Vista or XP
 

I'm running a Dell with the following specs:
AMD Sempron 1.8ghz processor
5gigs of ram
internal Nvidia 6550 LE graphics card
140gig HDD

I'm currently running Vista Service Pack 2, and I want to know if I were to install XP with Service Pack 3, if I would get better performance in my games.

:hmmm:

1. The video card limits you with either OS.
2. CPU would probably do better with XP...
3. 5 GB RAM is only usefull if you have a 64 bit OS. 32 bit OS can only use a little over 3GB. But Vista loves RAM. XP can get by on a GB less than Vista.
4. HDD really isn't much of an issue with this system (unless it's a 5400 RPM).
5. Vista is only up to SP1 I think :03:.

Bottom line: Probably not much improvement with your current video card. If possible--I'd recommend a complete upgrade... That Sempron is also a bottle-neck by today's standards...

Depends on the games, probably. Vista is known to be a speed brake with quite some games. Also, less chance for technical complications with games is reported when using XP.

On the other hand, your system is not the most uptodate anyway. I probably wouldn't worry to mess with the OS alone, or invest into a new system - but not before autumn this year, when the new OS by MS hopefully is out and already has seen first basic treatement and - hopefully - better feedback than Vista.

Save for new hardware, I would say.

I have a 3.1ghz AMD 64x Athlon Duo, just don't have a mother board/case to put it in. :rotfl:



As for gaming its mostly SH3, and Flight Simulator X until I get a new graphics card.

Seriously - get the Win7RC candidate. Its released tommorow. 7 runs great on older hardware, faster than both xp or vista, and all around is stable.

That's a great idea :up:! The price is right too!!!

In some cases yes you would get better performance with XP but ive found some games run far better on Vista with a up in the FPS by 30% in some cases. For instance when i use to have WoW on being an old game and all i ran it on XP i decide to install it on Vista which is on my D drive as a dual OS setup. I notice a huge improvement when running in vista and a drop in latency as well. All gfx and sound drivers are default in Vista meaning no updates just what Vista has with service packs. SH3 & 4 runs better for me in Vista than XP as well where Men of War runs better in XP than Vista.

You have a 140gig hdd have you ever thought about just dual OS setup, partition your drive leave XP on C and install Vista on D, if Vista is not to your liking just boot to XP.