XP, VISTA 32bit or VISTA 64bit - Please help me decide

[imported_spike99]

Recently I purchased a PC with VISTA 32bit and 2Gb of Memory. I had some hardware problem and I returned PC.... But while I had PC, I usually played Company of Heroes and 30% of the time it crashed... Looks like a nvidia driver problem... I also play Age of Empires but had no problems at all... (maybe because its a microsoft game lol)

I will be purchasing a replacement PC next month and I'm trying to decide for the following OS's
XP (2 Gb Memory)
VISTA 32bit (2 Gb Memory)
VISTA 64bit (4 Gb Memory)

I know that with XP I will have no problems at all with gaming but games are looking better on VISTA (DX 10)

I'm trying to decide if I can live with VISTA driver problems or not. If I decided for VISTA, I would prefer to go for 64bit but I'm afraid I will encounter more driver problems with 64bit...

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Mem]

It's all down to what hardware/software you'll be running,personally I find Vista x64 solid in both gaming and drivers,btw you'll find these benchmarks interesting link. .


This question is asked all the time,anyway I went with Vista x64 since its able to use 4GB+ of ram,longer and good future support,very good security over XP and slightly better security then Vista x68,only downside is no 16 bit legacy support so if you run or use any important 16 bit software then it could be a problem for you.

End of the day there's no right or wrong OS ,but what you really need and are happy with.

 

[imported_spike99]

Mem,
Checking your link it mentions...
The GeForce 8800 GTX ran 4% faster in Windows XP than in Vista at 1600x1200. The margin decreases to just 2% at 1920x1200. We saw similar results when two cards were combined running SLI.

Everywhere else, performance is pretty similar, regardless of OS used.

Since I will run a 8800GTX at 1920x1200, performance difference is minimal between XP & VISTA.

I will not be running old applications only current games.

I will have a creative lab sound card (X-Fi Platinum Fatality). Although, I did not have much problem with VISTA 32bit... I'm wondering If It'll bet hassle free with VISTA 64bit.

 

[Mem]

There are some new X-FI Vista Drivers out..

Dated 9th Oct.

Filename: SBXF_PCDVT_LB_2_15_0002.exe

This download is a driver providing Microsoft® Windows Vista? 64-bit and Windows Vista 32-bit support for Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi? series of audio devices. For more details, read the rest of this web release note.

This download supports the following audio devices only:

* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum
* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty®
* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro

Current release features:

* X-Fi Crystalizer?
* X-Fi CMSS®-3D
* MIDI Playback
* EAX® Effects
* PCM stereo output through Optical Out
* Line-in connectivity
* SPDIF passthrough is supported on both Vista 32-bit and Vista 64-bit
* Recording capabilities.

Known issues:

* This driver does not support the following:
o Decoding of Dolby® Digital and DTS? signals
o DVD-Audio
o DirectSound®-based EAX games
o 6.1 speaker mode
* Applications from the original Sound Blaster X-Fi CD will not work with this download.

Requirements:

* Windows Vista 64-bit or Windows Vista 32-bit
* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi audio devices listed above.

Notes:

* Do not install this driver for Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio.
* To install the driver, do the following:
1. Download the SBXF_PCDVT_LB_2_15_0002.exe file into your local hard disk.
2. Double-click the downloaded file.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen.
* To uninstall the driver, do the following:
1. Click Start -> All Programs -> Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Device Manager icon.
3. Double-click the Sound, video and game controllers option.
4. Right-click the Creative SB X-Fi option, and select Uninstall.
The Confirm Device Uninstall dialog box appears.
5. Select the Delete the driver software for this device option.
Note: This check box must be selected to avoid reinstallation issues.
6. Click the OK button.
7. Restart your computer.
* To reinstall the driver, do the following:
1. Double-click the downloaded file.
2. When the message You must restart your computer to apply these changes appears, click the Restart Later button.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

.

 

[Mem]

Don't forget the conculsion part too.

If you were debating between the 32-bit and 64-bit flavors of Windows Vista, fortunately it looks like performance is similar with either version. Both AMD and NVIDIA?s drivers for both versions of Vista perform practically identical to one another. And if you were concerned about game compatibility with 64-bit Vista, one of the guidelines Microsoft has required for Games For Windows certification is that games must be compatible with Windows Vista x64. This means if the game has a Games For Windows logo on the box, it?s been tested to run with 64-bit Windows Vista. Upcoming games like Alan Wake, Crysis, Fallout 3, Gears of War PC, and Hellgate: London are all Games For Windows compliant.

Considering all this, we?d recommend our readers opt for the 64-bit version of Vista if you?ve got a 64-bit CPU. It runs just as fast in games with the added advantage that it?s more secure and can address considerably more memory (4GB max in 32-bit Vista versus 128GB in 64-bit Vista Ultimate).

