Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 for gaming?

Moving forward Windows 10 since it has DirectX12.

Performance is pretty much the same across all 3.

7 with classic mode(aero disabled) uses less resources than the rest, so it is the best at the moment.

Don't spread BS dude. Both Win8 and Win10 have better memory management than Win7, and he asked moving forward so DirectX12 is only availble on Win10.

You don't like anything past Win7, we get that, but don't make incorrect suggestions.

It's not even remotely BS. If you ever play games in boarderless/windowed you will get massively better performance in Win7.

Some examples of better performance in Win7 in my experience:

Quake Live feels horrible in Win8/10 or even 7 with aero enabled. It feels buttery smooth with 7 with classic mode, this difference isn't only felt by me. I told a few friends to try it and they thanked me a ton for telling them to try classic mode. Before you say "10 year old etc" quake live has been compiled with relatively new features, e.g features like the thread sleeping by default. It also just made its debut on steam.

CS:GO does not work properly on 8 or 10 if you frame cap. I'm not exactly sure why this is, but I can only guess it's because of the new timer that's implemented in 8/10. This results in worse DPC latency generally, since it's geared for power optimization. A few other games have issues with win8/10 if you disable HPET. Loadout for instance caps at different frame rates based on whether you have HPET on or off.

Back to CS:GO if I cap my frame rate to 200fps in 7, I stay at 200 fps constant. In 8/10 the frame rate fluctuates a lot 170-200, and I've tested this on multiple machines. You cannot get a stable capped framerate in 8/10.

The memory management changes make no performance differences, if you compare performance differneces between all three OS's they're even, and that's with Win7 with aero on.

Which the majority of gamers don't.

Even so, the performance isn't that much different. Win8 is actually "lighter" on the resources than Win7.

Anyway, still incorrect suggestion. He asked "moving forward" and he's on Win7 already and wants to upgrade.

I finished writing my post, and DX12 isn't even necessarily the future depending on what happens to Vulkan which works just fine on Win7.

Also I use Windows 10 regularly on my Aorus X3 Plus v4 laptop. I just find it to be a downgrade overall, as do many others.

It works fine, but you should ask yourself what features does Windows 10 offer you over 7. It currently offers nothing except more hurdles. (Can't select which updates you want to install, the updater is annoying, the control panel is much worse, the start menu's search can't find any settings, metro ui in the control panel, using the built in administrator account you cannot access any metro apps, etc.)

I read the rest of your post.

ALL your posts regarding gaming revolve around 2 games (Quake and CS). News Flash: gamers play more than those two old titles.

Moving forward in gaming there is no point installing Win7 or Win8 unless you have other software compatibility issues.

I've used and tested games & bench marked on all 3. W10 is still pretty buggy so I'd avoid it. W 8.1 will give slightly better game performance than W7. I use W7 personally because it's what I'm most used to but Windows 8.1 would be fine for you. I'd go with 8.1 until W10 is sorted out.

May I ask buggy where?

I've had zero issues so far on Win10 and gaming.

Since DX12 is around the corner go for W10. Otherwise I'd recommend W7.

10

If you have a lot of old Securom games, stick with Windows 7. Also, I find a lot of older (early 2000's games) 32-bit games will only run in the 32-bit version of Windows 10 whereas before, they ran fine in the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and 8.1.

Some games did benefit when I switched to Windows 10. For example, Far Cry 4 on my laptop was playable only on the lowest detail settings when I still had Windows 8.1. After switching to Windows 10, I was able to get similar framerates but at Medium. I can't say for sure if it was a patch or the OS itself. But, I'm not complaining.

I have one game, Sacred Gold which would not install in both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. It now installs and runs fine in Windows 10.

Google. I've seen people have some very very scary problems like Windows 10 causing screens to burn out and other serious problems like corrupting the bios and making the computer unbootable. Personally I'd wait a few more months until everything is worked out.

@saintsatan: How can the OS corrupt the BIOS?

Most of it probably BS or people that don't know what they're talking about.

No way Windows would cause a screen to burn. As for the BIOS becoming corrupted, that's possible but highly unlikely.

Most of the issues you hear about is because some idiot at Microsoft decided to give every single user the ability to upgrade by themselves, which 1 out of 5 upgrades goes wrong.

You're very very wrong. Hundreds/thousands of people have reported screens burning out when upgrading to Windows 10. It's very well documented. There's 300+ page threads about it on various websites. People have gone so far as to try to mimic it just to be sure it was Windows 10 causing it and it was. Pretty crazy problem eh? Microsoft has refused to acknowledge or help anyone with the issue. People have now found a fix for it but it took months. Supposedly Windows 10 corrupts the terminal output thus killing the monitor and it's quite hard to fix without using a certain tool someone made.

I really would love to know how a piece of software can burn out a monitor.

I edited the post. It corrupts the terminal output thus killing the monitor completely.

Still sounds weird.

Not saying I don't believe you, just that I just can't see a way for the software to corrupt the output to an extent that it kills the monitor.

