Just got my Windows 8 pro upgrade disc. How much better is it for gaming?

Rofflay · 18 Sep 2013 at 01:48

I just want to know what actually is faster and what is smoke and mirrors? The reboots are a scam as matt said it is hibernation called faster reboots.It never fully shuts down and if your life depends on the seconds it takes to boot up i pity you.

As my monitor takes half a minute or so to actually warm up and look right why can i not wait for a normal shutdown and reboot? I like to turn it on and get some coffee anyways

So is the multicore better in gaming or where does this few fps come from?

shankly1985 · 18 Sep 2013 at 02:35

Rofflay said:
I just want to know what actually is faster and what is smoke and mirrors? The reboots are a scam as matt said it is hibernation called faster reboots.It never fully shuts down and if your life depends on the seconds it takes to boot up i pity you.

As my monitor takes half a minute or so to actually warm up and look right why can i not wait for a normal shutdown and reboot? I like to turn it on and get some coffee anyways

So is the multicore better in gaming or where does this few fps come from?

The OS itself is much faster and smoother.. My PC dont hibernate I know this because I have that setting cmd disabled

shankly1985 · 18 Sep 2013 at 02:37

LtMatt said:
W8 startup/shutdown/restart much faster providing you leave hibernation on.

I have this disabled and my start up/shut down remains the same. about 24secs startup and much less on the shutdown.

LtMatt · 18 Sep 2013 at 07:13

shankly1985 said:
I have this disabled and my start up/shut down remains the same. about 24secs startup and much less on the shutdown.

My startup is about 8 seconds with it on.

RetrogamerX · 18 Sep 2013 at 07:14

shankly1985 said:
I have this disabled and my start up/shut down remains the same. about 24secs startup and much less on the shutdown.

I'm about the same. I timed mine and it seems about 20 sec.

LtMatt · 18 Sep 2013 at 07:16

LtMatt said:
My startup is about 8 seconds with it on.

RetrogamerX said:
I'm about the same. I timed mine and it seems about 20 sec.

I tell a lie. 9 seconds, just timed it. That's from the bios beep till i can use Windows and open up Chrome. Shutdown takes about 5 seconds. If i removed the shed load of startup progs i have i could get it much faster i think.

RetrogamerX · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:06

LtMatt said:
I tell a lie. 9 seconds, just timed it. That's from the bios beep till i can use Windows and open up Chrome. Shutdown takes about 5 seconds. If i removed the shed load of startup progs i have i could get it much faster i think.

Mine takes longer because of my antivirus and the stupid razer mouse software. It was faster on win7.

So far win8 is growing on me. Thank god for the start button on start8. Cheers mat

LtMatt · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:21

RetrogamerX said:
Mine takes longer because of my antivirus and the stupid razer mouse software. It was faster on win7.

So far win8 is growing on me. Thank god for the start button on start8. Cheers mat

Use Windows 8 built in anti virus/spyware/firewall, Microsoft Security Essentials. Uses no resources at all. The need these days for a separate resource hog anti virus are long gone. Switching to W8 more than halved my boot times.

Zeed · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:25

8.1 WAY TO GO MATE

I got minimum fps increase in MOST OF GAMES !!! in 3D ofc so that might made a difference but still

LtMatt · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:27

Lord_ZED said:
8.1 WAY TO GO MATE

I got minimum fps increase in MOST OF GAMES !!! in 3D ofc so that might made a difference but still

I've not tried 8.1 yet. As soon as the final version becomes available (October sometime??) i will try it. As far as im aware you need to reinstall Windows don't you? Or is it just a service update you can download via Windows update?

Battlefield 4 will have better cpu performance on 8.1 so that is the reason ill be upgrading when the time comes.

Reasoning behind EA/DICE’s Windows 8 recommendation is because Window 8 will support DirectX 11.1 while it’s predecessor, Windows 7, is said to use only certain portions of DirectX 11.1. DICE’s Technical Director, Johan Andersson, has said that the Frostbite engine will fully support the latest version of DirectX and that systems using this software will see better performance, more specifically, better CPU optimization:

“We use DX11.1, there are some optimizations in it (constant buffer offsets, dynamic buffers as SRVs) that we got in to the API that improves CPU performance in our rendering when one runs with DX11.1. This will be in BF4.” Johan Andersson stated.

Source
http://www.bf4blog.com/battlefield-4-pc-system-requirements-released-dice/

EDIT

Maybe im getting 8.1 and directx 11.2 confused actually. Anyway ill still be upgrading to 8.1 to eventually make use of Directx 11.2.

bru · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:29

Microsoft Security Essentials is very good I have found, but to say it uses no resources at all is just blatantly wrong, possibly a smaller footprint than other security suites though.

RetrogamerX · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:32

LtMatt said:
I've not tried 8.1 yet. As soon as the final version becomes available (October sometime??) i will try it. As far as im aware you need to reinstall Windows don't you? Or is it just a service update you can download via Windows update?

Battlefield 4 will have better cpu performance on 8.1 so that is the reason ill be upgrading when the time comes.

Source
http://www.bf4blog.com/battlefield-4-pc-system-requirements-released-dice/

Win8.1 is just a update mat. No need to reinstall.

Wins anti virus sucks. I don't mind waiting a few extra sec because my anti virus is loads better.

LtMatt · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:36

bru said:
Microsoft Security Essentials is very good I have found, but to say it uses no resources at all is just blatantly wrong, possibly a smaller footprint than other security suites though.

RetrogamerX said:
Win8.1 is just a update mat. No need to reinstall.

Wins anti virus sucks. I don't mind waiting a few extra sec because my anti virus is loads better.

