I'll cut to the chase: I want to play PC games, and I enjoy using Steam to download a lot of them. I'm looking to put $1300 into a rig later this year before school starts (I'm ****ing myself in the future by getting this with student loans, but I doubt I'm going to be poor when I'm out of college). Everything's in order, except for the operating system. Now, I have two main options: - buy a **** computer with Vista on it, copy the registration key, destroy said computer, and install Vista on this rig (XP is an applicable option) for $100. I know a guy who knows a guy about an installation disc, so that's covered or - make a Linux boot disk, and use that as my main OS. All in all, Linux stands to save me $100. However, if it takes up less system resources with security features and whatnot, it would make that computer be more cost-effective. However, if I can't play games, I'm just going to bite the bullet and spend the extra $100. I read the sticky, and I've seen a few topics here. The specs for this computer are going to be: 4GB DDR2 RAM 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core2 Duo 500 GB Hard Drive (Seagate) 2 9800GTX+ Graphics cards with SLI / Crossfire (not sure on which chipset I'll need to use; I'll cross that bridge in August) 750 Watt Power Supply, a bunch of fans, and a neat case Obviously, getting Vista wouldn't cripple this computer, but I'm also very greedy with my RAM. I'm not trying to start any flame wars. I'm open minded to Linux and Windows; I just want to use what's best for my needs.
Linux isn't for running windows programs.. most games that need that horrid M$ product rely on way too much of the doze API to ever run. Otherwise you will find that there is a wider range of software available, and generally it is just as easy to install and use as you are used to.. and it's generally completely free. What else can I say.. peoples experiences vary, it depends how set in the M$ mindset you are as to how easy or hard you find it. Most computer noobs I let use my desktop generally go and get a machine and install linux on it, then wonder why M$ products are so slow and primitive after some idiot installs xp for them. (usually so they can run some easily duplicated piece of software like photoshop.. because the "friend" doesn't know there are free alternatives that literally piss on it for speed and user friendliness) For gaming.. NO.. for everything else YES there are linux games out there... some are really hot.. check my thread here for some of the new ones.. http://x111.com/bored/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5046
Bleh... those games look nice and all, but The Orange Box (and other games from Valve) and a lot of mainstream games are too tempting for me to swear off them completely. Maybe I'll dual boot; Linux for browsing the Internet and schoolwork, Vista (support for 4gb of RAM) for gaming.
Probably a plan... you know 64 bit linux will support as much ram as you can physically fit on your mobo don't you? I think at last count it was up to 128GB !! You might have guessed by now... we don't play games on our pc's. Most of the FOSS community see a computer as a tool rather than a toy
I've found Wine increasingly good with games lately, but they aren't exceptionally new, just GTA:SA and GTA:VC. Both played to completion, I wouldn't say things were perfect (especially with SA, a lot of intermittent freezes when entering buildings that just required killing and restarting, so a lot of saving the game required), but quite playable. Basically don't assume that anything made in the past 5 years will work without having to make compromises. If I may make a suggestion: buy a really cheap computer or laptop for around $500 and put the rest down on a 360 or PS3 plus a couple of games. Or be really adventurous and just get a PS3 - it can run Linux (but Linux doesn't have full access to 3D graphics - yet). You'll be hard pressed to use over 500mb of ram on Linux typically, and without the need for games, onboard video is fine for a laptop or a low end video will play most games that Wine is able to thanks to their age. As for your plans about buying a computer with Vista on it: you'd be getting an OEM copy. Unless you're paying for a FULL RETAIL version of Vista, the license (note: you don't actually OWN a COPY, you have a LICENSE to use it according to the terms of said license) lives and dies with the machine it was installed on, and you're not allowed to virtualise it either. What you're talking about would probably work and by all means feel free to try, I thought you might just like a bit more motivation to cut ties, the EULA was the final straw for me, when they treat honest users like criminals I'm not even going contribute to their user base and steal their products. Ah well, thats my rant. Give some serious thought to not bothering with a gaming PC - everything is on console these days, and the really big titles get released on both anyway. Edit: The offer is over now where they post it out to you, but looks like you can still download an ISO still. If you need a copy of Windows for in emergencies, you can probably do a virtual install of 2k8 Server Me, I just ordered a pair of discs just to cost MS a few bucks, but keeping them handy for if I ever need to do just what I've described. http://www.microsoft.com/opensource/heroes/HackPack.mspx
Well, my parents have an old computer with Windows XP on it, and I may or may not know a guy with a cracked Dell Vista installation disk. *cough*. My options are open... As for getting a console for gaming, there's a lot of PC games that never go to consoles (and vice versa), or if they do, it's a good half year or so before they're ported (again, both ways count). It's not exactly the most sensible route to take, but getting a console and a PC helps me keep my options open. As for the EULA, it's crap, I agree, but for someone like me, there's no alternative (especially since I enjoy playing PC games made recently).
Then dual boot is perfect for you.. plus you will have the drivers available in case linux ones for your gaming hardware don't exist yet. BTW.. we had a chat on IRC last night and decided we like you whatever that means.
Jan, have you been a naughty girl again? I thought I saw you were suspended, but couldn't find anything too incriminating from you unless it got deleted? Or does some mod just not have very thick skin?