 

[imported_spike99]

Mem,

Since I'm at work... looks like the page did not open properly. Thanks for the additional info...

I think I will go for VISTA 64bit with 4Gb when I order PC next month... waiting for yorkies 🙂

I don't think I will use the extra features in Vista Ultimate... so most likely I'll go for Home Premium.

Thanks !!

 

[KIAman]

Why oh why did no 64 bit OS have support for my Linksys WRT54GX4 (the SRX400 PCI Card) ?!?!?!?!? So lame.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: KIAman
Why oh why did no 64 bit OS have support for my Linksys WRT54GX4 (the SRX400 PCI Card) ?!?!?!?!? So lame.

Read this link looks like native support says drivers not required for WRT54GX4 Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400,can always email Linksys to confirm.

Compatible with Windows Vista
These Linksys products have been tested and proven to deliver the best experience with Windows Vista with no updates required.

 

[imported_spike99]

Update:

Well I got my new PC with VISTA 64BIT and I'm having major problems playing games.... especially Company of Heroes.

I started playing the demo for Crysis and have been downloading latest video drivers... although Crysis seems to play a bit better, COH is now crashing all the time... seems like video driver problems.

I'm seriously thinking about going back to XP... 🙁

OR maybe I can dual boot... ? I don't know what is required to dual boot ? If I dual boot... will video drivers use the corresponding video drivers ? In XP, it will use XP video drivers & in VISTA, it will use VISTA drivers ?

Any suggestions for a frustrated guy ?

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: spike99
Update:

Well I got my new PC with VISTA 64BIT and I'm having major problems playing games.... especially Company of Heroes.

I started playing the demo for Crysis and have been downloading latest video drivers... although Crysis seems to play a bit better, COH is now crashing all the time... seems like video driver problems.

I'm seriously thinking about going back to XP... 🙁

OR maybe I can dual boot... ? I don't know what is required to dual boot ? If I dual boot... will video drivers use the corresponding video drivers ? In XP, it will use XP video drivers & in VISTA, it will use VISTA drivers ?

Any suggestions for a frustrated guy ?

The latest Nvidia beta drivers(the ones released for Crysis) have me crashing in XP as well, so not sure I would install them, I haven't installed that version in Vista, but I don't game in Vista anyway. Yes you can dual boot. XP drivers will run in XP and Vista drivers will run in Vista, they are entirely independant of eachother.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: spike99
Update:

Well I got my new PC with VISTA 64BIT and I'm having major problems playing games.... especially Company of Heroes.

I started playing the demo for Crysis and have been downloading latest video drivers... although Crysis seems to play a bit better, COH is now crashing all the time... seems like video driver problems.

I'm seriously thinking about going back to XP... 🙁

OR maybe I can dual boot... ? I don't know what is required to dual boot ? If I dual boot... will video drivers use the corresponding video drivers ? In XP, it will use XP video drivers & in VISTA, it will use VISTA drivers ?

Any suggestions for a frustrated guy ?

It should run fine,have you got Windows Defender real time scan off?(recommended off especially for gaming).

What nvidia drivers are you using?

 

[imported_spike99]

Hi mem,

I have not really checked Windows Defender... but this is a spyware software... when I get home I'll disable it... but in general I've had other spyware, antivirus & firewalls and I've never had problems playing games... Usually these software prevent you starting games or joining games due to firewall or closed ports... I don't have these type of problems.... usually crashes occur between 5mins - 20mins into the game.... Specifally when alot of action/explosions are occurring.... This is more of a video driver issue to me...

With Video driviers....
Video driver 163.75 (beta) - COH crashes ~ 50%
Updated video driver 169.04 (beta) - COH crahes ~ 90%
AOE III - I got deadly blue screen 1 min into the game... PC restarted on its own (video driver 169.04). I don't know if this is a video driver problem... I have to keep testing to see if this was a one time deal or not.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: spike99
Hi mem,

I have not really checked Windows Defender... but this is a spyware software... when I get home I'll disable it... but in general I've had other spyware, antivirus & firewalls and I've never had problems playing games... Usually these software prevent you starting games or joining games due to firewall or closed ports... I don't have these type of problems.... usually crashes occur between 5mins - 20mins into the game.... Specifally when alot of action/explosions are occurring.... This is more of a video driver issue to me...

With Video driviers....
Video driver 163.75 (beta) - COH crashes ~ 50%
Updated video driver 169.04 (beta) - COH crahes ~ 90%
AOE III - I got deadly blue screen 1 min into the game... PC restarted on its own (video driver 169.04). I don't know if this is a video driver problem... I have to keep testing to see if this was a one time deal or not.