Anyway, way off-topic here.

Well then... My i5-5200U laptop just came in mail. I am currently installing new W10 updates on it, it's taking a little more then forever. So we'll see if my monitor burns out... *sarcasm* :p

Absolutely no reason to not have Windows 10

^ i agree, no reason at all to have windows 10. Windows 7 is the best OS, fully compatible with everything. Maybe in a few years if there are good dx12 games but even that is questionable. I'd be willing to just run dx11 forever if it meant i didnt have to use win10.

@JigglyWiggly_: Windows 7 is a dying OS. The future of gaming will be with Windows 10. On a pure performance level, Windows 8.1 and 10 decimate 7. Listen to FelipeInside because he definitely knows what he is talking about,

https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

And if you look here https://www.netmarketshare.com/report.aspx?qprid=11&qpaf=&qpcustom=Windows+7&qpcustomb=0

Windows 7's marketshare hasn't changed any significant amount. (You may have to refresh the page after you click it)

You are going to need to cite performance differences before making a claim like that.

@JigglyWiggly_: It's not a claim, its a fact. Don't get me wrong, Windows 7 was great when it came out, but once you compare it to 8.1 and 10 you will start seeing its faults. Also Windows 10 has only been out for less than 5 months, and 100 million people are already using it. What happens in a year and a half? What happens in 3 years?

remember when you copied a file and you couldn't pause it? it's little inconveniences like that that I cannot stand.

the performance difference is negligible.

He said "Absolutely no reason to NOT have Windows 10"

@FelipeInside: Some people just don't like change.

Well, human nature is actually like that. Humans don't like change at all (not just in technology).

Saying that, Windows 7 is still a great OS, but people are too quick to judge off Win8/10 without seeing the advantages as well.

At the end of the day, the TC asked what would be a better upgrade for gaming, so Windows 10 is the correct answer.

If you're going to upgrade, might as well get 10, assuming you don't plan on upgrading your OS again anytime soon. If you don't really don't care about DX12, I wouldn't bother upgrading.

Personally i wouldnt touch windows 10, i dont like being spied on by ms and the various different agencies they give my private info to.

Windows 7 serves me well for all of my requirements.

Umm... whattttttttttt?????? W7 is superior to W8 or W8.1.

The only reason so many people are currently using W10 is because it's currently free (including me). I installed it a week ago and it's not bad... it still needs some fixing but I like it a lot more than W8.

@insane_metalist: That's actually not true. When it comes to gaming there really isn't a difference when comparing Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or even Windows 10, but that's where the similarities end. You can say what you want about Windows 8.1's interface, but it simply outperforms Windows 7. Windows 8.1 is much faster than 7, (especially in boot times and day to day tasks), uses much less resources, is more stable, and is more secure; generally including better security features. Windows 10 has taken it a step further and has improved on all of the areas that Windows 8.1 excelled at. I used Windows 8/8.1 for about 2 years and I never had a blue screen crash ever- with Windows 7 I would get blue screen crashes a lot, especially in high end gaming. My last gaming rig had Windows 7 and I loved it back in the day, but the OS is starting to show its age due to the fact that is not as optimized as 8.1 or 10. I also want to point out that low end PCs benefit tremendously from having Windows 8.1 on them as opposed to Windows 7 because of the new performance enhancements. At work I deal with Windows 7 Pro and Enterprise on a daily basis and can tell you that there are a ton of performance hiccups- we are considering upgrading our PC's to Windows 10 in the near future.

Now I've only been a professional IT technician for a year and a half, but I have over 20 years of experience with PCs and operating systems going all the way back to Windows 95. I can say hands down that Windows 10 is the best operating system that Microsoft has created and that Windows 8.1 was better than 7- people who are technical can easily look past 8.1's interface issues and if the interface bugs you that much just slap classic shell on it.

Going to need to cite "faster" with references, not anecdotal evidence. Boot times are faster on Win8.1/10, but that doesn't reflect normal performance. Using buzzwords like 'optimized' doesn't mean anything, if you cite some real performance differences then you have a case.

About slapping classic shell, it's not nearly that simple. If you want full access you need to unlock the built in administrator account to disable UAC. This of course has the drawback of not letting any metro app run, which includes their own browser EDGE.

@JigglyWiggly_: People who know what they are talking about already know that Windows 8.1 and 10 is the better OS performance wise. This isn't even an argument...

Yeah, instead of citing sources I'll go cite 'people' on my next engineering report lol.

If Windows 8 is so good than why did so MANY gamers keep 7?

Because Windows 7 supports more games than 8, it also runs them better.

Am I really gonna care about two seconds on a boot up? Or am I gonna care about playing games smoothly? The choice is obvious.

I used Windows 8 for half a year and I didn't like it, I didn't like that interface, it didn't allow me to play games that I have never had problems with in past, etc.

When I went back to 7, I was able to play games that Windows 8 completely rejected.

