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World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

Performance was close again in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Windows XP had a slight edge with most of our cards, but the GeForce 8800 GTX actually performed better with the Vista driver. World of Warcraft is already very tough on 512MB systems, but Vista's increased memory footprint reduced frame rates to unplayable levels.

Burning Crusade Windows XP vs. Windows Vista Performance

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Burning Crusade, 1600x1200, 2GB memory

GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB, Windows XP
111
GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB, Windows Vista
111
Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB, Windows XP
68
Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB, Windows Vista
65
GeForce 7600 GT 256MB, Windows XP
73
GeForce 7600 GT 256MB, Windows Vista
70
Radeon X1650 Pro 256MB, Windows XP
32
Radeon X1650 Pro 256MB, Windows Vista
29

Burning Crusade, 2048x1536, 2GB memory

GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB, Windows XP
72
GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB, Windows Vista
75
Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB, Windows XP
39
Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB, Windows Vista
39
GeForce 7600 GT 256MB, Windows XP
24
GeForce 7600 GT 256MB, Windows Vista
15
Radeon X1650 Pro 256MB, Windows XP
12
Radeon X1650 Pro 256MB, Windows Vista
11
System Setup: Intel Core 2 X6800, Intel 975XBX2, 2GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GB x 2), 160GB Seagate 7200.7 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. Graphics Cards: GeForce 8800 GTX, GeForce 7600 GT, Radeon X1950 Pro, Radeon X1650 Pro. Graphics Drivers: Catalyst 7.1, Forceware 97.46, Forceware 100.54.

Burning Crusade Windows XP vs. Windows Vista Memory Comparison

(Longer bars indicate better performance)

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, 1600x1200, 2GB memory

Windows XP
111
Windows Vista
116

Burning Crusade, 1600x1200, 1GB memory

Windows XP
113
Windows Vista
118

Burning Crusade, 1600x1200, 512MB memory

Windows XP
93
Windows Vista
27

Burning Crusade, 2048x1536, 4xAA, 2GB memory

Windows XP
72
Windows Vista
75

Burning Crusade, 2048x1536, 4xAA, 1GB memory

Windows XP
73
Windows Vista
75

Burning Crusade, 2048x1536, 4xAA, 512MB memory

Windows XP
64
Windows Vista
7
System Setup: Intel Core 2 X6800, Intel 975XBX2, 2GB Corsair XMS Memory (1GB x 2), Corsair XMS Memory 1GB, Corsair XMS Memory 512MB, 160GB Seagate 7200.7 SATA Hard Disk Drive, Windows XP Professional SP2, Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. Graphics Cards: GeForce 8800 GTX. Graphics Driver: Forceware 100.54.

Are you going to upgrade to Windows Vista? Have you already upgraded to Vista? Share your game performance results in the comments below.

928 Comments

  • Anitrex

    Posted Aug 12, 2008 12:42 am GMT

    Looks like in the XP verson the gamesetting have been set to Very Low and in the Vista version pumped up to Very High.
    Look at the Crysis Dx9 vs Dx10 screenshot for a better comparisn.
    And as far as i am concerned Dx10 will slow down you PC performance by more than 15%.
    Its simply not worth the sacrifice in performance until you have got something like an 8800GTS.
    .

  • Goosey67

    Posted Aug 6, 2008 9:05 am GMT

    Zoladex my old computer had a Nvidia 8400 , a quad core 5gb and vista it could play CoD4 on highest settings and its a horrible graphics card, your processor and ram aren't very important

  • zoladex

    Posted May 23, 2008 2:03 am GMT

    Is the top picture a joke? the DX9 picture seems to have the graphics settings on super low. then they whack them up of DX10. bit of a stupid comparision. The one below is more believable.
    I think they should change them to crysis shots. crysis in DX9 looks about the same as the DX10 from the above ones.

    As of Vista. Boooo.
    I used vista on my bro's computer and nearly put my fist through the screen. I mean is ok if you have never used a computer b4, but if you have used XP its a nightmare. having to relearn where some of the tools are. The power demands. and probably the most retarded, the User Control Content (can remember the exact name), it seem it was design to annoy. It pops up for every thing, surpised it does pop up when you press the power button to turn the dam thing on. One that gave me the giggles was the one that says ''ask of admin permission' even when u are one.
    Before you nag, i know it can be turn off, but i have yet to find an upside to it, should it not be turn of by default.
    And also before u nag. i have yet to find a person to say they would prefer Vista over XP(not including the shop staff). about 20% of them have gone back to vista, 50% want to go back to XP but dont want to format, and the other 30% say it satifactory of what they use it for.

    Im i right on thinking Vienna is suppost be better than vista? the forums say its a more user friendly version of Vista.

