best o.s. for gaming?

whosurpaddy · 05-02-2003 8:36pm #1

a friend of mine said something to me the other day that got me thinking about this subject. was just wonderin what are peoples opinions on this topic.

i dual-boot between xp & 98 but do all my gaming in xp, but on thinking about it dosent xp use more resources than 98, ram etc, so in theory shouldnt 98 be faster?

CombatCow · 05-02-2003 8:59pm

I made the switch from win 98 to win 2k last year,win 2k is sooo much more stable than win 98 ,having said that win xp imo is the biggest piece of crap iv ever had the misfortune to use.To be honest win 2k from wot i remember only crashed twice since i installed it, whereas win 98 would crash @least twice a week.

COMBATCOW

Dingatron · 06-02-2003 11:21am

W2K for me. Never had any problems with it and as Combatcow says its pretty stable. Can't comment on XP as I haven't used it much. Down side is trying to get drivers for old cards etc.

koneko · 06-02-2003 11:28am

XP. Completely stable.

No problem with drivers for "old cards" as I don't keep old hardware in the PC :P
If you have a graphics card that doesn't have XP drivers you know it's time to move on and upgrade.

Chaos-Engine · 06-02-2003 11:36am

I just got my date for my broadband and
was thinking about this today.
I dual boot between debian and Win2k. I was wondering If its possible to get HAlf-Life/CS working under WIn2k...
I have a copy of XP but i will never install it as it will play havoc with my LAN....
Can anyone help me here or shoudl i go to teh gamers boards?

I know Win98 works and is pretty good but i don't want to triple boot as I need Win2k for a rare number of apps... I mostly use Debian these days..

thanks

KdjaCL · 06-02-2003 11:42am

XP Pro works on every game i have ,pc is decentish so havent had any probs.

98 was same no probs with any games.

Win2k had probs with most games ,gave up on it.

kdjac

Woden · 06-02-2003 11:57am

only problem i would think with windows xp for games is that it is more ram hunger then any other o/s and this could affect your gameplay i suppose if you haven't got bundles of ram in the machine

Ruaidhri · 06-02-2003 12:13pm

you should remember that XP is just 2K with all those annoying colours and schemes.
XP is also WAY more resource hungy than 2K.
2K is the most stable OS,best UI and most effieient at mamaging resources.
2K is the best OS for gaming

longword · 06-02-2003 12:17pm

TuxRacer!
gtetrinet!
liquidwar!
Frozen Bubble!
FreeCiv!

PPC · 06-02-2003 12:58pm

Originally posted by longword
TuxRacer!
gtetrinet!
liquidwar!
Frozen Bubble!
FreeCiv!

You forgot tuxcart!

astrofool · 06-02-2003 1:12pm

XP by a mile, followed by win98se

Quigs Snr · 06-02-2003 1:47pm

Depends on your gaming.

XP is fine for newer games. But if you are a 'gamer' gamer, then you probably appreciate the classics too.

Older games run well on 98 too. I haven't seen a game not run on 98SE. For me its the king. XP can be faster with newer games sometimes though.

Horses for courses though really. If you like to play some older games (eg: Even Colin McCrae 2 won't run unpatched on XP...no good for the casual user), then XP/2000 etc... are not the way to go.

That said I use both.

JohnK · 06-02-2003 2:04pm

I'd say XP. I haven't had any problems with it

po0k · 06-02-2003 3:03pm

Win2k is the only viable option for the majority of gaming (with the exception of beardy alternatives - Commuinism Yeah!).

WinXp in either form is a big pile of steaming kitten ****.

leeroybrown · 06-02-2003 3:07pm

I'd love to be able to use Linux as my primary gaming machine but good and all as Tuxracer is, it's just too much hassle.

Consequently I use Win2k for gaming and find it excellent.

Gerry · 06-02-2003 3:17pm

hrm, I don't have a problem running any games on win2k, I don't play many older games, but they seem to work fine. ( like rally championship which runs under dos 4gw, doom, f1gp 1 (1991 ), etc. Quake3 runs faster for me under win2k than on win98se, but then it runs faster on freebsd than it does on win2k

timeout · 06-02-2003 3:39pm

2k appears to be the most stable for me even though I never had any problems with 98.

XP is only good for new games.

minbari_weh · 06-02-2003 3:55pm

Just got my new desktop from encom.ie last week. Stuck the debian boot disk in, did the base (50MB) install, and told apt to install openGL. It connected up to the net, and asked me what video card I had (ATI Radeon 7000).