How can you say Windows 10 is the best OS "hands down" when it's still a beta. There are still plenty of things that need to be fixed.

@insane_metalist: A lot of gamers are making the switch from 7 to 8.1 or 10, also 10 is Microsoft's fastest growing OS (hasn't even been out for 6 months yet and it has already surpassed 100 million users). I have never had any issue running games on Windows 8.1, or 10 and across 7, 8.1, and 10 the FPS is pretty much the same. (Some of my games are over 15 years old and they run absolutely fine in Windows 10). Also Windows 10 is NOT in beta, it was officially released in the summer and I am saying it is the best because I have used Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1. With all of the interface issues I can see why people didn't like 8, but Windows 10 literally fixed everything that was wrong with 8- think of it as a hybrid of 7 and 8 combing the best features from both operating systems. Plus when we get DirectX 12 the future of PC gaming will be on Windows 10.

Also Jiggly do your own research, I am not going to do research on your behalf. The whole topic of Windows 8.1 outperforming Windows 7 isn't a new one and it has already been proven on a pure performance level that 8.1 is superior to 7 (it boots faster, shuts down faster, uses less resources, has much better hardware optimization i.e. better RAM management and HDD management, is more stable and is more secure). However, on a gaming level, it plays pretty much the same as 7. In fact, 7, 8.1, and 10 perform nearly identical in gaming for now, but when DirectX 12 gets released that will be a different story. If they are identical in gaming, might as well go with 8.1 or 10 because of the added performance boosts outside of gaming which is pretty much a no brainer.

Yup, next time I ever have to design a bridge or something I'll just pick a Warren Truss over a Pratt because it's more 'optimized' for performance. Nevermind doing an analysis, who has time for that?

You realize you are never going to win a debate when you don't cite anything right? Or maybe you did look at gaming performance differences and saw that there was absolutely no difference. I'm not asking you to do research for me, I already have looked this up. Nowhere does Windows 10 provide performance increases over 5% except in boot times.

How is it more 'stable' and 'secure'? If anything Windows 10 is much less stable because it forces driver updates that can cause problems. You have to go to the device manager to perform workarounds, in Win7/Win8 you can customize the updates you want. I only bother to install the security updates because there's nothing the optional updates/recommended updates do for me. Then there's issues like this, and of course amazing error codes. If you even look at the Windows 10 subreddit, a lot of people are having a lot of problems because of the November update.

Not to mention Windows 10 doesn't even work with the SEM or even light microscopes at my university...

Also you realize any ram management differences (if there even are any sizable differences) mean nothing to you if you have 8gb of ram or more right?

The Tin Foil is REAL !!!

@FelipeInside: Seriously. Well I am going to continue enjoying Windows 10 and gaming on it. There is no reason to add to this discussion further...

@Mighty-Lu-Bu: Nobody I know would go from 7 to 8 (gaming wise). As for W10.. Just like I said, I installed it a week ago just because it's free right now, I like it but it has long way to go still AND I do agree with JigglyWiggly_ W10 is a lot less stable than W7.

@insane_metalist: How so? How is it less stable? I haven't had a crash yet.

Yeah me neither.

I've had a blue screen once but I think that's to do with the NVIDIA driver.

@FelipeInside: When I use to run a heavily modded Skyrim and Fallout 3 on Windows 7 I would get blue screens all the time. With Windows 8 I only had one blue screen, but that was because of an actual hardware issue that I fixed. With Windows 10 I have never had a blue screen or a crash. I feel like a lot of the problems with 10 and 8 can be contributed to user error more than anything else. I am still running a highly modded Skyrim (over 100 mods) and I have never had an issue (I have had a couple CTDs here and there, but that is to be expected). I have a lot of games and some of them which are pretty old work fine. For example, I am also running a highly modded Morrowind on Windows 10 and I haven't had any issues. (I had a lot of issues running it on 7). For now there isn't a clear winner when it comes to gaming, but the stability and performance enhancements make it worthwhile to me. I am not saying Windows 7 is bad by any means because it is still great, but it is no longer to go to Windows operating system since there are other options like 8.1 and 10.

Win 7 ultimate. Really no reason to upgrade. Best of all, Windows 10 has no substantial advantage other than 1-2 frame rates

@Berserker1_5:

Except, you know, DirectX 12 which games are already been made with (Deus Ex for example that comes out early next year)

@FelipeInside: so as of right now, there are no games that actually use dx12 substantially to make a difference ? Not to mention, that game has not come out yet so at the moment it's speculation and un backed claims at best

If i were you i may go with win 8.1, win 10 is much too young to be stable!!!

But all in all, even seven is good and you won't see any stellar performance boost going with either 8 or 10.

@Berserker1_5:

I think there's an RTS game with DX12 (don't know if it's out yet or not).

Also, testing on future titles has shown significant better performance running on DX12 cause it's brand new code or something.

For someone with a current gaming PC, no need to change OS, but for someone wanting to upgrade or building a new PC, no reason NOT to install Win10 (gaming wise)