Is it too early to install Windows 10 on a gaming/HTPC machine?

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by MonarchX, Dec 22, 2014.

  1. MonarchX

    MonarchX MDL Expert

    May 5, 2007
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    Is it? I play Alien - Isolation, Deus Ex - HR (Director's Cut), Diablo 3, Dark Souls 2, Far Cry 4, Dreamfall Chapters, Metro - 2033 (Redux), Wasteland 2, Battlefield 4, and Dragon Ages - Inquisition. Would I see any benefit from running games on Windows 10 vs. Windows 8.1 (fully updated) ? Are there likely to be compatibility issues and/or crashes/freezes/problems? What about Home-Theater programs, like JRiver Media Center, MPC-HC, LAV Decoder, madVR, and ReClock? Any issues with those?

    Do you have to format & re-install Windows 10 with each new build or can builds be fully upgraded/updated through Windows Update?

    Is it possible to port Windows 10 Start Menu onto Windows 8.1 Start Menu???
     
  2. Mutagen

    Mutagen MDL Addicted

    Feb 18, 2013
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    If you don't have an ironclad and redundant backup/restore methodology in place, it's way too early.
     
  3. warlordll

    warlordll MDL Member

    Apr 25, 2011
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    nah never too early to explore the new windows 10 :)
     
  4. WildByDesign

    WildByDesign MDL Addicted

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    Definitely too early. There wouldn't likely be a significant difference at this point as far as gaming goes compared to 8.1 anyway. You need something stable that performs reliably. I would personally take Windows 8.1 and trim it down as best as possible, limiting necessary services and so on. Tweak it as best as possible for performance related tasks and that is probably your best bet at the moment. Maybe give 10 a go once Consumer Preview comes out though just to see how it fares for gaming.
     
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  5. mtrai

    mtrai MDL Addicted

    Apr 24, 2008
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    I am going to be in the minority here. Win 10 TP has introduced in place upgrades. With That said...I would only stick with the public releases. I use the win 10 TP as my main gaming rig and HTPC. I run several monitors and a TV. I game for hours.

    I mainly do not use any form of back up as I have never used it. Can I see any difference in games etc...not that I notice. Do I like seeing new features as they become available yes. All my gaming gear works with no issue at this time.

    My games, movies, music, music videos do not reside on my OS harddrive. Which is a big plus for me when I have had to re install the OS.
     
  6. f.a.

    f.a. MDL Novice

    Dec 18, 2014
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    #6 f.a., Dec 22, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2014
    Nah, games works ok. All media apps too. Builds can be updated (not via WU, there is another mechanism for that), you don't need too format. The thing is the profit is very low. Not much of a new features for now but bugs are here. The thing might be change after a month when January Technical Preview arrives. It's not possible to port the start menu to 8.1. It's doubtful that it will make it into RTM as is too.
     
  7. WildByDesign

    WildByDesign MDL Addicted

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    mtrai has made a fantastic point here. Sticking with the support Insider builds would be a smart way to go for those wanting more relative stability, as they do seem to be releasing bugfixes/patches quite regularly. And by relative stability, every build (even leaked builds) seem to be different on all systems under a variety of configurations, so each user may state a different build as being the most stable. But I think being able to receive regular updates is definitely a plus.

    The main lingering issue in the Insider builds, of course, being that ugly GDI leak. So it's a coin toss, regardless.
     
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  8. mtrai

    mtrai MDL Addicted

    Apr 24, 2008
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    As I say that I am using 9901 lol but I have time and generally the know how to fix or reverse problems.
     
  9. endbase

    endbase MDL Guru

    Aug 12, 2012
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    On build 9901 no problems with games :) never had with all the builds :worthy:
     
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  10. everesee

    everesee MDL Senior Member

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    Games which use Source 2007 engine don't working with 10.xx kernel builds(eg Half-Life2, Garry's Mod, Vindictus, Portal)
     
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  11. endbase

    endbase MDL Guru

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    That's too bad those are nice games
     
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  12. ALeXTheGreaT

    ALeXTheGreaT MDL Junior Member

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    #12 ALeXTheGreaT, Dec 22, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2014
    Of course it is. No matter what someone says. The best is to wait the official consumer build in 4 weeks. The most annoying bug will be eliminated. And then you'll be getting even better updates.