3D worked fine out of the box. No need to download separate drivers or anything. No crashes, no messing. Just wolf and quake.

John

IronMan · 06-02-2003 4:20pm

XP runs all modern games, and is pretty stable. Just get rid of the vomit inducing "themes". And shut down the Services you don't need. Mr Gates decided that most of them should be started by default. Try this site to run a lighter version of XP
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

Saruman · 06-02-2003 5:11pm

XP for me.. not that its much better than 2k but put it this way.. i have had pretty much NO problems on my main rig with XP, with 2k it was not as stable and i got the odd blue screen installing drivers that were in fact designed for 2k. I guess it depends on the system and personal taste.. once you turn off the eye candy its great

Chaos-Engine · 06-02-2003 6:05pm

All this talk of Win2k for games

CAN ANYONE RUN Counter-Strike/HalfLife???

on Win 2k
I'm not interested in XP(burn it)..
If it is at all possible to run CS on Win2k plz plz plz tell me

TacT · 06-02-2003 6:59pm

2k for me.

chaos engine - yes it runs just dandy although if you do have trouble then try running/installing in compatability mode.

I had 1 problem with win2k and hl and it's mods. I was running a yamaha ds-xg and I tended to warp around the place. (v.v. old sound card but not that old) I upgraded to a nice5.1 card and problems dissapeared.

It's not had any trouble with anything I've thrown at it, haven't had a single game crash and the only time my pc has bsod'd was from overclocking.

Currently running hl and mods, ut2k3, mohaa, (and have tested) wc3, ms flight sim, ut original, QIII (osp/arena) and a whole load of junk I can't remember off the top of my head AOE and AOE II also.

If your looking for some classics/older titles to run on it.

www.mameworld.net/easyemu/mamegameinstall.htm
www.classicgaming.com
www.mameworld.net/easyemu/mamegameinstall.htm
http://www.epsxe.com/
http://www.emuparadise.org/

what sort of hardware you have in the machine chaos?

longword · 06-02-2003 7:14pm

Originally posted by Chaos-Engine
All this talk of Win2k for games

CAN ANYONE RUN Counter-Strike/HalfLife???

Works fine under Linux ;-)

BigEejit · 06-02-2003 7:41pm

Has to be 2k ... XP is utter bollix ...

Cian · 06-02-2003 7:59pm

Originally posted by Chaos-Engine
I just got my date for my broadband and
was thinking about this today.
I dual boot between debian and Win2k. I was wondering If its possible to get HAlf-Life/CS working under WIn2k...
I have a copy of XP but i will never install it as it will play havoc with my LAN....
Can anyone help me here or shoudl i go to teh gamers boards?

I know Win98 works and is pretty good but i don't want to triple boot as I need Win2k for a rare number of apps... I mostly use Debian these days..

thanks

In my experience Hl/CS works better under win2k than it does under 98. More stable, better fps etc. The only problem I've had with win2k and gaming is i cant seem to install jedi knight II.

Stark · 06-02-2003 8:14pm

I find win98se best. Windows 2000/XP can have problems with older games. Games also run a bit faster on windows 98. However windows 98 is also an unstable pos so your mileage might vary.

The_Bullman · 06-02-2003 9:06pm

No problems with JKII on 2k on my pc

Woden · 06-02-2003 11:11pm

the amount of people saying xp is utter bollix, is utter bollix get over it 2k has had its day.

SantaHoe · 06-02-2003 11:32pm

I was going to vote for '98 considering the fact that I've got some older classics that don't like XP and refuse to run... but having your game crash out to the desktop or BSOD is no picnic either, so XP gets my vote for solid uninterrupted gaming.
As Quigs said, it all depends on what era of games you want to play, I've never had any problems with XP and newer games... oh wait - I have... GTA3 drove me mad with that garbled GUI bug, but that's been patched, so all is forgiven

(eg: Even Colin McCrae 2 won't run unpatched on XP...no good for the casual user)

Great game that, I picked it up in HMV on grafton st. for under a tenner, worked first time in XP, right out of the box... but it was a re-released version which was probably patched ;p
Funny that this topic should pop-up actually, I only came online tonight to patch-hunt for some of my older games.

STaN · 07-02-2003 6:27pm

i cant see why "classics" wouldnt work (depends what you define as a classic though, some games are just old

). Have you tried the compatibility feature of XP?

