I would choose Vista over XP, simply because the XP's days are numbered. There were compatibility problems at first, but these have mostly gone away, and soon it'll be the other way around. Then again, I did notice a huge difference now that I'm 64 bit vs. the 32 bit Vista. It might be different if the new Windows was about to come out, though.

Microsoft has been pushing developers hard to make 64 bit games, and I'm sure it will eventually become the standard.

BTW, my Vista Base Score is 5.8. That's with the GTX 260.

I don't see why not.

It would certainly handle it easily, knock yourself out!

Edit: Actually, for a gaming rig, I would go XP for now. Vista still isn't the most compatible of systems and is somewhat unstable to boot. Also, you will get a lot more bang from your 4 gigs. Direct X 10 is more of a novelty at the moment than a needed thing, and you can always throw Vista on whenever the mood takes you.

Well I do have modern gaming needs, although I tend to be selective but don't like to be limited in my choice at the same time.

Perhaps it would surprise you to find out that I have a games room set up with all the consoles hooked up and ready to play - if I feel like playing a game I just look around my categorized shelves and pick the game I would like to play regardless of platform. Just like you would choose to pick a good book or paperback from your book-case regardless of size, publishing year or publisher. I don't want to restrict myself to UK Penguin books or 360 only.

Perhaps it would surprise you again to find out that I am rather a power user - that is I have 3 monitors setup on my desk which are either controlled by one or more systems that are selectable through a series of hubs and switches. I use Vista, Linux and OSX on a regular basis - at the same time - and I do power on the other machines quite a bit. Of course I use DoxBOX a lot for the older games I play but it is nice to have a 100% compatible retro system ready to go for my collection of older dos/windows games that will not function properly on Vista or XP. I have the room so why not? I think I am using my desk-space quite differently than you. On the Linux machines I test out a lot of software - compiling sources and making some private modifications to emulation sources to suit my needs. Especially interface-wise.

Indeed, I tend to agree. It is just the Ghz that sort of keeps it alive for me. But the speed markings of those two or quadruple core machines don't match up to the single core P4 - even though it is a HT one. Angry video game nerd makes me laugh. The fact that Tutanchamun actually played with the AGP graphics port makes it actually more appealing to me as my wife is an Egyptologist and she is actually going to do some research in the valley of the Kings near Luxor - on the west bank of the nile - this februari investigating some artifacts that have been discovered in a tomb opposite that of King Tut's and Zahi Hawass actually thinks they might be related. The markings on the artifacts actually seem to indicate so.

Because I would like to separate work from pleasure - that is avoid the risk of crashing a work machine with a game that is potentially causing Havoc in the machine. Quite a few of those DRM/copyprotected PC games don't like Nero installed or install destabilizing root kits which I don't want anywhere near my pro-machine. As a medical doctor / psychiatrist it is better to keep your work systems quite separate if you know what I mean. That's why I am using a tons of different machines. Quite a few of my nerd-doctor-friends do actually. It is a whole sub-category of users out there.

Yeah, the Notebook is cool I would keep it but it is actually going to my mom and I will replace it with a MacBook somewhere within the next 6 months. Those are more powerful than the Acer and with dual booting into XP home I can do the same things with it - if not better - than the Acer is doing right now.

No I don't like everything, I just I as don't like every murder mystery novel or sci-fi book. I am rather selective. I haven't dabbled around in MMORPGs because they seem to be so incredibly time consuming - yet the worlds and graphics that I see are rather intriguing. I need to give them a fair chance. I might actually go for that WOW 10 day trial offer.

Ah so I agree - this attempt at standardization of the Windows machine is rather silly - yet Microsoft actually attempted to use it as a valid rating for Games for Windows. If it had worked properly it would have lured more people to PC gaming no doubt.

So from an environmental point of view - gaming rigs are more wasteful than the 360 that seems to be awfully wasteful but is in fact only consuming about 175-180 Watts in the older versions and less in the newer versions. But in France and the Netherlands electricity is cheap - quite a bit is generated in nuclear power plants so cost-wise it is not a biggy.

Hey, isn't that guy like incredibly popular in Germany? ;-)
Ok, I stop kidding. I think you are right.

The only advantage of using the Live would be the slightly better SNR and the fact that it doesn't draw on CPU power. But there are quite a few on board solutions like my system that offer 5.1 sound out.

Well the PC actually offers different games - Indie games, homebrew, game mods. I would love to able to play that übercool Source Halflife mod which is a super cool recreation of the orignal halflife game - it is not finished yet but that's something I would just love to be able to do.

I get you, that is actually why I have restored it to its original state which is just fine for my day to day professional work. It stays like it is and it is not changed in any way shape or form.

Hmm, thanks for your suggestions. Would you go for Vista 64 bit when it comes to gaming?

I forgot to mention the Wii in my console list. I guess that says quite a lot about the system as it sits underneath the TV in the living room and hasn't been turned on in more than 3 weeks now. It is a novelty - quirky and different control schemes - ultra bad and blurry picture quality. Nintendo really made some horrible design decisions here. We don't mind the fact that it doesn't have a stellar resolution but what we do mind is the fact that component output is bugged where not all Virtual Console games are properly supported on Pal machines running on component video and the only alternative is to use composite video or svideo which doesn't improve the picture quality.
We only played Zelda - twilight princess on it extensively come to think of it.

