Windows XP or VIsta For New System?

[Atrocities]

What do you think?

$1595.00
-$80.00 rebate
$1515.00


CASE: CoolerMaster Stacker 830 Tower 420W Case W/ Side-panel Window
CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6320 CPU @ 1.86GHz 1066FSB 2x2MB L2 Cache 64-bit
MOTHERBOARD: (Quad-Core Supports) Asus P5N-E nForce 650i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Value Select or Major Brand)
VIDEO CARD: NEW!!! NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)
VIDEO CARD 2: NONE
LCD Monitor: NONE
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Data Hard Drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM Hard Drive
Optical Drive: (Special Price) 18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR)
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

What do you think about water cooled CPU's? Never really considered one before. Are they dependable?

What about wireless net work cards? What is a good one?

Should I go with Vista, XP x64 (System is 64bit) or XP Pro?

[Caduceus]

Games are beginning (just beginning, mind) to be on Vista only, i.e. Shadowrun and Halo 2, XP still has some life in it, I'd get the XP Pro version so you can upgrade to Vista more easily (cheaply) in the future.

DirectX 10, etc will require Vista, if I am not mistaken.

And this is when the Windows haters come out of the woodwork...

But 90%+ of the world uses Windows, Vista will be required in the next few years. You can dislike that fact, but it is most likely going to happen.

[Santiago]

XP Pro would be my choice.

New copies of XP will stop being sold in 2008 but still supported til 2012.

Vista is nice and has some improvements but has hi system requirements is is full of conveniences but not essentials.

Vista will take at least a year to settle down. If you're happy with trying to keep up with all the driver updates especially video drivers, then go for it. Note: Nvidia drivers are loaded with bugs and there are several class action lawsuits being formed. Nvidia's "Vista Ready" just isn't. But about half seem to have some kind of problems and not just with games. Hardware too.

Microsoft did such a horrible job of working with vendors on legacy XP-Windows 2000 application-hardware compatibility that everything is up in the air. Don't expect windows vista drivers for hardware you already own until late 2007 at best.

[Atrocities]

Thanks guys. XP Pro it is. Now which one? XP Pro or XP X64?

Since the system is 64 bit, should I go with the 64 version of XP?

[DeadZone]

I have a 64bit system, but Ive stuck to XP32bit, due to some hardware not having 64bit drivers (last I checked anyway, might need to relook)
But then, IIRC, some software has problems with XP64
So, look into making sure the hardware has 64bit drivers, and the software you use is known to work on XP64

Or maybe, Ive just been out the game for so long Im talking total rubbish

[Thy_Reaper]

The 32 bit version of XP has a lot more support for just about anything, and very few applications have embraced the 64 bit era. I'd suggest sticking with 32 bit.

Also, I see that you have a Core 2 Duo E6320 picked out.

If you do decide to go with the 32 bit XP, I'd suggest getting a Core 2 Duo E6600. From the quick pricing I did, it seems the E6600 is about $80 more, but runs at 2.4GHz compared to 1.8GHz. If you can upgrade to that and don't mind the little extra cost, that's a pretty significant speed increase.

[Fyron]

I'd have to echo the warnings about 64 bit OSes. Drivers for them are far less mature, and you won't really see any gains from using them over the 32 bit versions.

Santiago said:
"Vista is nice and has some improvements but has hi system requirements..."

Which are easily covered by the system specs he posted. Note that such reqs go away when a game is launched, due to the kernel prioritizing them over noncritical parts of windows.

"If you're happy with trying to keep up with all the driver updates especially video drivers, then go for it."

You have to keep up with video card drivers on any (gaming-relevant) OS. Vista is no exception there.

"Note: Nvidia drivers are loaded with bugs and there are several class action lawuits being formed."

Hopefully these spurious lawsuits get dismissed and nVidia can continue working on their drivers in peace. If buggy drivers were worth lawsuits, Creative and ATI should have been sued out of existence by now.

"Don't expect windows vista drivers for hardware you already own until late 2007 at best."

He is getting a new system, so that's not much of an issue. Though, I haven't really heard of any non-video card driver issues. What have you heard?

[Leternel]

Linux, always use Linux for new system!
As DirectX his going to be opensource-remade and Vista sucks too much.

I recently bought a portable with Vista. Once started, I couldn't even launch notepad!!!!!!

[Santiago]

@ Fyron

Fyron said: You have to keep up with video card drivers on any (gaming-relevant) OS. Vista is no exception there.

Very true, however if the drivers aren't close to being DX-10 ready then updating drivers can cause serious problems.



"Don't expect windows vista drivers for hardware you already own until late 2007 at best."

Fyron said: He is getting a new system, so that's not much of an issue. Though, I haven't really heard of any non-video card driver issues. What have you heard?

It is if he's going to plug in peripherals. Printers and scanners are hit or miss with scanners being worse. The "final" update for Ipod compatability was only released 22 May. MS's own Zune player didn't work right until at least until March and still has glitches.

MS had to release
Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update. MS had to release this to get major software progams just to be able to run. Photoshop, AVG Various games etc.

The Windows Vista Application Compatibility Update is a package of software updates that address common application compatibility issues in Windows Vista. When you try to install and run certain legacy games or applications in Windows Vista, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:• The game or application may not be installed correctly.
• The game or application may not be installed correctly.
• The game or application may cause system instability.
• The primary functions of the game or application may not work correctly.



From Dell " Some customers who purchased retail copies of Windows Vista may receive bluescreen errors when installing on systems configured with more than 3GB of RAM installed.
Microsoft has released a patch to correct the problem, as well as a procedure to complete installs on these systems"


All in all, it probably will be better in the future, but for Joe average who just wants to turn on the pc and work or play, it'sjust a big hassle.

[Atrocities]

I am going to go with XP Pro SP2. I can always move up to VISTA after a year or two.