OS dilemma

[setanjan123]

Hey guys i am abit confused o whether i should use win7 or xp for gaming.

my specs are -
2 GB RAM
PENTIUM D 820
GEFORCE 210 1 GB

While my card is not a gaming one i game at only 1280x1024 so its enough.
Its seems that win7 consumes a lot of resources both idly and while gaming. Is there any way to reduce memory or gfx consumption during gaming so that it wud consume as much as it wud in win xp?

Secondly win7 is new and may not support older games. I just wanna play all the good titles from maybe 2004 upto 2010. sometimes maybe it may go old as 2001. so i am not sure.

win7 is gr8 as it will support all upcoming software wid ease but at the cost of hi memory consumption. xp consumes less but is gradually geting older.
whatever my sole purpose is gaming and some multimedia. i am not a software crazy guy.

This may seem like a lot qs but pls try 2 help. I am really confused

[Neuron]

Install Win7 I'd say.Having 2GB RAM and 1GB graphics memory will not cause any memory related bottlenecks.Even if you want to play old games i think it will be the graphics card that will pose a threat rather than the OS.You can run almost all old games in Win7 with compatibility mode turned on.

[thetechfreak]

I have played old titles like Midtown Madness in my Windows 7 without much trouble. It is actually better for gaming. Consumes more RAM yes but its superior to Xp as far as gaming performance is considered
Some games might require Dosbox but overall Win 7 makes more sense now.

[meetdilip]

Windows 7 will work fine in my opinion, not sure if you will get drivers for graphics card and all.

[topgear]

^^ that gfx card is weak but it's fairly new though - he will get drivers even for windows 8 for that gfx card

@ OP - Install win 7 - tweak it with some tweaking apps ( there's plenty available online ) disable aero theme, sidebar and any other resource hungry services and background apps that you don't use - if you can live without a system security product then it would be more better - Install only the games you would play - Install all the latest drivers and DX Runtime package possible

[setanjan123]

Wel yes my gfx crd is weak. Bt i didnt buy it. Jst got it frm my bro who upgradd his rig. He told me he cud play many games. M nt a hrdcore gamer so i can live with low res and gfx settngs lol. Evn a frnd of mine playd many games only with a gf 7050. Nw bk 2 th topic. Suppose a game in win7 eats 2 gb ram bt 1 gb in xp. It may lag on my system thn. What cn do i abt that? Is dr any way 2 do smthng so it eats only 1 gb?

[mithun_mrg]

@op remember the gaming performance is equally proportional to the hardware switching os may give u a few fps boost but it won't make a unplayable game playable end of the day its the main hardware that matters not the os for gaming

[Zangetsu]

@setanjan123: windows 7 is always preferred over XP...but its true it consumes more memory than XP..

& some games have peculiar issues with win 7 (old ones).

for smooth gaming stick to XP.
else windows 7 with little sacrifices

u can use tools such as RAM Booster,Game Booster etc.

Originally Posted by mithun_mrg

@op remember the gaming performance is equally proportional to the hardware switching os may give u a few fps boost but it won't make a unplayable game playable end of the day its the main hardware that matters not the os for gaming

yes H/W is top priority but also OS matters...coz OS also consumes RAM.

[joy.das.jd]

I think you should stick to WIN XP. I am still using win xp for most of my gaming and for occasional games i switch to win 7.
Most of the old games run better on win XP if you have 2 GR of RAM (This is personal opinion).

[Neuron]

You do have a choice to install both of 'em.This way winxp will serve as recovery platform too.

[setanjan123]

I think i will stick with xp. i dual booted win7 with xp on diff partitions but it seems to have screwed up my xp installation. it is having some peculiar problems. i think i will do a fresh re-install. thx digit.

[Sujeet]

regarding games from 2004 to 2010
Win7 should be fully compatible with 2009+games alongwith backward compatibilty it could extend support for old games too..neglecting the extra memory req for win 7 in comparison to xp win 7 will get you the advantage of better directx support (directx 9+)
So win7 should be the way to go..