XP, Vista and Combat Flight Sim Compatibility

[Stretch32 0]

I've been looking to finally buy a new computer after 7 yrs and countless upgrades with the old one. My rig just can't handle the sims I play anymore and it's not cost effective to upgrade any further since the technology is so old and expensive. I've been computer shopping for the last week or so and haven't really decided what I want in terms of performance versus price. I have however come to a problem in that I'm not sure which OS to get with this new computer.

 

I play LockonFC, IL2:1946, SF/WOV and would like to get FSX so I'm worried about being able to run these titles if I get Vista (which comes on nearly every computer whether you want it or not). I know FSX will run fine but the other titles I'm not so sure about. I wanted input from people who play these sims and have XP and/or Vista so I can make a good choice. I think I would almost prefer XP but with some of the newest Video Cards only being compatible with Vista (the Nividia 280 series for example) I don't want to run into early problems with being able to upgrade because of my OS. Any help with this would be great.

 

Additionally, for the technical types, is it better to get 1 video card that has 1GB or run 2 512MB's in an SLI format. I would rather buy one solid card (maybe a 9800GTX 1MB) that could run just as fast (and play sims very well) and use less power than going to 2 and needing more power. I'm far from knowledgable on this so maybe some insight from somebody in the know would help.

 

I'm looking at an inexpensive computer ($1200-$1500) that has a Quad Core, maybe 4Gigs of RAM, a descent power supply and a solid Vidcard. I've even looked into buying a less expensive one off the shelf and maybe just upgrade the video card (hence the Vidcard question). Thanks again for the help.

 

Stretch

[Viper6 3]

A lot of sims do no take advantage of quad technology, one good card makes less heat, The only 3rd wire sim for vista is strike fighters 2. you can

have a pc made for you with xp. If you are to use a 1gb card make sure your power supply can handle it I started with a 256mb card then went to a 512 then a 1gb card with out upgrading my power supply(not good) ended up blowing the power supply and mother board.

Edited January 19, 2009 by Viper6

[+SkippyBing 8]

Not on Vista, but I have started playing around with the demo of Windows 7. So far that manages FSX perfectly well and Wings Over Israel with no buggering about on my part. I don't have Lock-On but I'll try installing Il-2:1946 some time this week and see how it goes.

I should mention I have one drive with Win 7 and one with XP in the same machine and just choose which one to use at boot. I had to install FSX on the Win 7 drive which has made comparing like with like a bit tricky as I have to copy the settings across, however with WoI I just ran the copy that was on the XP drive in Win 7 and it worked fine. I have disabled the User Account Control thingy which probably helped, but no graphics or other issues with WoI (with the Oct '08 patch).