Moving from XP to W7 (finally). What to expect performance wise.

[Mushy Mushy]

I'm currently using a Sony Vaio laptop as my main DAW. Relevant specs include:
- Core2Duo
- 5200RPM HDD
- 4GB RAM
- Windows XP
- Cubase 4.5

Within the next month or so I will start to build my dream desktop DAW as I know the current machine is quickly getting old. For now though I would like a little upgrade, and I should upgrade the laptop anyway.

However... Given the above specs would a move to W7 on a SSD result in any performance change. The SSD HDD should perform better and I will be able to use all of the 4GB RAM, however I suspect this will be offset by W7 (unless of course I can optimise it like my XP install).

Once I have W7 running I will upgrade my Cubase version to the most efficient version to date. That's likely best reserved for another topic though.

[spirit]

Considered going to Win10 instead? Since it seems an upgrade is a rare thing for you why not take a leap?

[Mushy Mushy]

Considered going to Win10 instead? Since it seems an upgrade is a rare thing for you why not take a leap?

ha, take it easy mate

It's taken me this long to get used to W7, and that's only because I use it daily for work and there's a lot to be said for having a familiar interface on all systems.

I'm still not convinced I prefer it over XP. In fact I'm sure I don't, but I do realise I need to move on - just not as far at W10

[tehlord]

I doubt performance will increase a great deal on your system, but for me W7 has been the most stable OS I've ever used (way more stable than XP - which was already good).

W7 never crashed on me in 4 years and on 5 PC's. Not once, ever. I think I saw one or two BSOD's but that was due to my CPU overheating because it was clogged up with dust.

[Mushy Mushy]

I doubt performance will increase a great deal on your system, but for me W7 has been the most stable OS I've ever used (way more stable than XP - which was already good).

Thanks. I should make it clear I'm not necessarily chasing a performance increase, as I know a new PC is required for that. My concern is that I see a performance decrease.

W7 never crashed on me in 4 years and on 5 PC's. Not once, ever. I think I saw one or two BSOD's but that was due to my CPU overheating because it was clogged up with dust.

I hear this quite often and in my experience it's the same. It's rock solid on my work PC, but then again so was/is XP.

My PC is now ~8 years old and needs a clean Windows install anyway, and if I'm going to do this it may as well be with W7. I'll be doing this on a new SSD in case the install goes tits up and I need to revert back to the old. Besides I should notice an audio streaming benefit with the SSD.

I'm almost ready to take the plunge, just looking for last minute reassurance.

[legendCNCD]

If you are building a new machine, do be aware that some motherboards do not offer windows7 drivers anymore, but they are still quite rare.

[Mushy Mushy]

If you are building a new machine, do be aware that some motherboards do not offer windows7 drivers anymore, but they are still quite rare.

I did not know that. Most valuable info, than-you.

[dsan@mail.com]

I'm currently using a Sony Vaio laptop as my main DAW. Relevant specs include:
- Core2Duo
- 5200RPM HDD
- 4GB RAM
- Windows XP
- Cubase 4.5

Within the next month or so I will start to build my dream desktop DAW as I know the current machine is quickly getting old. For now though I would like a little upgrade, and I should upgrade the laptop anyway.

Congrats Mushy Mushy for finally deciding to move into the 21st century
I know how hard it is to give up on XP, believe me.

However... Given the above specs would a move to W7 on a SSD result in any performance change. The SSD HDD should perform better and I will be able to use all of the 4GB RAM, however I suspect this will be offset by W7 (unless of course I can optimise it like my XP install).

The SSD will greatly improve your OS and programs load times, no doubt.

As for use of RAM; you have to go x64 to gain RAM usage above the 3.?? limitation imposed by x32.

Truth is, you're already using close to the amount of RAM you have in that machine so I don't think this will be a huge improvement for you.

Once I have W7 running I will upgrade my Cubase version to the most efficient version to date. That's likely best reserved for another topic though.

