Best windows platform for games ?

Subliminal Aura · 15 Mar 2009 at 11:36

I was playing Grid last night on a 4870x2 last night with all settings high and it looked really bland in comparison to the xbox so I was thinking of up :confused:

DOWNgrading to vista.

Will this make the game look pretty ?

Overall if I want to game what should I install ?

Windows XP (current DX9 and not impressed)

or

Vista

or

Windows 7 beta

Spike_UK · 15 Mar 2009 at 11:51

I find turning on/up Digital Vibrance in the nVidia Contol Panel helps.

There's nothing wrong with Xp for gaming at all. Certaintly not enough where I would say upgrade to Vista. Hell no.
(I use Vista, I like it, but it's not for everyones taste and it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference if you think XP is bland.)

Windows 7 will rock, but I wouldn't use it as a full time install yet even though it's pretty stable.

reflux · 15 Mar 2009 at 11:53

DX10 isn't going to make a huge difference tbh. I suggest you have a fiddle with your monitor colour settings.

Subliminal Aura · 15 Mar 2009 at 12:09

Spike_UK said:
Windows 7 will rock, but I wouldn't use it as a full time install yet even though it's pretty stable.

Why will it rock ?

reflux said:
DX10 isn't going to make a huge difference tbh. I suggest you have a fiddle with your monitor colour settings.

I use the same monitor for the xbox. Monitor has a component in and comparing the xbox with my PC the xbox is much more eye candy.

I thought DX10 would make the game comparable to the xbox ? :confused:

Framerates on the PC are better but imho it just looks dull :mad:

rypt · 15 Mar 2009 at 12:10

Spike_UK said:
Windows 7 will rock, but I wouldn't use it as a full time install yet even though it's pretty stable.

everything useful works on 7, the only issue with 7 is that useless apps like punkbuster do not work

Lyon85 · 15 Mar 2009 at 12:29

Subliminal Aura said:
Why will it rock ?

I use the same monitor for the xbox. Monitor has a component in and comparing the xbox with my PC the xbox is much more eye candy.

I thought DX10 would make the game comparable to the xbox ?

Framerates on the PC are better but imho it just looks dull

Turn the graphics up? I've compared them side by side, and the PC version (on XP) is most certainly the superior version. GRID is not DX10 compatible.

reflux · 15 Mar 2009 at 12:33

Subliminal Aura said:
I use the same monitor for the xbox. Monitor has a component in and comparing the xbox with my PC the xbox is much more eye candy.

I thought DX10 would make the game comparable to the xbox ?

Framerates on the PC are better but imho it just looks dull

Whilst the Xbox might have a unified shader GPU, one of the key specifications of DX10, it doesn't have the power to run things as well as a PC can.

But at the same time, changing over to DX10 on the PC isn't going to magically make everything look amazing. DX10 is mostly important for the architectural improvements.

Have a fiddle with the GPU control panel and the colour settings in there. Might be able to make it look a bit more vibrant. And make sure the gane is running on max settings. Other than that, I don't know what to say to be honest.

Margaret · 15 Mar 2009 at 12:39

Subliminal Aura said:
I was thinking of upDOWNgrading to vista.

Yawn.

Fun fact: Vista is better than XP.

rypt · 15 Mar 2009 at 12:44

Margaret said:
Yawn.

Fun fact: Vista is better than XP.

Fun fact: It really is not, but 7 is better than them both

Margaret · 15 Mar 2009 at 13:14

rypt said:
Fun fact: It really is not

Benchmarks prove otherwise.

Pyroblaze · 15 Mar 2009 at 13:31

Margaret said:
Benchmarks prove otherwise.

I don't know about you but i don't play benchmarks. I do actually like vista over xp but it's peoples own experience of an OS that dictates which one they think is better and not a number on the internet of yet another dull benchmark. Experience > benchmarks.

FrenchTart · 15 Mar 2009 at 13:53

I've used both and until a few months ago I'd have agreed that XP is better. Vista has got to the point where it's actually decent now though. Shocking, eh?

Shamikebab · 15 Mar 2009 at 13:58

I would probably use Vista if I'd bought/built a new machine. However, I still see no reason to upgrade if you haven't.

Margaret · 15 Mar 2009 at 13:59

Pyroblaze said:
I don't know about you but i don't play benchmarks. I do actually like vista over xp but it's peoples own experience of an OS that dictates which one they think is better and not a number on the internet of yet another dull benchmark. Experience > benchmarks.

I don't play benchmarks either, I never said I did.

What was your point by that post? From all the benchmarks I have seen (from a point where Vista had proper driver support) Vista has won for gaming and many other tests.

As for "Experience > benchmarks" usually that indicates an issue with your machine somewhere, if multiple websites are getting better performance/results than you did then you should probably think twice before boarding the Vista hatewagon.

rypt · 15 Mar 2009 at 14:48

Just to take an example, TF2 and CS:S both perform better under XP than Vista

FrenchTart · 15 Mar 2009 at 14:49

rypt said:
Just to take an example, TF2 and CS:S both perform better under XP than Vista

Who cares? They get 100+ FPS on both platforms.

Rezident · 15 Mar 2009 at 14:54

Margaret said:
Yawn.

Fun fact: Vista is better than XP.

Vista still doesn't work properly.

Spyke_UK · 15 Mar 2009 at 15:02

What resolution is your PC running GRiD at?
Through component you will get a decent resolution with your xbox, but your PC should at least be on-par visually, with as you said higher FPS.
Crank the resolution in game and enjoy!

Pyroblaze · 15 Mar 2009 at 15:39

Margaret said:
I don't play benchmarks either, I never said I did.

What was your point by that post? From all the benchmarks I have seen (from a point where Vista had proper driver support) Vista has won for gaming and many other tests.

As for "Experience > benchmarks" usually that indicates an issue with your machine somewhere, if multiple websites are getting better performance/results than you did then you should probably think twice before boarding the Vista hatewagon.

I suggest you actually read the posts that you reply to before you rant. If you had then you would have noticed that i stated that i prefer Vista over xp.

Also how you can come to the conclusion that there is something wrong with a PC just because i prefer to have experience of something to make my mind up rather than look at a number is beyond me. I don't benchmark my machine these days unless its to stress a GPU if i think something is wrong with it so i guess that little "fun fact" of yours was pulled out of thin air, much like the rest of your post.

Subliminal Aura · 15 Mar 2009 at 18:16

Spyke_UK said:
What resolution is your PC running GRiD at?
Through component you will get a decent resolution with your xbox, but your PC should at least be on-par visually, with as you said higher FPS.
Crank the resolution in game and enjoy!

I tried 720p (1280x720) and wasn't impressed, basically I feel the xbox version has more particle physics and feels more glossy :confused: