What OS with AMD 3200+

[Villa-]

Heya, I was wondering what OS you guys think i should use for best performance with Athlon 3200+ 64bit.

Looking for a good windos gaming OS, any ideas? THanks
1

 

[Rick]

If you are looking for Windows XP 64-bit is by far the best gaming OS.

Mainly because no other consumer operating systems bearing the Windows logo take advantage of 64-bit...

And I'd still recommend Windows XP if you were using 32-bit. Of course, do yourself a favor and get the 64-bit flavor... Not the standard 32-bit one you usually find at stores.

 

[Villa-]

I decided to go with XP 64 bit edition. Are there any drivers I should think about getting beforehand? I'm using a Radeon 9800 Pro.

 

[Didou]

For the moment you might as well stick with Windows XP ( 32 bit version ). The 64-bit is a beta & is not recommended for gaming. Furthermore there aren't many drivers available for it right now.

You can always install both on different partitions & boot whichever you happen to need.

Here's a preview of Windows XP 64-bit @ Anandtech.

 

[Masque]

I agree with Didou. I'm running the 64-bit 3200+ right now with a 9800XT and all is rocking. No special drivers....standard updated Catalyst work well. Technically there is not much available that will take advantage of the 64-bit version so no reason to go with a beta XP.

Just my $.02

 

[lowman]

XP Pro - Hands down the best choice by far...

 

[Villa-]

Well, I went to install XP today, turns out when setup looks for my harddrive, it can't find it. Any ideas? Computer works ;p just the XP setup doesnt find the hard drive.

 

[Didou]

If we knew what hardware you were working with, we could help.

The System Specs section of the profile is there for a reason.

 

[Masque]

Originally posted by Villa-
Well, I went to install XP today, turns out when setup looks for my harddrive, it can't find it. Any ideas? Computer works ;p just the XP setup doesnt find the hard drive.

Are you booting from floppy setup disks or CD? If floppy, is the hard drive new? Has it been partitioned and formatted? That needs to be done for dos-based floppy disks to see the drive.

I don't quite remember if booting from CD, but I think the XP setup will do an 'initial' partition and format for you.

Edit: Just verified that tonight.

 

[InsaneMonkeyBoy]

R9800PRO.......GR8 CARD!

 

[Villa-]

Booting from an XP CD, the harddrive is not new (I'm using it now):

Maxtor 6 Y120M0 SCSI

 

[Rick]

Windows XP does not always recognize SCSI controllers during the installation. You will need a floppy disk with the proper drivers for that controller on it.

During the very beginning of Window XP setup from booting off of the CD, you will be prompted for "press F6 to install third party RAID or SCSI drivers"

 

[somekid007]

yah. 64bit windows is 10% slower on average in games than 32bit windows. its a hella lot faster in office apps tho.

 

[Charles Hammond]

I see no reason to buy XP PRO, if XP Home will do everything you want.

 

[Steg]

I see no reason to buy XP PRO, if XP Home will do everything you want.

Can't stand Home. Can't stand XP at all really but Home especially. XP Home is too restricting if you want to fiddle with the way a machine works - its designed to do everything for you - which many enthusiasts dont want. XP Pro is not as bad but i would recommend 2000 to anyone anytime. Its as stable and more secure than XP and allows you to fiddle with everything you could possibly want. And u dont get that STUPID interface.

Steg