is why would I use Win7 if its decreasing the performance of my games?

I checked out that Microcenter site, but it's weird. I'm in Canada so none of the local options work for me, and when I select the online store, I can't get any results. Thanks for the continued advice.

 

[ulysses35]

Hmmm dont forget XP is no longer being developed and only the basic security issues are being fixed by MS - though Im sure this too will stop soon.

 

[ericpol]

As for 2k10, I doubt its a driver issue, I got like 2 week old Nvidia drivers. As for "settings too high", yeah, duh I could turn it down

But that's not the point. The point is why would I use Win7 if its decreasing the performance of my games?
I love it when you try and help someone and they get stupid. Your pc far exceeds the minimum system requirements so you obviously have driver issues. Have you checked the MSI site to see if they have win 7 drivers for your mobo? Of course not. I'll bet if you update that driver your problems will go away. Your welcome.

 

[zarko90]

Drivers are not the issue.

http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=downloaddetail&type=driver&maincat_no=1&prod_no=259

There's audio drivers, Ethernet drivers, "System drivers" (I even downloaded this, all it did was update the Microsoft C++ Redistr), and nothing else for Win7. I got them all and zero difference.

 

[zarko90]

Also, sorry to double post, but minimum requirements are just that - MINIMUM. I am talking about the fact that previously I could set my games to a certain detail level and it would perform much better than on Windows 7. Now if that's simply the reality when dealing with the new Windows, then it's pretty obvious why I'm looking into XP64 bit.

I have gotten the newest motherboard and graphics drivers, updated my 2k10 with patches (as well as tried to optimize other games) and I even turned off AA and its still performing crappily.