Tests show that there's no reason today to use Windows 98/ME in a new system. In many of the benchmarks, XP and 2000 are ahead - albeit only by a small margin. The biggest advantage of 2000 and XP, however, is in the more modern architecture, which, thanks to the increased stability and safety from crashes, allows for a much more relaxed work environment - and, of course, increased demands on the hardware as well.

98/ME users might ask if it is worth spending the money on XP and the additional RAM required for 2000/XP. This depends, above all, on how you plan to use the system. If you're only going to play games on it, then you can continue to use ME or 98SE. Most of the manufacturers no longer offer driver support for 98, but support for ME should still continue for a long time. All ME drivers work on 98 without a hitch (the naughty ones say that ME is only the retail version of a service pack for 98 SE...).

For those who use their PCs for other purposes as well should turn to XP or 2000 - with regard to performance, there's no difference between them. Games now run on both systems with optimal performance, and they mostly run faster than on the older operating systems. Only the 60 Hz problem (http://xp-refresh.net/) puts a considerable damper on the gaming experience. (Help in the article below)

There is a 6 page article about it here from toms hardware

Or you can glance at the below based on the following system:
Processor Intel Pentium 4 2,2 GHz (100 MHz)
Memory 2 x 256 MB, PC 266, CL2
Graphic Cards ATI Radeon 9700 PRO
NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti Ti 4600
Mainboard ASUS P4T-E
Drivers & Software
Graphics Driver NVIDIA - v. 30.82
ATI - v. 02.3
DirectX Version 8.1

longword · 07-02-2003 6:56pm

Originally posted by Dataisgod
the amount of people saying xp is utter bollix, is utter bollix get over it 2k has had its day.

Perhaps you could tell us what Windows XP has to offer over Windows 2000? Most of the benchmarks I've seen suggest that Windows XP is slower. XP has that nasty product activation messing. XP has a nastier EULA.

Woden · 07-02-2003 11:51pm

system activation is simple and painless, i fail to see how the eula affects me. XP was the best thing microsoft ever did for the home user. system restore can be a useful function. xp is more user friendly, integrated cd-writing ability if needed, and from a personal point of view, i upgraded from ME to 2000 and it slowed my computer down, upgraded from 2000 to XP pro, multiple log-on's, intergrated 802.11b wireless networking support, remote assistance, the XP kernel also has a number of improvements over 2000 for overall performance and i like the benchmarks shown above. (don't know why sp1 is slower though)

spooky donkey · 08-02-2003 12:53am

I dont see a huge diff between win xp and win 2k and that seems to be reflected in the poll both are the clear winners! I got for XP though it scores slightly less than 2k its newer and so it should be better for the newer games! Most games out now toolk over 2 years to develop and so were created before XP was realeased so we were optimised for the 98 Kernal! That will change with time lads!

Ryo Hazuki · 08-02-2003 9:09pm

I had Win2k SP3 then got XP Pro, one thing ive noticed is UT2K3 seems to run a lot better, less reading from the hard disk etc.

But Battlefeild 1942 seems to run worst, more skipping! Strange.

XP is VERY stable. Buy(!) it now.

Gerry · 09-02-2003 1:27am

Just to answer chaos engines question, I can run half life and cs here on win2k as well, no crashes. Only really annoying thing is that I cannot reliably alt-tab out of the game and back in, but I have heard that this happens on win 9x as well.

If anyone can actually say which games do not work for them on 2k or xp, this thread might be a little more informative.

Interesting enough that other people have had problems with colin macrae 2. I never even bothered searching the net, cos I don't play the game much. I did manage to get it working by deleting some config file and giving it a few goes, it still sometimes refuses to load though.

Ronan|Raven · 09-02-2003 2:02am

xp imho has given me nothing but hasle with older games even running in comp mode. Win2k has run everything fine for me......

XP is grand if ya have the latest hardware etc but ive seen nothing but hassle with it so far from my point of view... im sure its grand for nearly all of the people out there but Ive found myself extremely irritated with Winxp As of Late.

Pimp Ninja · 09-02-2003 2:31am

I'm a Win2K man really. I play everythihng on 2K SP2 and have not really had any problems.

My machine crashes about once a week, But I've a feeling it's because I move it around a lot, LAN's n such. After I reseat video card & RAM it doesn't crash until I move it again. even at that it's not definately going to crash.

What I'm saying is 2k all the way, brilliant OS. I'm not blaming my crashes on it.

Chaos-Engine · 09-02-2003 10:11pm

CHALLENGE:
"A Linux Kernel optimised for gaming"

Gerry · 09-02-2003 10:22pm

Well, I suppose you could start by removing any junk that you don't want from your kernel.