    Edit: For the performance comparison. sorry its a bit of a lame survay thing.
    Game: Cod 4
    Computer1: Desktop Vista, geforce 8400 GS. Low Spec Dual core(dono name) 2GB RAM.
    Computer2: Laptop XP, geforce 7300 Go. Slighty better Dual core. 1 GB RAM.

    Result: Draw. both have to be set to low everything for good FPS. shows how much power vista sucks up. however the PC can have some settings set higher. But the point is that the PC is much more powerful, yet only a small increase of performance.

    Analysis: Gamers stick to XP till the high spec GPU prices drop.(only really applies if your Comp if boarder line specs) Work users stick to Vista, saddly it IS the way forwards.

  • westsidejedi360

    Posted Oct 28, 2007 9:58 am GMT

    Company of Heroes runs great on my 8500GT Vista machine at 1440x900

  • Salvaticus

    Posted Oct 12, 2007 4:50 pm GMT

    Well, many months and bad drivers later, this article is left a bit hollow I think.

    Less advertorials and more investigation please.

  • Al3x_n90

    Posted Oct 12, 2007 12:05 pm GMT

    yeah right i bought windows vista ultimate, i installed it, i wanted to see how the games play, and games like gtr2 or nfs carbon worked horribly the game that worked the same as on xp was battlefield2142,kinda strange, anyway i gave up windows vista, just because of the games, in general it ran perfectly and i have a 7600gt 2gb ddr2 and a 3600mghz amd athlon, my opion: it isn't worth it to upgrade to vista..YET...

  • Nirvana08223

    Posted Oct 2, 2007 2:37 pm GMT

    Sickside, i actually disagree with you. Most vista game's i've played have run BETTER than XP did. my specs are intel core duo x2 2.13ghz, 2gb RAM, nvidia 8800GTS 320mb GDDR3. My framerates for SOME games were at least 20fps better, but SOME were a lil worse. idk only problem i have with vista is the blue screens in the internet browser... o.o

  • sickside6

    Posted Sep 24, 2007 12:44 am GMT

    Upgrading to Vista isn't worth it, Yet! You need a really good computer to run it in the first place and then even if you can run it, it will take over all your system resources and slow down your game playing badly. When in normal running mode XP has around 40 processes running compared to Vista's 60. So yeah, unless you've got some kind of top end computer that can both run Vista and Games at the same time, then it isn't worth it.

  • technolusty

    Posted Sep 9, 2007 5:39 pm GMT

    I replaced my laptop with a Vista machine back in March. Due to the fact that I have a dual-core processor, a friend thought it was high time I entered the gaming world. So I can't compare what games like Tomb Raider looked and played like before. But I'm having great fun. I just need to upgrade my RAM :-).

  • Bloodnecron

    Posted Aug 24, 2007 7:17 pm GMT

    yup, most good last last year games cant run on vista

  • sitebent

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 9:05 pm GMT

    as a former Microsoft clone (quit last month) I have to say that I am really disappointed in the compatibility of the latest hardware and Vista. I just built a new dedicated gaming machine, Intel Quad Core, ASUS Extreme Striker MB, 2GB Corsair Dominator PC8500, dual 8800GTS 640MB HDOC in SLI, 1TB Raid 0 HD with quad boot for Vista 32-Bit, 64-Bit and XP Pro and have had nothing but issues with software and drivers for all three operating systems. Since most of the drivers currently available are BETA, they crash or cause one system error after another. I built this machine for the anticipated release of Crysis. Since the release was delayed until Nov 16th, hopefully nvidia and the rest of the companies can pull their heads out of their asses long enough to get all this crap to function correctly. I always tell myself to never buy the first edition of anything as it is usually filled with errors, wish I would have listened to myself this time… Live and learn…

  • jlvmvpgt3

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 7:04 pm GMT

    i had xp then i got vista it good but just useing it came push your R.A.M all way it 400-500 mb of ram and if you are useing Windows Media Center i have 1gb of ram and makes it stop the computer from working gameing no differents it works just like xp dam i need more ram

  • CookiesCream

    Posted Aug 13, 2007 1:44 am GMT

    cha ching! vista is a waste for now

  • chechak7

    Posted Aug 4, 2007 3:20 pm GMT

    offfff ....vista .. vista ...vista .....offFFFF
    vista=neEd money+hardware upgrade+drivers problemo+header pin so without DX10 +some other thinks VisTA is s***t

  • viliamos

    Posted Jul 5, 2007 12:53 pm GMT

    Meh... I don't see much difference. Actually I don't really care about Vista at the moment. I'll stick with XP until they start making (good)games only for DX10.. then I might upgrade to Vista.. maybe...