Indeed. Bill told me something similar. Most Indy and freeware games would still run on the systems I own.
Thanks for your comments!

Xbox 360: Lactobacillus P | Wii: 8151 3435 8469 3138
Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc. | www.markvergeer.nl

"modern gaming needs" ;-)

A shitload of machines, that's for sure. And I bet you only use most of them on special occasions (found a game on ebay or someone reminds you with a posting here) or for an extended time before they vanish in the closet again.
In my very humble opinion most of them are not living systems - they are undead. They don't really count (exceptions: 360, PS2 and DS).

Do you actually use that? Except for tinkering with non-Windows-OSses?

A P4 sucks big time for modern games. Single core, power hungry and slow.
The Angry Video Game Nerd would say "it sucks diarrhea out of the users ass".
The graphics card is at least five years old which equals 10 generations and it's friggin AGP which means "Ancient Graphics Pyramid"! Tutanchamun played with it!

This machine *is* retro. There's no need to dedicate it for it.
But you could dedicate it to your cellar. This is what I did with my Win98 and DOS machines.

A good workhorse for office but why would you keep it if you have a modern gaming rig that is more potent?

This notebook seems to be OK, even for older games (two years old DX9 games).
Keep it!

In other words: You like everything except MMORPGs which you don't know?

Understandable.

You better drop that "Windows Rating" as it is crap. Nobody ranks his gaming hardware with that!
When your system maxes out with the 8600 it is not usable for modern games. Period.

That's what you get with ready-made systems for dummies.
BTW, a 500 watts PSU is the bare minimum for a good graphics card.

But you would still have the same CPU and who knows what the BIOS supports...
I hate to break it to you but this isn't a good modern gaming platform.
You should dedicate it to David "Hasslehoff"!

The 8600 just doesn't cut it for DX10 anyway -> Drawer
Anything less powerful -> trashcan
Some people still like the Live and you may try to get it to work with newer drivers (or third-party drivers) - it is arguably better than most onboard sound chips unless 6-channel sound is wanted.

Buy & use a platform that offers different games.

Exactly!

No. Take what you can from that machine: Case, drives, XP license, rest -> drawer or closet or give away the whole machine. And include "Katana" (must be one of the most used PC names, had one also, now it's "Ono-Sendai" ;-) with it unless you really spend time with it. Don't expect money out of it, though.

No. Quirky case - you apparently can't upgrade the PSU which is the basis for a powerful enough graphics card. Also the CPU is mediocre. Good workhorse machine, though, you may sell it for an acceptable price (200-300 Euros?).

Dead as a doornail.

How often do you do that? The occasional 'King's Quest 7'? I also have a good Win98SE machine (P3, 700 MHz, 128 MB, Voodoo 3, Soundblaster AWE Gold etc.) but I didn't use it in the last three years. I also have a cool DOS machine - passively cooled Pentium 1 MMX with 166MHz etc. - now I use DOSBox (if at all)...

Yes. Keep the Vista machine and the notebook - for everything else custom build a dual boot WinXP / Vista gaming rig:
*FAST* Intel dual core CPU, an E8400/8500/8600, overclock it to at least 3,6 GHz, put a good cooler onto it (not the noisy stock one), 4 GB DDR2/3 RAM (nothing fancy!) and a new & fast graphics card like a GTX 260-216 or a ATI 4870 (you have to spend around 200 Euros for a good card - anything less and you compromise too much and can't do DX10 gaming well).
Don't forget a good PSU - 500 watts is the bare minimum but they are quite cheap nowadays (for a brand psu). A new harddisk works wonders, too, and they are really cheap.
Such a machine simply destroys most ready-made systems as they stuff expensive quad cores and mediocre graphics cards into it.
But why no quad for a gaming machine? Because todays games don't make use of it (there are a handful of exceptions but it's not worth it, yet). Most boards allow you to install a quad but you wouldn't want to unless you do 3D construction or heavy movie conversion jobs (you don't - judging by your machines).
You will land anywhere between 700 and 800 Euros depending on the brands and how much stuff you can recycle. Is it worth it? Depends. ;-)

The PS3 is much cheaper than a "performance" gaming rig but what advantages does she have above the 360? Which games are exclusives that not available anywhere else? You have to judge yourself.

Alternative: Wii - these games are really different but they may be too easy or not as beautiful if you run them on a nice HD display.

Nobody can say that. But a good gaming rig usually does NOT last three years. Two years is pretty long, actually, unless you hit a sweet spot when you buy parts. IMHO I hit one in January when I built my machine which would suffice to the end of the next year (would I still buy new games which I don't but this is another topic...). Would I still be in my usual upgrade cycle I at least would then have to exchange the board, the CPU, the cooler, the RAM and most importantly: The graphics card. I would keep the case and the drives but the PSU might not be so lucky. BANG - another 800 Euros!

It would.

Honest answer? No.
Most high-budget PC games appear sooner or later on the major consoles.
Actually it often is the other way round today and the PC maybe lucky to get the mainstream games!
Do you play as many mods for older games as I do? Do you love certain games that don't exist on any console? Do you game on a high res TFT? If yes you have an alibi for a new PC ;-)

Either build a gaming rig and sell as many old PCs except the notebook or buy a Wii if you need/want another console.
Buy more console games for the 360 and the DS - both are MODERN systems. Play more indie or freeware games on your various PCs (you don't need to upgrade, then).

take care,
Calibrator