ok about vista(my god i can't believe i'm defending microshit)
1.vista will only work well for you if you have compatible hardware
meaning if you don't have even near a decent comp go with xp it'll run on anything
2.as far as ut goes and most other decent games the 32bit version of vista runs just fin
3.I run vista, but still have a dual boot system, and while I boot vista normally any app that will absolutely not run on it i boot into xp as i need it
4.would i recommend vista?
building a brand new machine: hands down yes
upgrading a machine: it better come with new hardware
only upgrading to vista: be careful i wouldn't recommend
as far as vista screwing up computers I've only heard this on an upgrade install, when done on a clean install(after a full format) there are very few hitches. but as i said before make sure your computer hardware can keep up.
for UTIII since your hardware is already set up for some hard core action then vista would be great for you. just remember to do a clean install.
installing over xp = problems
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my pc:
intell core2 dou E6600
MSI-P6N-SLI-FI main board very good fast cool and smooth great for oc
nVidia 6800:
2gb ddr2-800mhz memory
os: windows vista 32bit home premium
os2(don't use it much at all but its there:XP media center
plus other random stuff dvd burner 320gb hdd things of that nature
price(bought from newegg.com): $12xx USD
notes
omg conroe line is teh pwnage you can overclock this thing like a mofo and still chugging away hapily at 31C(333fsb)
if you going with an MSI board(which i recommend), make sure you go with a brand of memory recommended by MSI (neweggs returns are great, but there better when you don't have to use them)
ok I know, but the 8800 was just a tinsy bit out of my price range at the time
running photoshop, imageready, Firefox, encoding a movie, waiting for a trade on guildwars, and fraging monsters...handled it like a charm. and no this isn't normal usage