You have to find the cause,I doubt its Vista or video drivers there are plenty of Vista benchmarks and users with that game running fine ,did you get all the updates for Vista I also recommend the hotfix kb941649 .

Did you run CCleaner too,gets rid of the old leftover crap,also have you tried it without X-FI soundcard (try onboard sound).Remember to disable Defender too,are you overclocking anything, hows the temps in your case, is there any BSOD message?

So far I have played over 40 games in Vista and only one has given me any problems and that is The Witcher(well known crashing problems with a lot of users here ).

Also with the older DX9 games try updating to latest DX9.0c version which can be found at Microsoft website ,OCT 07 is latest version,do note older games you may need to run as admin and XP compatibility mode from properties of the Exe. of the game.

Anyway all this will keep you busy for awhile 😉.

Btw just installed Jericho yesteday,that game runs great in Vista x64(not crashed once on me so far) so another game to add to my list.

You can also get it DX9 here.

 

[stevty2889]

Originally posted by: spike99
Update:

Well I got my new PC with VISTA 64BIT and I'm having major problems playing games.... especially Company of Heroes.

I started playing the demo for Crysis and have been downloading latest video drivers... although Crysis seems to play a bit better, COH is now crashing all the time... seems like video driver problems.

I'm seriously thinking about going back to XP... 🙁

OR maybe I can dual boot... ? I don't know what is required to dual boot ? If I dual boot... will video drivers use the corresponding video drivers ? In XP, it will use XP video drivers & in VISTA, it will use VISTA drivers ?

Any suggestions for a frustrated guy ?

What kind of FPS are you getting in the crysis demo? I'm running at 1920x1080, with high settings(at very high I was getting 9FPS in the intro movie) and averaging 18FPS, no AA, no AF, using the latest beta drivers in Vista 64. 8800GTX Q6600@3.1ghz 6GB ram (and onboard audio since M-audio is so damn slow to release drivers)

 

[imported_spike99]

I know that yesterday I called THQ support and they told me to get a hot fix which i did... I just don't know if kb941649 is the same or not... This afternoon I will double check this...

I'll try CCleaner this afternoon...

When you say If I have tried it without X-FI sound card ? What are you suggesting ? Uninstall it ? Or just removing it from back drive bay ?

Although my signature says QX6850 @ 3.66Ghz, I currently have it running at stock 3GHz and temp is about 50C. I just ordered Freezone Elite... with this I'll overclock it to 3.66GHz.

What is BSOD ?

Well, if you are playing over 40games and no issues except 1 game... that seems really good. Do you have Company of Heroes ?

 

[Noema]

I played through the campaign of Company of Heroes in Vista 64-bit and never had any issues whatsoever (never had any issues with any game, really).

I too have an X-Fi and everything is fine.

I'd try running at stock speeds to see if that's the issue though.

 

[stevty2889]

BSOD=Blue Screen of Death. I haven't had any games that won't run for me in Vista either. My only problem is that I get horrible frame rates in most compared to XP. In newer games the differance is playable vs. unplayable. Like I said, I am averaging 18FPS with high settings in the Crysis Demo, not that XP is that much better at around 27FPS. Supreme Commander crashes after about an hour in multiplayer games in Vista, but runs fine in XP. I have CoH, but haven't installed it in Vista yet. I'll test it out when I get the chance. I have a friend that runs CoH in Vista, his only problem is that he can't seem to get online with it.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: spike99
I know that yesterday I called THQ support and they told me to get a hot fix which i did... I just don't know if kb941649 is the same or not... This afternoon I will double check this...

I'll try CCleaner this afternoon...

When you say If I have tried it without X-FI sound card ? What are you suggesting ? Uninstall it ? Or just removing it from back drive bay ?

Although my signature says QX6850 @ 3.66Ghz, I currently have it running at stock 3GHz and temp is about 50C. I just ordered Freezone Elite... with this I'll overclock it to 3.66GHz.

What is BSOD ?

Well, if you are playing over 40games and no issues except 1 game... that seems really good. Do you have Company of Heroes ?

BSOD is blue screen of death message,X-FI you can try removing last,basically uninstalling sound drivers and you can disable it via Device Manager.

Get all Vista Windows updates ,the hotfix I linked is not included in Vista update yet, I have personally installed it and know a few others that have too.

I might have a fix for my Witcher problem too 🙂 ,I 'm still testing that so will report my findings in my official "The Witcher" thread later in pc gaming forum.

 

[imported_spike99]

What kind of FPS are you getting in the crysis demo?

Using Crysis GPU Benchmark running at 1920x1200

Video Driver 163.75
High: 20 FPS
Very High: 11 FPS

Video Driver 169.04
High: 24 FPS
Very High: 13 FPS

What beta drivers are you using stevty ?

I'd try running at stock speeds to see if that's the issue though.

