Vista and BF2?

[MaXXimus]

Im going to be getting an Alienware Area-51 ALX system and Im hesitant on having Vista installed. Anyone who is running Vista along with BF2, are you having any issues at all? I could easily just order and then format since I own my own copy of XP, but would perfer not to have to go through all the hassle.

[CycoSomat1c]

I had a few performance issues when Vista was in Beta under BF2142, but the RTM Vista seems to run fine on my desktop. I've run both 2142 and BF2 on my current system (see sig below), and only seem to lose about 5-8 fps over XP. You will get the occasional CTD (crash to desktop) for no apparent reason every now and then, but as soon as Nvidia get's their 8800 drivers worked out that problem should go away. Vista does have much better networking features and security, and you'll be somewhat future-proofed with the ability to run DX10 games, not to mention that Microsoft's support will slowly dwindle away for XP users over the next year. Besides, if you're getting that ALX system, you won't have to worry about performance for a LONG freakin' time bro. You must have money fallin' out of your ass!

[Maniac]

I went back to XP from Vista. I would get good framerates but it was like I was running the game with 1Gb, would get chopping every once and a while. Went back to XP and it was 99.9 FPS constantly.

I have Vista on my other computer still and I love the OS, but when I upgraded to my new hardware it just didn't have good Vista drivers, onboard audio and audigy 2 both worked like shit. Hopefully in the future my stuff gets better driver support so I can go back to Vista.

[MaXXimus]

I wish I had money coming out my ass lol. Actually it was money left by my father who passed last yr...

And yes, Im hoping for many many yrs of enjoyment before even having to think about a new computer or upgrading. This is what I picked out:

Area-51® ALX
Windows® Vista Ultimate
Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce 3.0 Video Cooling (Color = Conspiracy Blue)
Alienware® AlienFX System Lighting (Color = Fusion Red)
Alienware® ALX High-Performance Liquid Cooling (Processor)
Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 3.0GHz 8MB Cache 1333MHz FSB - Overclocked to 3.33GHz
Dual 768MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra - SLI Enabled
AlienAdrenaline v1.0: Video Performance Optimizer
4GB Low Latency DDR2 Performance SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 x 1024MB
320GB (2 x 160GB) Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 10,000 RPM w/ 2 x 16MB Cache
20X Dual-Layer DVD±RW
Dual High Performance Gigabit Ethernet Ports
Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer High Definition 7.1 Audio
Alienware® 1000 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Logitech® Z-5300e 5.1 280-Watt Speakers
Saitek II Backlit Keyboard
Logitech® G5 Laser Gaming Mouse
3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
Razer Barracuda HP-1 Gaming Headset

[Bi0]

You're crazy.


I'm not sure how good that keyboard is, but I'm sure my Logitech Dinovo Edge could destroy it :P

[MaXXimus]

You're crazy.


I'm not sure how good that keyboard is, but I'm sure my Logitech Dinovo Edge could destroy it :P

Thats a cool looking keyboard  8) But Im positive my keyboard can run circles around your keyboard in the dark 

And yea maybe I am a touch unbalanced because I usually wouldnt spend that kind fo dough on a computer... but wth, I got a little over $27,000 to burn so why not a nice fancy toy? A buddy of mine is always trying to keep up with the technology because it seems like 6 months after you buy the best its already outdated. He buys a new computer at least 1 or 2 times a yr because he buys "middle ground" computers.

Also a lot of the other manufactures seem to skimp in some areas... like Gateway for example when I priced their top of the line along with the best of everything I could throw in it, the price came out to around $5400... but the graphics cards, mobo a few other essential items were of much lesser quality then what Alien offered and why spend that kind of money when I could spend a little over  $700 more and get the best of all the worlds... plus I think Aliens cases are to die for, lol.

[MaXXimus]

I went back to XP from Vista. I would get good framerates but it was like I was running the game with 1Gb, would get chopping every once and a while. Went back to XP and it was 99.9 FPS constantly.

I have Vista on my other computer still and I love the OS, but when I upgraded to my new hardware it just didn't have good Vista drivers, onboard audio and audigy 2 both worked like shit. Hopefully in the future my stuff gets better driver support so I can go back to Vista.

Can I ask what your system specs are Maniac?

Right now Im running a single core P4 3.2Mhz, 2 Gig of ram and an AGP 7800 GS OC, I tried the RTM of Vista but was having major issues with various drivers while trying to play BF2, but I would have thought by now that a lot of driver problems would have been resolved. And isnt there suppose to be a service pack for it out soon?

[CycoSomat1c]

There are two things which may cause problems under Vista. Video and audio. The early 8800 drivers were flaky in that they wouldn't save profile information for different games, but the latest nvidia drivers (163.69) seem to have fixed that problem for me, and they work much better performance-wise. As for the audio, Microsoft removed the DirectSound API from Vista and DX10, which means that EAX effects are essentially broken. The X-fi still works, but the extra effects will only be available to newer games which use the OpenAL API. This is not a deal-breaker by any means, just something to be aware of. One last thing, Vista does like to run on alot of memory, but after tweaking startup services and configs on my system I've gotten it down to near XP levels. Even though you've ordered 4gb of RAM, unless you get a 64-bit OS you'll only be able to use about 3.4gb of that because of the limit imposed by 32-bit operating systems.

[MaXXimus]

LOL you were reading my mind cause I just posted on another thread about the ram topic.

[MaXXimus]

Cyco, do you honestly think Vista is worth the even slight aggravation? Like with the sound issues? All this fuss makes me think maybe I should get the 64bit XP and be done with it, lol.

[CycoSomat1c]

Take it from me dude, I was anti-Vista hardcore before putting it on my desktop, but I honestly haven't had any real problems to speak of, and I'm only running a single 8800GTS(320mb). Vista Ultimate has alot of powerful features that I couldn't do without after using it for awhile. Even if though it only recognizes a portion of the RAM, it's still a gig and a half more than 2gb, which can help alot. Any problems I do have while playing are a direct result of me overclocking, and my Striker Extreme is really sensitive to memory timing changes, but I'm water-cooled so I tend to push it to the limits. For example, we were playing BF2 the other night (I'm D3VILD@GG in BF2), I CTD'd a few times, but it's because I've got RAM from two different manufacturers trying to run at over-spec'd speeds, so I just had to loosen the timings a little to get it to cooperate. I've been putting together a Vista optimization spreadsheet for gamers which lists some tweaks you can do to maximize gaming performance, so I'll trying posting it as a sticky by the end of today once I get it converted.

[Maniac]

Can I ask what your system specs are Maniac?

Right now Im running a single core P4 3.2Mhz, 2 Gig of ram and an AGP 7800 GS OC, I tried the RTM of Vista but was having major issues with various drivers while trying to play BF2, but I would have thought by now that a lot of driver problems would have been resolved. And isnt there suppose to be a service pack for it out soon?

E6750 @ 3.6Ghz
Asus P5K
2GB OCZ
8800GTS
Audigy 2

[MaXXimus]

Can I ask what your system specs are Maniac?

Right now Im running a single core P4 3.2Mhz, 2 Gig of ram and an AGP 7800 GS OC, I tried the RTM of Vista but was having major issues with various drivers while trying to play BF2, but I would have thought by now that a lot of driver problems would have been resolved. And isnt there suppose to be a service pack for it out soon?

E6750 @ 3.6Ghz
Asus P5K
2GB OCZ
8800GTS
Audigy 2

Those are some good specs... did you attempt this some time ago? Cause I would have thought a majority of the driver bugs would have been worked out by now. Plus Im almost positive I read about SP1 coming out possibly in the first quarter of 2008.