    Believe me I wanted too to install the 9901, but I've seen people reporting countless bugs. And actually, fully updated Win 8.1 is not yet too far off. Just be patient a little more and you'll be rewarded with an actual, stable build with all the goodness built in. I even believe IE12 and DX12 along with the new, refined UI.

    Can't wait either, but I don't want to mess my PC. Do not forget to consider that these builds might include such bugs which can damage your PC or at least eat up your resources CPU/GPU like mad. Let alone the games you want to install.
     
  13. anarki2

    anarki2 MDL Novice

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    #13 anarki2, Dec 23, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2014
    Recent builds are rather unstable so it's definitely not ready for your main comp. Now with 9901 at least the taskbar doesn't randomly freeze after full screen playback with MPC-HC (it was 100% reproducible for me) as with the previous build but now the UI is extremely slow on my A6-3500 APU, definitely much slower than it's supposed to be. Sometimes it locks for like 5-10 seconds, and every UI action (like opening a link on a new tab) takes forever. I also tried it in the office, VirtualBox didn't work, Hyper-V Manager didn't work, with this stupid new window splitting thing (that puts up to 4 windows on a single display instead of 2) it's not possible any more to drag a window to another monitor with Win + arrow keys, and the list goes on, I dumped it pretty quick coz it was totally limiting my work. In fact, the only reason I haven't reinstalled 8.1 on my home comp yet is the fact that I'm lazy enough to wait one more month for fbl_awesome and there's hoping it'll improve things a little. But if it fails to deliver I'll prolly only get back to Win10 once RTM'd.
     
  14. MS_User

    MS_User MDL Guru

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    i would wait for the final release.
     
  15. pisthai

    pisthai Imperfect Human

    Jul 29, 2009
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    Why shouldn't games handled differently from 'normal' apps? For some reason many games using much more resources than any apps and that will bring up a more precise view of what Windows 10 maybe could handle with no problems!

    Simply telling, in an test environment, it's for nothing to early to use for testing. That for sure differs for the use such machine in production environment, which should be strictly avoided!!
     
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  16. darevsek

    darevsek MDL Novice

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    #16 darevsek, Dec 23, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 23, 2014
    And that my dear Pishai is the key. It is a test environment. So, you have to be willing to be in the middle of something and have something go wrong, or glitch, or have an issue - without a problem. It is the best way to test is by doing, but as with anything you beta test, you have to take the bad part too.

    Bottom line - if you like to beta test, or willing to beta test with all the issues that come along with it, then I say go ahead and update. BUT, make sure you have all your information/data on a separate drive or backed up regularly just in case the system crashes and you can not get back into it. AND, I would follow the others by saying do the official releases only just in case. Also have way to restore your system to what you have prior to the upgrade (OS 8.1 disks/etc).
     
  17. thevibe

    thevibe MDL Junior Member

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    I havent been able to play any decent games on any build of Windows 10 so far on my Razer Blade coz switchable graphics drivers dont work on 10 yet... all games despite using the option to force running on discrete nVidia GeForce 870M graphic card keeps running on integrated Intel HD 4600 graphics and lags like crazy or FCs.... so dual booting with windows 8.1 just for playing games and running Cubase. I use 10 otherwise for casual pc usage like browsing internet and playing music n movies.
     
  18. pisthai

    pisthai Imperfect Human

    Jul 29, 2009
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    Drivers for 3. party apps and games are for sure not the responsibility of MS, even they try to settle such problems. Fact is that there to many 3. party apps available, special if bundled with hardware. Also the changes in the development of Windows 10 is very fast and therefore it's difficult for the developer of 3. party to stay up to date with that!

    In your case (also in mine) using an laptop with base Intel Graphic and Nvidia graphic running on top of it, will trigger even more problems. For me running X-Plane 10 on my Laptop isn't fun! And my laptop base is Intel with Nvidia on top too, even on Windows 8.x! The problems is simply Intel/Nvidia related and not Microsoft!
     
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  19. MS_User

    MS_User MDL Guru

    Nov 30, 2014
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    is all business MS will release new games just for win10;)
     
  20. SpeedDream

    SpeedDream MDL Addicted

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    I usually play GTA Episodes from liberty city and Mafia II they both work fine
    you have to install dotnet 3.5 with the dism way. Saints row IV works as well
    south park the stick of truth works on this one 9901 but on the previous build didn't