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Wiping my PC - reinstall Windows 7x64 or buy Windows 8.1

fudspong
Explorer
While waiting for the DK2 to arrive I will be reformatting my PC so it's fresh and clean and less likely to have software conflicts with the 3D goodness.

I already have Windows 7 x64 but I was wondering if there's any advantage to installing Windows 8.1 instead, with performance, drivers or software compatibility?

It's quite an old PC:
i7 920
3GB DDR3
EX58-UD3R
GTX 670
120GB SSD C Drive, 3TB D Drive
No cash for new hardware yet, but hoping for an 800-series before Xmas and then saving for a new CPU/MB/RAM combo early next year.
25 REPLIES 25

bigmike20vt
Visionary
"KelvinNZ" wrote:
IMHO, I would wait for Windows 9 to come out, it will be more suited to the desktop user rather than tablet user.

This is just my opinion though. Windows 8.1 most likely won't give you great performance gain if any at all. I would stick with W7. It's proven.


I have to agree.

Windows 8 is a fantastic OS........ for touch screen PCs and for phones. (I would not swap my lumia 620 for any phone using another OS in its class)

but for standard a desktop / non touch laptop machine........ I had windows 8 on for a few months before dropping back to 7.**

There are a couple (1?) of games which benchmark better on win 8 (BF4) but everything else is either the same or better on windows 7. Sure going forward the scales will tip, but imo by that time windows 9 will be out.

Its not that Win 8 is bad per se, and if you were currently on XP or vista 32bit looking to upgrade that would be a different story. it is just that for an average desktop user it doesn't add much over 7 (which you already own).

Gut feeling is DX12 may not come to Win 7 so I reckon a forced update is not that far away, but it wont be before windows 9 is out.

(and many are suggesting win 9 will be very cheap)

** I cant lie though, I miss the insane loading times of win 8 I think my post was longer than the load time.
Fiat Coupe, gone. 350Z gone. Dirty nappies, no sleep & practical transport incoming. Thank goodness for VR 🙂

jhondidfool
Honored Guest
Went with W8 and 8.1 when they appeared. Never looked back. Faster and outright better. When you learn how to use it is much faster to use than W7, and everything runs MUCH faster on desktop, and I saw a 5-10% fps increase in most of my games due to better memory management.
People who say W8 is bed are just scared about changes. I have not even removed Metro, I don't need it (barely ever get into it on 8.1); W9 is yet to be seen, and all rumours so far. and you can get an upgrade for W8Pro quite cheap... even from a less-than-legal W7 install! (I got mine for 35$).

KelvinNZ
Honored Guest
"Alci" wrote:
The only people who I've met said W8 sucks were people scared of any changes and gave up after 5minutes 🙂 Most of my colleagues are either on "ok" or "better" stance.

I'd personally choose Win8.1 over W7 anytime if it's just matter of choice (faster, better memory management, better ui, working hidpi support, multi monitor support, better remote desktop support, the best wifi support I've seen so far, etc. (and I have touch screen on nb, so I'm used to them even on working machine; not using metro on any of them) ).

It might not be worth reinstalling from W7 (but it's completely insane keeping WXP on new machine over W8, like some people on forums suggests) or buying them if you already have W7 and you don't desperately need any particular feature.


I've been in I.T for many years and worked with many problems with Win8. It works but not proven for stability in all applications. M$ stuffed up with Win8+ like Vista. I believe people have adapted to Win8 rather than actually liking it intentionally. However things like .net and java have had some issues with applications. Running Windows xp is now like running Win98, no more security patches so don't even go there. Mind you it's all about taste at the end of the day, some people like sweet, some people like bitter.

doodlepip
Honored Guest
I decided to install Win 8.1 Pro on a new PC build recently and I've been impressed with the performance and surprised at how usable it actually is. Having said that I spend pretty much all of the time on the desktop interface - not metro. I thought this was the way to go as I thought that support/compatibility going forward will be better for Win 8 than Win 7.

One thing I would say if you install Win 8 - get a compatible keyboard with all of the hardware shortcut buttons. Pressing a single button to bring up search or settings is quite useful and missing the start menu really isn't that bad once you get used to just typing the app you want and clicking return 😄

fudspong
Explorer
Thanks for the feedback people, I'm glad I didn't ask if I should buy a Mac instead :lol:

I have 8.1 on a touchscreen laptop and I really like it, but I have no experience with it on a mouse'n'keyboard desktop PC. Think I might stick with 7 for now and put the AU$150 upgrade price towards a new HOTAS.

goettel
Explorer
Windows 7 x64 is absolutely fine, save your moneys.

erick
Honored Guest
"KelvinNZ" wrote:
IMHO, I would wait for Windows 9 to come out, it will be more suited to the desktop user rather than tablet user.


"bigmike20vt" wrote:
Windows 8 is a fantastic OS........ for touch screen PCs and for phones.


I'm so tired of seeing this misinformation. I have been using Windows 8 since beta on my primary home machine without a touch screen. It works wonderfully with a mouse. I also own a Surface Pro where I still prefer to use a BT mouse. I find that the touch response is merely a convenience when "on-the-go".

"bigmike20vt" wrote:
it is just that for an average desktop user it doesn't add much over 7 (which you already own).


This also isn't correct. Windows 8 offers improved performance, reduced background services, more efficient power management, higher performance USB 3 support, fast boot features... etc, etc... For power users it provides more details like file transfer charts right in the transfer window or an improved Task Manager.

matus
Honored Guest
Just one word:

Linux

:twisted:

Phoenix90
Explorer
I'm also tired of hearing how W8 is supposed to be incompatible with everything.

I have yet to find a piece of software working on W7 that doesn't work on W8 (although I admit that a few require you to install stuff that W7 has out of the box).

In fact a great piece of software for OR called Virtual Desktop only works in windows 8 and it makes it possible to use your computer with the rift and open rift games and play them seamlessly without having to take off the rift all the time.

freehotdawgs
Honored Guest
I just don't see the reason to upgrade if you have windows 7. Windows 7 is perfectly fine. Windows 9 is expected to arrive next year, why not wait for that? That's what I'm planning on doing. The benchmarks I've seen have shown that windows 8 does boot up faster and is more efficient in some ways, but it also performs slighly slower in video games by a couple of fps. For gaming PCs, boot up time, ram usage, and hdd usage tend to be non-issues since there is usually plenty of hdd space and ram to go around and having high end gaming parts ensures a fast boot time if you maintain your system.
I'm not afraid of change, but spending $100+ on something that will have a negligable performance impact, get out dated in less than a year, and then have to deal with the interface just doesn't seem worth it. It's like upgrading from a titan to a 780ti.