XP or Vista with this upgrade?

[THX]

Hi all, looking to upgrade my video encoding and gaming machine. Coming from a P4 2.8C. :Q I went over the System Builders 2.0 thread and here are the parts I'm looking at:

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115202
$288.99

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131365
$289.99

OCZ 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ3X1333LV6GK - Retail
Item #: N82E16820227375
$85.99 (Plus $10.00 Mail-in Rebate)

XFX GX260NADFF GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814150329
$204.99 (Plus $30.00 Mail-in Rebate)

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817139005
$94.99 (Plus $20.00 Mail-in Rebate)

I was hoping to stick with Windows XP but I hear that Vista Ultimate 64 will actually make better use of my hardware (mostly due to the ram size). Would I be shooting myself in the foot sticking with XP (64-bit or not)? Thanks

*edit- posted wrong price for CPU

 

[AstroManLuca]

Go with Vista. Nothing wrong with it, especially on such powerful hardware. And Vista 64 has better hardware and driver support than XP64.

 

[0roo0roo]

lol, no one uses xp64
vista 64 if u require 64bit

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
lol, no one uses xp64
vista 64 if u require 64bit

This, also it'd be pretty stupid to use a 32 bit OS with 6gb of ram, not including the vid card's.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
lol, no one uses xp64
vista 64 if u require 64bit

This, also it'd be pretty stupid to use a 32 bit OS with 6gb of ram, not including the vid card's.

I wouldn't say "stupid", simply inefficient.

 

[Denithor]

How are you getting an i7 920 from newegg for $239?!?

I just checked, price is $289...

 

[somethingsketchy]

Go with Vista. Enough said. Don't waste your time with XP 64-bit. My roommate is using it and it is quite horrible. Never seen so many problems with a $1500 personally-built gaming computer (circa October 2008). Even a reinstall of the Operating System didn't help matters much.

Just go with Vista. Your hardware will be better supported with the drivers for Vista 64bit.

 

[imported_dlb]

Originally posted by: somethingsketchy
Go with Vista. Enough said. Don't waste your time with XP 64-bit. My roommate is using it and it is quite horrible. Never seen so many problems with a $1500 personally-built gaming computer (circa October 2008). Even a reinstall of the Operating System didn't help matters much.

Just go with Vista. Your hardware will be better supported with the drivers for Vista 64bit.

Why do you call it horrible? Did it have any problems other than lack of drivers?
I use it for over a year and I'm very satisfied. Gives great illusion that it's XP (because it's 2003 under the good), which makes it very familiar, is fast and light. And from my experience (which is outdated, I didn't use Vista SP1) has much less issues.

2OP:
Did you use Vista before? If yes and you don't want it, ensure that all your hardware has drivers and go with XP x64. It's a very good choice.
Otherwise if you have money for it, get Vista Business / Ultimate. You may actually like it and if you won't, these versions give you a free upgrade to XP.
If you can't afford these Vista versions, XP x64 is the choice.

 

[somethingsketchy]

Sound driver issues, Operating System would not download new patches (legitimate copy of XP 64-bit), and in general driver conflicts would plague his build like there was no tomorrow. I've suggested to him to upgrade to Vista, but he's waiting for Windows 7. Even his 9800GX2 was crippled for a while when playing games (current Nvidia driver release).

I've used XP-64bit myself (on my current build) and I did notice a significant performance increase when I switched to Vista 64-bit.

At any rate, just go with Vista 64bit, the 6GB of RAM will be better utilized anyways.

 

[0roo0roo]

yea you can pretty much bet any xp 64 support is going to be an after thought for 3rd party companys....so whatever drivers or whatever will be just last priority kind of stuff. its only rational use of resources.