Which OS to use with E6700

[ghepetto]

I just bought a Intel Core 2 Duo e6700, which os should i use for gaming? I dont want Vista... Should I get the Windows XP Home or Windows XP 32-bit, or Windows XP-64-bit... Remember the sole purpose of this machine is for gaming.

 

[gOJDO]

XP 32bit

 

[Farhang]

Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2 (Integrated March 2007) 8)

 

[rodney_ws]

I don't think a huge argument can be made to go the Pro route over the Home route... any 32-bit XP should do you fine.

 

[Tostino]

XP-x64 isn't all that bad... I use it as my only OS, and it works perfectly. It's not very often that I find software that will not run on it, and since all of my hardware is pretty new, it's not hard to find 64 bit drivers.

 

[ghepetto]

Ok so go with the Windows XP pro 32 bit... Thanks!

 

[rodney_ws]

Ok so go with the Windows XP pro 32 bit... Thanks!

If you're having to buy an XP license, I would go the Home route just to save the money... XP is on borrowed time and you'd just be throwing money away. I understand the differences between Home and Pro... I just challenge anyone here to tell this guy why he needs Pro. What can't Home do that Pro can (that's applicable to this user)? What can Pro do better than Home that means anything to this guy? Anyone?

 

[Farhang]

how much is the price difference between Home & Pro?

 

[Mandrake_]

$89 US vs $139 US. (OEM versions) Go with Home if you don't need the extra stuff in Pro.

 

[merc14]

Go home, Pro doesn't buy you anything but networking and some other minor things that have nothing to do with gaming. XP may not be available at the end of 2007 but it will be supported till at least 2010.

 

[Major_Spittle]

I just bought a Intel Core 2 Duo e6700, which os should i use for gaming? I dont want Vista... Should I get the Windows XP Home or Windows XP 32-bit, or Windows XP-64-bit... Remember the sole purpose of this machine is for gaming.

I got the same processor and run Vista 64. I like it and am looking forward to 64bit/Multi-threaded game that will take advantage of the 6 gigs of ram I will soon have.

I know nothing about games with XP-64, I would get a copy of XP-MCE. This is what I ran and should be complatible with everything. Just remember, 32bit will bottleneck on memory before long the way things are going. .5 gig of Ram allocated just for Video card and only 2.25 gig of addresses left for system memory to be allocated will probably not make for the greatest gaming system come next year. My BF2 sucks 1.5 gig. Ram already and that is an older game.

At least that was my thought while building my system, and games that comming out this year are seeming to start that direction. I can't imagine anyone starting code for a game to release next year that wouldn't be writing it to be multi-threaded and 64 optimized. These and SSE4 are pretty much manditory if you want to release a top of the line game in 2008.

 

[oswold]

I'm wondering which OS to get. I think i'll get XP for now untill early next year when drivers and bugs are sorted out for vista.

But can the OEM vista be used as an upgrade over XP, because my thoughts are that if it is oem, then microsoft would'nt include the option to do an OS install over another OS (because it was intended for the original manufacturer, and the they would be doing a clean install most likely).

Also does 64bit XP have a much greater performance than 32bit (which I would expect it should)? And are the ranges of drivers and software really limited for 64bit?

 

[djcoolmasterx]

Pro sounds cooler

 

[rodney_ws]

If it were me, I wouldn't be considering running a Vista upgrade. Over all these years Microsoft still hasn't gotten the upgrade thing right... a clean install is almost always your best bet.

 

[jaguarskx]

Go home, Pro doesn't buy you anything but networking and some other minor things that have nothing to do with gaming. XP may not be available at the end of 2007 but it will be supported till at least 2010.

Last I heard Windows XP Home will only be supported by MS for more two years after the date Windows Vista has been released. Windows XP Pro will be supported by MS until at least 2011.

 

[malphadour]

I was thinking that this would run DOS6.22 apps pretty well.......

 

[dragonsprayer]

lol

run vista it works great - research your mobo - i was building dual boot systems xp/vista but vista works so well its a waste

major issues: sound (this is the one issue - research your mobo)

 

[malphadour]

Also, it would probably make a pretty good job of running CP-M. Now, where did I put that compiler.....

 

[rodney_ws]

Go home, Pro doesn't buy you anything but networking and some other minor things that have nothing to do with gaming. XP may not be available at the end of 2007 but it will be supported till at least 2010.

Last I heard Windows XP Home will only be supported by MS for more two years after the date Windows Vista has been released. Windows XP Pro will be supported by MS until at least 2011.
Do you really think Microsoft will let us game much longer on XP? I think MS dropping support for Home is a non-issue.