  • Leonick

    Posted Jul 4, 2007 2:58 am GMT

    Oh come on lieing xp fan boys dx 9 games work fine on dx10 and if your system is to slow for vista just turn of the aero effects and it takes up a lot less resources i even think thats recommended for gamers

  • dom84ts

    Posted May 15, 2007 8:24 am GMT

    Everything you can say about Windows VISta is here!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVbf9tOGwno&mode=related&search=

  • kevinprochazka

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 12:18 pm GMT

    People amaze me,
    with XP the slowdown when having multiple programs installed is too big for me. I have Vista Ultimate, runs perfect and much more stable than XP ever did on my system. The backwards compatability is there. all you have to do is let the game install any missing components. DX10 is not there just for new games. It improves visuals of a lot of games. Sadly i have not been able to try it out as i have an X1650 Pro 512 MB ddr GFX card. However i will be buying a new system soon with a 8800 gtx. Anarchy online, call of duty, battlefield 1942, battlefield 2142, neverwinter nights 2, oblivion all work perfectly.

  • phairfan

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 1:25 pm GMT

    I've only had a few tiny crashes with Windows Vista. Overall, it runs decently, but XP Pro is still more stable. I've not had any problems playing the following games with Vista: Civ4, Desperate Housewives, Sid Meier's Railroads, and Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich.
    I've only had occasional tiny problems while playing Morrowind GOTY.
    Vista isn't horrible. Plain and simple. It is quite decent and a step in the right direction. If you think it is a system hog, well, get with the times. This isn't the year 2000 anymore. Just remember than when Windows XP first came out, everybody said it was a system hog because it demanded more resources and RAM than were commonplace at the time. But now, everybody is praising XP. Go figure. Vista is a brand new operating system. You'll need updated resources and memory and not using a 10 year old computer.

  • god13g

    Posted Apr 23, 2007 9:11 am GMT

    dx10 is good but not that good for all the bugs and viruses so ill stay with xp till they make all xp games work on vista then i may upgrade

  • Seobazz

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 6:35 pm GMT

    WHY VISTA? what's wrong with XP? I damn don't have any money to upgraded! Microsoft eat my money geez !

  • indianapepsi

    Posted Apr 17, 2007 3:25 pm GMT

    i will not move to vista, i have a collection of over 500 games dating back 7 years, all of which run fine on xp and most will not run on vista, and those that will run will only run on a very high end machine (double reccomened specs) i did the vista upgrade check and my machine was only 8.3% compatible with vista so not a chance. my friend has vista, (2gig ram, 250gig hdd, g-force 256mb graphic chip and duel pentiums4GHZ i think) the sims 2 with all exp packs (my favorite game) runs but is choppy at full setting and has froze on him 3-4 times in 2 weeks. I have xp (1gig ram, 160gig hdd, ATI 256mb graphic chip, althon 2.4GHZ processor) the sims and all exp packs work fine, never crashed on me before after 2+ years, runs really well on full settings, even after hours of play it hardly slows down, so i wont be switchin to vista any time soon! Now if they decide to to a DX9 backward compatiblity upgrade i might consider if but that would be the only way.

  • szaszgyuri

    Posted Mar 30, 2007 1:57 am GMT

    Difference

  • Athonline

    Posted Mar 25, 2007 2:26 am GMT

    I may be able to get for myself a free legal, not pirate copy of Vista, but still with just 1,5 Gbs Ram it may bottleneck my system. I will whait until SP1 or real DX10 games come out.

  • Gamepost

    Posted Mar 23, 2007 6:38 am GMT

    Windows is dead. Ubuntu rulez. We just need OpenTTD and Freeciv anyway.

  • ldavidtw2000

    Posted Mar 22, 2007 7:57 pm GMT

    I'm not upgrading until all the bugs and problems are gone.
    Vista is essentially worthless for current gamers. yes, I dunno how DX10 will do but currently gamers who upgraded to Vista is "not smart".

  • calebralph

    Posted Mar 20, 2007 6:33 am GMT

    Dear noobs,

    Google Windows XP reviews 2 months after its release....

  • Kreean

    Posted Mar 19, 2007 2:03 pm GMT

    Upgrade for what? For Conan, Crysis and Halo 2?
    No wait; for a new system with new bugs and virus attacks?
    ... ahh I got it;
    I need Vista because of all those fancy little gimmicks like Aero, Page Flipper and so on...
    Sorry but I stay with XP...
    Oh yeah and making DX10 Vista-only is a hell of a crime! Shame on you Microsoft!

  • ams20

    Posted Mar 18, 2007 4:20 am GMT

    I might upgrade.

  • matt168

    Posted Mar 17, 2007 7:21 pm GMT

    and plus xp beat vista by just a bit in every test

  • matt168

    Posted Mar 17, 2007 7:14 pm GMT

    i'd wait until sp1 for vista is released before getting it but i'm happy with my xp.