Then you ensure that you have the latest kernel, optimized for your processor.
You compile it for your cpu, as in tell gcc to use sse/sse2/3dnow or whatever. Try doing further optimizations like -O2 or -O3.

Then compile up your graphics card drivers with optimizations also.

Problem here is that compiling the kernel and/or drivers with optimizations often leads to crashes, as the new cpu optimized code often produces instability in the drivers.

Before running the game, ensure that your cpu usage in top is as close to 0% as possible.

whosurpaddy · 09-02-2003 11:31pm

well this topic certainly got people talking anyway. im still slightly confused y the newer o.s's run games faster as they consume more resources.

also for the people who r saying u cant run old games on xp copy all the files on the cd to the hard disk, select them all (including folders, subfolders etc) right click & select properties, then select the compatibility tab & select an older o.s. to run the game , NOW INSTALL & RUN THE GAME, HAPPY NOW?

Woden · 09-02-2003 11:40pm

how do you get pictures like that .gif?

STaN · 10-02-2003 12:02am

Originally posted by Dataisgod
how do you get pictures like that .gif?

ALT + Print Screen
Go to Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop and do Paste as new Image.
Then export as gif.

Easy

Woden · 10-02-2003 12:28am

thanking you

Kali · 10-02-2003 9:12am

I'll just mention the obvious here, if it hasn't already been said.. if you happen to have a copy of 2000 Server or Advanced Server, don't go installing it on a standalone machine, both have a much bigger footprint than the standard 2000 Pro and both in disk usage and memory usage... games will definitely run slower on either of these.

sutty · 10-02-2003 10:17am

Well I've only used 95/98/Win2k and Linux for games.

In win2k the list of games I cant get working are as follows:

The Nomad Soul
That is all!

The resion it wont work? well the develpers thought that 2k would be a work OS and never be used for games (twats) Anyway its nothing to do with 2k, just that the people that made the game... made it not to work with 2K!!!!

as for Linux and games.
Tuxracer looks sooooooo cool and has game play + its free

once you put openGL drivers on. the system takes on a hole new life. I found Q3, and Wolf to be a good bit faster than in 2k. As for ALL them other games that wont work in linux...

USE WINE!!! get the one made for gaming only(you have to pay for it). I had a copy of it back in its early days. Had a nice old game of Max Payne on it

From the list I seen they had a hell of a lot of games working on it. That was last year

*note to self: Download wine again

SantaHoe · 12-02-2003 8:58pm

Originally posted by whosurpaddy
copy all the files on the cd to the hard disk, select them all (including folders, subfolders etc) right click & select properties, then select the compatibility tab & select an older o.s. to run the game , NOW INSTALL & RUN THE GAME, HAPPY NOW?

Hmm, I would have been happy if it had worked, but it didn't.
I reckon M$ just put that property page there for the laugh because it's never worked for me

Interesting idea though, I'll try it with a few of my other oldies.

Praetorian · 13-02-2003 1:57pm

I dual boot with XP Pro and WINME. XP Runs almost everything perfectly. I use WINME for the DOS sound compatibility for the old games.

oslin · 27-04-2003 1:26am

If you want the fastest linux machine use gentoo linux as the whole system is build from source so it is totally optimised for your hardware be it intel or AMD.

www.gentoo.org
Also debian is a good base system to start off with.
www.debian.org
nils
PS
Also as for any type of micoshaft windoze, it's not worth the CD's it printed on.

Gerry · 27-04-2003 11:27am

debian is hardly suited for gaming, unless you forcibly upgrade the compiler, xfree86,glibc.. as you said gentoo would be the best linux for the job.

Of the window's os's, win2k is the best for gaming, in my experience. I got a boost in fps when I switched to 2k, along with all the other benefits like stability and reliability.

I've run quakeworld and quake3 on FreeBSD, and it goes about 10% faster than windows, next task is to get WINE working on freebsd so I can play half life/cs and grand prix legends.

SouperComputer · 27-04-2003 2:04pm

i cant see why "classics" wouldnt work (depends what you define as a classic though, some games are just old ). Have you tried the compatibility feature of XP?

the "compatability mode" isnt worth a **** with some games because the NTVDM in XP (and 2k) wont allow direct access to hardware.

2k for me so far, XP isnt really worth upgrading to, longhorn doesnt look much better

GUI · 27-04-2003 10:09pm

2k for me..

best o.s. for gaming?

whats the best O.S. for gaming 143 votes

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