You should know there are caveats to moving to x64, such as the possibility of losing x32 plugins. If you love these plugs and just gotta have them, forget the move to x64 and save your self a bunch of headaches by just staying with XP on this machine and build a new one the way you want it to be.

As legendCNCD pointed out, you may not be able to get the current machine working with W7. It appears the machine just barely meets requirements - can't say with certainty because MSAdvisor doesn't seem to be available anymore. You have to ask yourself if this upgrade will be worth the hassles you'll go through to get everything working.

As spirit suggested, just move to W10 (on a new build of course). In the long run I think you will be better off. Likely you'll have W10 longer than you have kept XP

Good luck to you whatever you decide.

[T-CM11]

As legendCNCD pointed out, you may not be able to get the current machine working with W7. It appears the machine just barely meets requirements - can't say with certainty because MSAdvisor doesn't seem to be available anymore. You have to ask yourself if this upgrade will be worth the hassles you'll go through to get everything working.

legendCNCD was talking about (very) new motherboards.

And the specs of his current laptop are way above the W7 minimum requirements.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... quirements

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor*
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

[T-CM11]

----

[Mushy Mushy]

Congrats Mushy Mushy for finally deciding to move into the 21st century
I know how hard it is to give up on XP, believe me.

There are slow adopters and then there's me

You should know there are caveats to moving to x64, such as the possibility of losing x32 plugins. If you love these plugs and just gotta have them, forget the move to x64 and save your self a bunch of headaches by just staying with XP on this machine and build a new one the way you want it to be.

I have researched the plugins I use are x64 compatible and most are. Those that aren't I can live without. Besides I have at my disposal five laptops (at current count), two of which will remain XP so I can always run those old 32 bit plugins on those.

As legendCNCD pointed out, you may not be able to get the current machine working with W7. It appears the machine just barely meets requirements - can't say with certainty because MSAdvisor doesn't seem to be available anymore. You have to ask yourself if this upgrade will be worth the hassles you'll go through to get everything working.

Hmmmm, interesting. I didn't read it like that. I interpreted legend's comment as new motherboards not supporting W10 but there's no issue for my current laptop.

Regardless though, this will be a parallel install so I can take my time and revert back to XP if it's starting to look a bit shady.

As spirit suggested, just move to W10 (on a new build of course). In the long run I think you will be better off. Likely you'll have W10 longer than you have kept XP

This is pretty much a non-option IMO. I can just foresee loads of issues with incompatible hardware. My soundcard immediately springs to mind. A W10 install just comes with a bill new new gear.

Good luck to you whatever you decide.

Thanks as always. I'm sure I'll have loads of questions later.

[Mushy Mushy]

As legendCNCD pointed out, you may not be able to get the current machine working with W7. It appears the machine just barely meets requirements - can't say with certainty because MSAdvisor doesn't seem to be available anymore. You have to ask yourself if this upgrade will be worth the hassles you'll go through to get everything working.

legendCNCD was talking about (very) new motherboards.

And the specs of his current laptop are way above the W7 minimum requirements.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... quirements

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor*
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Thanks mate for that research

[dsan@mail.com]

Thanks for finding those requirements T-CM11.

I went digging for the advisor tool MS had offered but it seems it is not available anymore so gave up looking further.

[T-CM11]

I have 2 old Core2 laptops and they both run a lot 'smoother' on Windows 10 than they did on Windows 7. (that's just my experience of course, I'm not making any promises here. )
One of them is a Lenovo Thinkpad W500 with only 2GB RAM and it runs W10 x32 just fine. Though I'm not leaving a gazillion Chrome tabs open because that eats up a lot of RAM.

Ok, I don't use them for music...my studio laptop is an i5 still running Windows 7. I want to try Windows 10 on it (first making a system image of course), but that takes a lot of time - time I'd rather spend making music atm.

[dsan@mail.com]

I can just foresee loads of issues with incompatible hardware. My soundcard immediately springs to mind. A W10 install just comes with a bill new new gear.

This ^^^. It's what is stopping me from going into 10

Cheers!