  • gameniko

    Posted Mar 16, 2007 7:51 pm GMT

    WIndows XP is faster. Microsoft really screwed up with Vista. I will think twice b4 I upgrade to Vista. There is a new and improved windows on the way called "fiji" basically an improved version of Vista. Its gonna be released in about 2 years so worth waiting for that.

  • JOSE24DGUEZ

    Posted Mar 9, 2007 9:08 pm GMT

    Vista rules...

    Let's wait and see how DirectX10 ready games run on it...

  • retiredoldlady

    Posted Mar 9, 2007 12:46 pm GMT

    I just got a new core2 6600 with gforce 8800gts but held off on vista until the bugs are worked out

  • windfish113

    Posted Mar 8, 2007 12:32 am GMT

    i absolutely love vista ultimate it looks sooooo great with aero, page flipper? swweeet! and all i can say is dreamscene = MONEY!!! and it kicks ass on all the games i need it to, quake 4 cs:source fear etc work great and i wasnt looking forward to halo 2 vista but now i cant wait. and that slick chess game is taking over my life ugh

  • hutwhilz

    Posted Mar 2, 2007 1:28 am GMT

    i'll wait a year before i buy vista...... after all the updates are done..... when ........ if it happens

  • LouieV13

    Posted Mar 1, 2007 10:02 pm GMT

    Vista crashes most of my games except the ones that were made by ms game studios lol

  • rta

    Posted Feb 21, 2007 10:04 pm GMT

    Vista is ready for chess! WOOHOO!

  • human15

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 2:52 pm GMT

    I see a big difference. but directx10 will not be avaible for windows xp!!?? is this true?

  • Jecko750

    Posted Feb 19, 2007 2:35 pm GMT

    The layout may be confusing in vista's new explore interface or desktop with the other tools. After awhile you get used to it. (although they should of left the clock alone.) It's gonna be a while for me to upgrade since all I need is more RAM and updade this really old graphics card.

  • xtremeg4m3r

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 4:42 pm GMT

    I see a big difference.

  • 360gamerz

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 1:12 pm GMT

    i'm gettin vista 4 free but is that a gd thing? who knows aslong as company of heroes is better!!!

  • Muppetchief

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 2:38 am GMT

    Vista is the biggest load of b******s ive ever seen because the only improvements are the stupid clock at the top of your screen. I used windows vista ultimate and i was really dissapointed by the lack of work they have put into making it better. Its going to take a long time for Microsoft to get vista working properly becuase it took them long enough to get XP running properly didn't it. I say wait either wait until they have sorted the problems with it or don't bother and just stick with lovely old XP becuase you can run basically everything from XP.

    Muppetchief
    ______________________________________________

    Pwning noobs since April 2006

  • adam_laher

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 2:11 am GMT

    i am running pentium 4
    512MB ram
    1.7 GHZ
    40GB hard drive
    Nvidia geforce
    Got vista on and perfect for me including the games

  • adam_laher

    Posted Feb 18, 2007 2:07 am GMT

    yup,a huge improvement

    recommended for those who are addicted to games

  • lageste

    Posted Feb 17, 2007 9:01 pm GMT

    AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT: I definately won't be upgrading until the last minute, gauging the last minute is completely subjective, but i will let all the clowns who dash out to buy VISTA be the free ms fault finding service, hehehehehe. I wait till its stable.

  • lageste

    Posted Feb 17, 2007 8:42 pm GMT

    TIME TO CUT THROUGH THE CRAP: Unfortunately if you are serious about gaming it is not a matter of if, but, when you will upgrade to Vista, this is self explanatory. (As othe commenters have explained). The Price is the primary concern for me, ( i admit i have not studied any benches yet). Upgrading will be expensive, but an effective upgrade may be very very costly, depending on how taxing the Vista Os turns out to be. I will explain what i mean: for those of you commenting on needing to upgrade to 8 gig of ram i say keep your uneducated nonsense to yourself: Lesson 1: x par2= 32 bit address bus= max addressable ram= 4 gig. I would like to see some reliable benches on system load to determine how much $ an upgrade is gonna cost me in real terms, i.e: ugrading may not involve os alone.

    A+/net+ certified it engineer.

  • RPG_Ash

    Posted Feb 17, 2007 11:02 am GMT

    I'll be waiting a few months before it comes out (which is now in the UK) before i will be bying a whole new PC anyway and Vista.

  • hurrikayn

    Posted Feb 17, 2007 10:15 am GMT

    I just wanna know wich graphics is good and cheap so I can play oblivion because I'm switching to windows vista.

  • dead_rose

    Posted Feb 16, 2007 2:17 pm GMT

    I was thinking about upgrading my computer to Vista and I think I am going to do it... CHECK OUT THE PERFOMANCE BARS!!!

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