How is Win7 for gaming?

[TechBoyJK]

I work at a Datacenter, and MS has given us a Volume License and master copy of Win7 Enterprise. Since I'm going to be doing alot of work from home, I convinced them to allocate me a copy to install at home. Right now, I dual boot XP (non-legit) and Vista (legit). I just have the XP install for stuff that won't work in Vista.

I'm thinking I might just wipe both and install Win7. Does anybody have any experience with win7 and gaming?

 

[nageov3t]

I had issues with stability while playing WoW on Win7... primarily, it would frequently lock up or outright crash if I alt tabbed (especially if I switched to another monitor during loading screens, which is like half the point of having a second monitor). I eventually downgraded back to vista.

I think it was a driver issue that might be solved now, but I haven't cared enough to go back and reinstall my OS to find out; I'll probably just wait for retail at this point.

 

[AmberClad]

I've been using it for the past couple of months (originally RC now upgraded to RTM) without any major issues. The only thing that won't work at all even under compatibility mode is some Crazy Machines game that I got for free from PNY. Mind you, I haven't tried any really old titles on it yet.

 

[Maximilian]

Same as vista so far for me. Havent had any problems yet.

 

[Cabages]

Have they came out with a fix for punkbuster yet?

I've been using it since the beta, haven't had any problems. All my steam games work, I've only really had problems with getting a Morrowind mod to work.

 

[calyco]

Only problem I had was with Win 7 and Steam. I would get odd audio problems in TF2, like volume decreasing when ever I hit any of the buttons in the main menu. Also had high ping and lag during gaming. But no more problems now with current steam and windows update.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: calyco
Only problem I had was with Win 7 and Steam. I would get odd audio problems in TF2, like volume decreasing when ever I hit any of the buttons in the main menu. Also had high ping and lag during gaming. But no more problems now with current steam and windows update.

I have the same problems in all games. Go to sounds then the last tab and select don't change volume at all or something.

 

[Alienwho]

I've played dozens of games in Windows 7 RC without issue.

 

[Cheesetogo]

I haven't had any issues.

 

[43st]

Originally posted by: calyco
Only problem I had was with Win 7 and Steam. I would get odd audio problems in TF2, like volume decreasing when ever I hit any of the buttons in the main menu. Also had high ping and lag during gaming. But no more problems now with current steam and windows update.

I've become very quick at typing 'snd_restart' in the console.. (same issue here)

 

[thilanliyan]

No issues that I can remember.

 

[Arglebargle]

I've had issues with games on Steam and Win7. Tends to crash on quitting them, not the worst problem to have by far. Have had the occaisional game hiccough, but nothing too bad. Also had to get an older C distribution to get one to work there.

On the other hand, my wireless works far better now.

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: calyco
Only problem I had was with Win 7 and Steam. I would get odd audio problems in TF2, like volume decreasing when ever I hit any of the buttons in the main menu. Also had high ping and lag during gaming. But no more problems now with current steam and windows update.

I have the same problems in all games. Go to sounds then the last tab and select don't change volume at all or something.

I had this problem.

To fix it, just disable the windows option which lowers volume when a voip program is detected, like TF2/

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
Same as vista so far for me. Havent had any problems yet.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: videogames101

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: calyco
Only problem I had was with Win 7 and Steam. I would get odd audio problems in TF2, like volume decreasing when ever I hit any of the buttons in the main menu. Also had high ping and lag during gaming. But no more problems now with current steam and windows update.

I have the same problems in all games. Go to sounds then the last tab and select don't change volume at all or something.

I had this problem.

To fix it, just disable the windows option which lowers volume when a voip program is detected, like TF2/

Yep. Took me a little while to figure out that but was able to figure it out myself. I remember seeing that option when looking around in Vista and Windows 7. Didn't know what it did until I noticed it made my in game sounds a lot louder for Bioshock.

 

[minmaster]

does win7 run games faster than vista? i heard some people say they get better performance with win7, true?

 

[Zenoth]

Originally posted by: minmaster
does win7 run games faster than vista? i heard some people say they get better performance with win7, true?

I'm not sure how relevant that article is, but you can always read some of it and make your own assumptions. I myself have only tried Windows 7 RC x64, and the only problems I encountered were resolution issues (bad screen stretching, anything not widescreen ratio would create two black stripes on the screen at top and bottom during gaming, possibly NVIDIA drivers related). As for the actual performance it was the same as in Vista for me.

 

[Gothgar]

havent used it, fine with Vista

 

[JoshGuru7]

I've been running the Win7 RC since it was released and compatibility has been the same as Vista for me. Win7 is supposed to be slightly more efficient with lower specs (low ram), but I haven't noticed a difference on a high end machine.

I've had a couple of problems with the Kaspersky Anti-Virus Win7 beta but nothing recently.

 

[43st]

Originally posted by: minmaster
does win7 run games faster than vista? i heard some people say they get better performance with win7, true?

Identical to Vista here as well..

 

[evident]

for me, no issues w/ steam (HL2 based games)so far. going to try out street fighter 4 and warcraft 3 soon.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: minmaster
does win7 run games faster than vista? i heard some people say they get better performance with win7, true?

I posted this in OS forum awhile ago anyway link to XP v Vista v Win7 gaming peformance .

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Originally posted by: Mem

Originally posted by: minmaster
does win7 run games faster than vista? i heard some people say they get better performance with win7, true?

I posted this in OS forum awhile ago anyway link to XP v Vista v Win7 gaming peformance .

Thanks for the post, Mem. I have been debating whether or not to upgrade my gaming rig to Windows 7. But, I figured it would be a negligible upgrade since I am already running Vista 64 and am happy with the performance.

 

[Mem]

RyanPaulShaffer you're welcome,anyway from the benchmarks its more or less about even ,we have yet to see how much Win7 drivers will improve , however since Win7 is based on Vista anyway I was expecting it to be very close like it is.

 

[jonks]

I preordered win7 for $50 simply because I skipped Vista and I want dx10 (or 11 ultimately). I'm still gaming on XP, thus dx9. DX10 implementations in games are ubiquitous enough at this point to justify the upgrade. As to benchmarks I don't think anyone will be able to notice the few fps difference between XP, Vista or W7. Some games run a few fps faster in xp, others a few fps faster in vista/w7. I don't see that performance gaps as compelling grounds to upgrade.