As mentioned previously, I'm currently running at stock speed 3GHz. Just waiting for cpu cooler (Freezone Elite) to over clock it...

BSOD=Blue Screen of Death

Thanks for the translation 🙂 Yeah, it has only occurred once... not sure if it's because I installed video driver 169.04.... First time it happened... I did not write down the error message but will try write it down if I get it again.

My only problem is that I get horrible frame rates in most compared to XP. In newer games the differance is playable vs. unplayable. Like I said, I am averaging 18FPS with high settings in the Crysis Demo, not that XP is that much better at around 27FPS. Supreme Commander crashes after about an hour in multiplayer games in Vista, but runs fine in XP. I have CoH, but haven't installed it in Vista yet. I'll test it out when I get the chance. I have a friend that runs CoH in Vista, his only problem is that he can't seem to get online with it.

According to some reviews XP is getting better FPS than VISTA.

I'm really tempted to go back to XP... I'm gonna try to follow suggestions from you guys but if in the end... I think I will have no choice to go back to XP and possibly revisit VISTA in about 1 year.... argh !!!

 

[imported_spike99]

BSOD is blue screen of death message,X-FI you can try removing last,basically uninstalling sound drivers and you can disable it via Device Manager.

OK... Thanks for the suggestion...

This afternoon, I'll start to follow suggestions...

 

[Mem]

Did you install latest chipset drivers for your motherboard too?

 

[imported_spike99]

Hi Mem,

Good suggestion Mem... I was on the phone with EVGA and they gave me a couple of things to do...

1. Install the Nvidia 15.08 680i MB Drivers. Not sure how/where to check this... but If I'm unable to check then I'll install it any way.

2. Microsoft Hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929777/en-us -
Not really sure if I should install this... According to microsoft website... It says the below:
This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:
? The computer uses more than 3 GB of RAM.
? The computer uses a storage system that is running the Storport miniport driver.
? The computer uses a controller that uses 32-bit direct memory access (DMA).

3. Then go to Nvidia and install four more Hotfix's from this link: http://www.nvidia.com/object/w...ws_vista_hotfixes.html

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: spike99
Hi Mem,

Good suggestion Mem... I was on the phone with EVGA and they gave me a couple of things to do...

1. Install the Nvidia 15.08 680i MB Drivers. Not sure how/where to check this... but If I'm unable to check then I'll install it any way.

2. Microsoft Hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929777/en-us -
Not really sure if I should install this... According to microsoft website... It says the below:
<<This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:
? The computer uses more than 3 GB of RAM.
? The computer uses a storage system that is running the Storport miniport driver.
? The computer uses a controller that uses 32-bit direct memory access (DMA).

3. Then go to Nvidia and install four more Hotfix's from this link: http://www.nvidia.com/object/w...ws_vista_hotfixes.html

Dont bother with 929777 one,as to chipset drivers you can get them from Nvidia link,if you got all of Vista Window Updates then you got all the important ones,only one I would suggest is this one which is not listed on the update ,more of hotfix.

INTRODUCTION
This update improves the compatibility, reliability, and stability of Windows Vista. This update includes the following improvements:
? It extends the battery life for mobile devices.
? It improves the stability of portable computers and of desktop computers that use an uninterruptable power supply (UPS).
? It improves the reliability of Windows Vista when you open the menu of a startup application.
? It improves the stability of wireless network services.
? It shortens the startup time of Windows Vista by using a better timing structure.
? It shortens the recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity.
? It shortens the recovery time when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
? It improves the stability of Windows PowerShell.
This update also resolves the following issues in Windows Vista:
? A compatibility issue that affects some third-party antivirus software applications.
? A reliability issue that occurs when a Windows Vista-based computer uses certain network driver configurations.

 

[imported_spike99]

OK,

I already installed nForce 15.08 from EVGA's website.... The only thing is that I don't know how to check what version I currently have... Do you know how to check this ?

I did not install 929777 since I did not believe it pertains to me....

I went to NVIDIA's website and install 2 out of the 4 hotfixes... Two of them it indicated that it was not required for my PC.

I also installed your recommended update....

One of the things that I noticed is that on the device manager... The Driver version changed.
Before: 7.15.11.6904
After: 7.15.11.6369

So it looks like I now have a previous driver version.... Looks like I now have 163.69. Previously I had the latest beta drivers 169.04

I'm going to start testing COH and check if I see any crashing.... After I feel comfortable... then I'll update to latest beta drivers...

Thanks for the suggestions... Now on with the testing 🙂

I'll update when I'm done.

 

[imported_spike99]

OK,

Playing COH, video driver stopped working... about 30mins into game now updating to latest BETA video driver 169.04

I really don't think I'll have much success here either... but I'll try and see.