Question on OS and Ram for Gaming future

[froggyluv]

Hi everyone. My previously home built PC was destroyed in a shipping accident so I'm taking the insurance to build a new and hopefully beter one. My main question concerns which OS I should get XP/Vista; 32/64? I've used Vista a couple years ago and it really led to buggy gameplay so I resinstalled XP32. I pretty much only use PC to play 3d War-Sims like Operation Flashpoint, Armed Assault and am anxiously awaiting their sequels. The reason for my indecision is memory- I know you can only run 4+gigs on 64 bit systems but the question is: Is it worth the Vista hassle to aim for really high ram?

I remember the jump from 1 gig to 2 gigs was HUGE- almost like a new video card. Does 2-4;4-8gigs and beyond have that same explosive improvement or is there a point of diminishing returns?

thanks in advance for all replies- been asking this anywhere

 

[WR2]

Bit-Tech did a review of the 2/4/8 GB question a couple weeks ago. For an average user it looks like 4GB is a sweet spot. And with 4GB sets of good RAM going for under $100 it's almost a no-brainer.
Since its very easy to do a RAM upgrade we usually recommend people start out with 4GB unless they have an exceptionally large budget.
The extra $100 to get from 4GB to 8GB is usually better spent in an upgrade to the CPU. or probably best option, the video card.

The XP/Vista & 32/64 questions are a bit tougher. But not so tough as to keep people from recommending Vista 64 to someone buying new hardware these days. Vista has even mostly caught up to gaming performance with XP.

For someone that already has a copy of XP we don't automatically recommend a Vista upgrade.
But if you're buying an OS and you're getting 4GB of RAM Vista64 Home Premium is that way to go.
With more than a years practical experience now there are plenty of "tweak tips" out there to help you get Vista under control.

 

[froggyluv]

Nice exactly what i was looking for! I'm going vista64/4 gig- thanks alot.