W7 or W8.1?

wanderer89 · 2 Dec 2013 at 20:23

Hi guys,

Just a hopefully quick question..

From a pure gaming perspective, is it worth sticking with W7 or getting W8.1? I don't browse the internet that much due to having an iPad so do all my browsing on that, I use the PC just for gaming, I've read that B4 is supposed to run better on 8.1, and I thought that other games in future may be designed with 8.1 in mind, but for the time being, is 8.1 stable/worth upgrading from W7?

Thanks for all the help!

opethdisciple · 2 Dec 2013 at 23:11

I made the upgrade and dont regret it. Is it essential? Nope.

If you've got £70 you dont mind splashing, you wont regret it.

Win 8.1 isnt that scary really. I use my Win 8.1 machine just for gaming too.

It's fast, stable and quicker alround than win 7.

Only one oddity, is some games have a mouse stutter issue on Win 8.1.

It's growing!

RumbleBee · 2 Dec 2013 at 23:53

I'd suggest going for it. Like others have said there are some mouse issues, but these will probably be the least of your worries if you've not used the OS before. MS fixes are available anyway and other games can have reg fixes.

Regardless of your love/hate for the new start screen it just makes more sense to use 8 (or 8.1 in your case). Like you say BF4 runs smoother.

If the start screen is annoying or you can do without it, get Startisback. It works brilliantly and you can still use the start screen to check the weather and stuff

http://www.startisback.com/

My only negative of 8.1 is the DPI scaling. If you run your monitor at 100% then great. If you set this to say 125% it messes up certain bitmaps that are used, such as Firefox bookmarks.

Totality · 3 Dec 2013 at 06:08

If you already own Windows 7 then no it's not worth it. If you own neither and looking to buy one then you may as well go 8.1.

It offers nothing over windows 7 so no point buying it unless you like wasting cash!

Elevon · 3 Dec 2013 at 11:47

Totality said:
If you already own Windows 7 then no it's not worth it. If you own neither and looking to buy one then you may as well go 8.1.

It offers nothing over windows 7 so no point buying it unless you like wasting cash!

Not true about offers nothing over 7 ,how about improved BF4 performance,better security,new features,DX11.1 and also DX11.2 which will be exclusive to Win8.1 and Xbox One only http://www.techpowerup.com/186671/directx-11-2-exclusive-to-windows-8-1-and-xbox-one.html

Win7 is already four years old.

I'll say go for 8.1 if you can afford it,most gamers can since they normally spend more money on hardware and games,OS is a small part of that.

Yes its very stable.

KIA · 3 Dec 2013 at 12:28

Totality said:
If you already own Windows 7 then no it's not worth it. If you own neither and looking to buy one then you may as well go 8.1.

This.

ttaskmaster · 3 Dec 2013 at 12:29

People told me I should get Win8, even though I already had and was happy with Win7. "Oh, but you get the latest drivers" and all that...
They then pointed out to me that games now have Win8 required in the recommended settings.

The only game I know of that has Win8 in recommended settings is the aforementioned Battlefield 4, which I don't play and which I can just about manage a SysReqsLab Pass on with my current hardware anyway.

Personally, I'm waiting until I really have to upgrade and hoping that the various issues people have will be resolved by then.
Your call.

theheyes · 3 Dec 2013 at 14:29

I dont think the cost is justified for a slight increase in performance here and there. As I said in a similar thread, if you already have a valid license for 7 you'd be better off putting the money towards a new graphics card.

wanderer89 · 4 Dec 2013 at 19:02

Thanks for the help guys, decided that I will upgrade, but gonna wait until it hits sub £50 before I hit that buy button!

Appreciate all the help!