Do you think a modern gaming pc should have windows 8

[ETRJ]

I was just wondering if a modern gaming pc should have windows 8 or stay with windows 7 ?

[Coombzy]

if its a new PC most definitely its a little faster than 7 and something like startisback easily erases all the clunky parts of Windows 8.

[Vitalius]

if its a new PC most definitely its a little faster than 7 and something like startisback easily erases all the clunky parts of Windows 8.

Quoted For Truth (QFT)

[Helltech]

Since Windows 8 improved performance, yes. 

[DirkaFat]

When windows 8 launched, there were a lot of problems with game compatibility. Are most of them fixed now?

[SkilledRebuilds]

Even if you didnt want to change, you will eventually have to, gamers eventually are forced to change OS to fully utilize their graphics card technologies with Microsoft sometimes FORCE into their upcoming OS,

but never make it compatible with existing operating systems.

 

XP to Vista = DX10/11

Vista/Win7 to Win8 = New DX11.#

[TheDigitalRealm]

At the moment I would say it's personal preference as performance improvements aren't very significant. Also, if you are someone who plays games from the early to mid 90's then Windows 8 has more compatibility issues with older games than Win 7. Eventually, yes you will have to invest in Windows 8 or newer version.

[Whiskers]

Generally yes. But if you're interested in older games there are still some compatibility issues with Windows 8 it seems.

[jj509]

Generally yes. But if you're interested in older games there are still some compatibility issues with Windows 8 it seems.

 

This seems to be a huge issue everywhere. and were not talking older as in back when we were youngsters. I mean games as little as 2-5 years old have incompatibility problems with win8. I personally will wait till win9 or what ever comes after 8.

[Common_Courtesy]

As people have been saying there are way to many compatibility problems with older games for it to be a viable gaming platform for me. So no.  

[Vitalius]

As people have been saying there are way to many compatibility problems with older games for it to be a viable gaming platform for me. So no.  

.. Does Compatibility mode change anything?

[Common_Courtesy]

.. Does Compatibility mode change anything?

 

I've see it working with some titles, others it can be a bit more finicky. 

[MdX MaxX]

I've had no compatibility issues.

 

Then again, I haven't tried playing any games from, like, the '90s.

[fracking4oil]

I find that if it runs on Win 7 it runs as well or better on Win 8. Even Populous (1989) seems to run fine, although I haven't played it, because it looks cheesy, I can't figure out how to play it & I don't really care.

[Helltech]

What games are people having issues with? I play Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Doom, Starcraft, Baulder's Gate, X-Com, Fallout none of these games gave me issues. 

[AvoK95]

Well Windows 7 runs fine and has support up to 2024 or something. There's nothing Windows 8 can do that 7 can't do, however, 8 performs better in games. But still not a reason for it to be a must.

[RuecanOnRails]

I don't think any computer should be running windows 8 in my opinion.

 

As for gaming, games which require the newest iteration of directX will need windows 8 or higher as an OS. But keep in mind, most modern games still don't fully support the current Direct X, not to mention Nvidia's gpu not capable of running all of directX 11's features. 11.1 or whatever they call it on windows 8 will not be the driving force to upgrade.

 

Windows 8 will perform slightly better than windows 7 but performance increase is not noticeable. Magnitudes of less than 3% performance gains.

 

If anything we need to move away from Windows as being a gaming platform, Microsoft is helping to make that push

 

Here's an interesting pax panel which devs talked about getting away from Direct X in favor of open platforms to support more devices.

 

http://youtu.be/VGqu4CsUX9I?t=8m55s

 

[Giddyguy]

I think for now, its more of a personal choice because its still quite early and there is still lots of windows 7 support. However, eventually you will have to move on and accept Windows 8 because that is the direction Microsoft is committed to. If you don't like this direction, Linux might soon become a viable option for gaming.

[EChondo]

Yes and no.

 

I see it as a personal choice, Windows 8 is faster performance wise, but if you don't like the UI then it negates it.

[Ookami]

I call "HoneyBadger" on that.

If you want newer system that boot up and work "over9000xfaster" than 7 - go 8. If you already got 7 or prefer Start button built in and that most games work well with 7 then go with it.

 

Basicly you cant go wrong with both 7 and 8 as OS for gaming.

[juretrn]

I used 8 since release to manufacturing version that I got from dreamspark. There were no issues with any fairly recent games regarding compatibility. Minus the Modern UI, 8 is superior to 7 in every way. 

[gareklaw]

The only games I've had difficulty with are the ones I had issues with in vista

[MxZeal]

think il switch to windows 8 when 8.1 or 8.2 hits but for now im perfectly fine. (plus i enjoy my badass theme)

[Agons]

I would say yes, only if windows 8.1 turns out to be what they say. start menu, and a complete opt out of metro.

[Canoas]

pick windows 8 without a doubt. There are significant performance increases in most games, about 10% on average and some even manage a 20% increase in FPS. There were a few compatibility issues at launch but it's pretty much fixed now. If you dislike metro (personaly I love it, it's much more efficient) then you can easily change that as well. There's really no reason to keep using windows 7.