Ah thats good to know. I was preparing myself for the worst. When i had the chance to try 8.1 beta it said i needed to reinstall. Maybe that will change with the final update.

MSE is great, been using it since W7. Never had a problem and as said above it uses no resources at all. I can even run a scan while playing bf3 and see no decrease in performance at all. Happy days.

I'll never pay or use another anti virus/spyware solution ever again.

RetrogamerX · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:41

Only people that have win8 installed get 8.1 free. Everyone else has to pay. I just read that ms are doing a full version of win8.1 as a full os for much cheaper. Just read the latest last night. Should be £119. Good and cheaper then the win8 pro for others that haven't try win8

ubersonic · 18 Sep 2013 at 08:49

RetrogamerX said:
I hear somethings are better and others are worse?

8 does everything 7 does either just as well/easy or better, anyone who says different is simply letting personally opinion/preference cloud the facts.

RetrogamerX said:
Will I keep all my games and programs if I upgrade?

Yes.

RetrogamerX said:
And how to get rid of the metro screen and boot straight to desktop?

To boot to the desktop either download a mod or wait for Windows 8.1 in October as that gives the option to toggle booting to desktop/metro.

As for removing metro, TBH if your going to skip the major improvement/point of the O/S your best just sticking with 7.

RetrogamerX said:
Do games play smoother on W8?

Haven't noticed a difference in games, its just quality of life changes and the improved GUI.

shadow_boxer · 18 Sep 2013 at 09:58

Played a few titles on my Windows 8 HTPC and honestly can't see any difference in performance. If anything Windows 7 boots up faster. As above, if you ditch the metro tiles they're pretty much the same from a performance and visual perspective.

Phixsator · 18 Sep 2013 at 10:16

Here is a few quick tips

How do I fast access Device Manager/Control Panel/Event Viewer/System and similar admin tools

Right Click the Lower Left Corner. See spoiler for demonstration.

How do i shut down windows without logging off first

Drag your mouse pointer to the Top Right or Bottom Right Corner , Click Settings and then Power. Alternative you can just press ALT+F4 when you have the desktop selected. See spoiler for demonstration.

How do I multitask between MetroIU/ModernUI Apps and the Desktop

When apps are running and you want to switch to it from the desktop or perhaps switch to the desktop from the app or to another app you use the Top Left Corner. It has 2 functions, 1) switching between Modern UI running APPs and Desktop Programs and 2) Multitask between these.

Switch to desktop/metroUI: Left Click Top Left Corner
Multitask selected state(desktop/metro): Drag mouse to Top Left Corner and then drag the mouse down to open op the Multitask List. See spoiler for demonstration.

How do I create a recovery USB or CD/DVD for windows 8

Press Windows+R to open the Run prompt. Type "RecoveryDrive" without quotations if you want to make a Bootable Recovery USB or type "recdisc" (again without quotations) if you want to make a Bootable Recovery CD/DVD

I dont want MetroUI/ModernUI to take up all the screen. How can i minimize it into a more manageable size(like the old start menu)

Display Fusion can do this and you can try it out for 30 days for free. In windows 8.1 you can even make the tiles 1/4 the size of the smallest tile in win 8.0 making it even better as a custom start menu. See spoiler for demonstration.

Elevon · 18 Sep 2013 at 12:43

shadow_boxer said:
Played a few titles on my Windows 8 HTPC and honestly can't see any difference in performance. If anything Windows 7 boots up faster. As above, if you ditch the metro tiles they're pretty much the same from a performance and visual perspective.

My experience is the opposite,infact just did a clean install of Win8.1 RTM a few days ago,installation was fast ie 10 to 15 mins,bootup is very quick and yes I was using Win8 since last October and Win7 before that so Win8/8.1 is snappier to me then Win7.

Gaming wise its all relative down to your hardware and drivers,but Win8/8.1 does have better DX support, improved security so all things gamers should look for.
Oldest game I've tried is XCOM- apocalypse(1997 game) so that is even pre Win98 which works fine using D-Fend software for DOS and very old games,no issues with classics like Baldurs Gate,Icewind Dale series ,KOTOR etc...

So no issues so far in any of my games,as to anti-virus well I'm trying out AVG 2014 Internet security and that is working well with my Win8.1 Pro x64 RTM,end of the day AV is a preference thing,some are happy with just Defender,I personally run a malwarebytes scan now and then(free version) to be a bit on the safe side.

I did read Win8.1 has improved security over Win8 (which itself is improved over Win7 security wise)so that is always nice to have.

Side note Win8/8.1 is still easy to navigate and I don't see the big issue still with some people moaning about bringing back the old classic start button,its not needed IMHO and Win8/8.1 is very easy to customise in both metro and old desktop that is if you can be bothered and accept changes that a new OS brings.

I don't use touch still a mouse and keyboard desktop/gamer user here for Windows.

Phixsator · 18 Sep 2013 at 19:30

Elevon said:
Side note Win8/8.1 is still easy to navigate and I don't the big issue still with some people moaning about bringing back the old classic start button,its not needed IMHO and Win8/8.1 is very easy to customise in both metro and old desktop that is if you can be bothered and accept changes that a new OS brings.

I don't use touch still a mouse and keyboard desktop/gamer user here for Windows.

Nice to see some positivity and i totally agree with you.. The start button is not needed and just takes up space.

Elevon · 18 Sep 2013 at 19:39

Phixsator said:
Nice to see some positivity and i totally agree with you.. The start button is not needed and just takes up space.

I missed out "see" in my statement lol ,don't drink and type like I did

, anyway I corrected it,as to positivity well its easier to adapt and accept changes rather then moan and resist,however I stand by my statement Win8/8.1 is very easy and fine to use even as a desktop user.