Windows 7 Clean Install questions
 

My home built computer has had Win XP Pro on it since the beginning. Here is what I have in the comp...

-Lian Li PC61B case
-Corsair HX520W power supply
-Asus P5K-E WiFi-AP edition
-Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 processor
*I have an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 proc that I just acquired...thinking about replacing
the E6750 with this...and yes, I know I would be going from a 1333 FSB to a
1066FSB ... any other downsides to this decision?
-Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro
-Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 memory
-XFX GeForce 8600GTS - 256MB DDR3 video card
*I have a VisionTex HD4870 - 512MB DDR5 video card paired with an Arctic Cooler
Accelero Twin VGA cooler ready to go into the system
-2 Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB drives with 32MB cache - brand new and
unused...plan to partition one of the drives and install Windows 7 Professional on it
-2 Toshiba/Samsung SH-S203 DVD writers
-Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music sound card
-Klipsch Pro Media speakers

I have a couple of questions in regard to a Windows 7 Professional (non-upgrade, full version) installation.

(1) Windows 7 upgrade advisor tells me that my GeForce 8600GTS is not powerful enough to run Aero on Win 7...will the new VisionTek HD4870 be sufficient?
(2) I have the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor. Will this be sufficient for the time being until I can afford to build an i7 machine sometime in the as yet undetermined future? Or should I try to come up with something like an Intel Core 2 Quad 9550 proc? Not sure I want to spend the money on the 9550 when I could put the money toward a modest i7 rig. I am not a gamer, but am a digital photographer and do a fair amount of picture manipulation as well as watch video on my computer.
(3) Will the Corsair 520 watt p/s be big enough wtih the above configuration or am I going to need something between a 750 and an 850 watt p/s?
(4) Will the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro be adequate for the Q6600 (or Q9550 should I decide to go that route)?
(5) What about my sound set up...any suggestions about the Creative sound card or the Klipsch speakers?

Thanks ahead of time for anyone who answers these questions. I do like to dabble with my computer and really do want to move up to Win 7 as soon as possible. I am waiting for my copy of Win 7 to get here...otherwise I have all the parts to begin the re-configuration. Any advice???:o

1) Yes
2) You use multiple programmes at the same time ?
If not, no need to 'upgrade'.
3) yes it will be enough.
4) if you don't upgrade ? If you upgrade, yes it will.
5) no idea.

1) 8600 GTS will work fine with DX10 and Aero
2) Q6600 is plenty fast, E6750 has clock speed advantage, both are closely matched.

regarding 64-bit Win7 Pro: would go for it because you can then use more than 3gb, and Pro edition because of XP mode integrated.

If you have the Q6600 already, then just use that. Arctic Freezer 7 will cool it easily at stock speeds.

Agree fully with JMke, 8600GTS will run Aero Glass as long as you use a current driver.

5) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music sound card
=> it works without problems in Windows 7, I have one and can confirm it. You can find drivers on the creative website.

The 8600GTS should run Aero without a problem. All NVidia 8XXX cards can run it. I have a Gigabyte 8400GS in a HP hd7600sff with an LGA 775 pIV@3.2GHz & 4GB Kingston RAM@667MHz, sound on board (Realtek) and it runs Windows 7 smoothly with all whistles and bells. I only use that PC as a juke-box and to watch TV (has a dual-boot Win7/WinXP) because my Freecom DVB-T USB stick isn't supported by Win7...

Windows 7 supports all Creative soundcards from the Audigy II upwards.

I must add that NVidia drivers (detonator 191.07) aren't performing very well under Win7, especially with games that are a few years old. I've been playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion again since a couple of weeks on my second system (Antec 1200, E8400, Asus P5K-E, Kingston HyperX@1066MHz, Asus EN8800GTS-Top 512MB (@802core, 1950shader, 1101memory) Antec True Power Quattro 850W & Creative Audigy II with Logitech Z5500, Acer V243W@1920x1200 and the game 'performs' worse under Win7 than on the same system but with XP-Pro SP2... Mass Effect, Crysis and Fallout 3 work like a charm, on the other hand, so go figure.

Child's diseases, but also, and this is a personal wild guess, because of some conflicts and recalculations because there's three types of DirectX involved: DirectX9 for the game, DirectX10 for the GPU and DirectX11 for the operating system.

I have an Asus HD5870 which I tested in the above system and on that card Oblivion runs like a Concorde on XTC.... As a comparison: the 8800GTS gets an evaluation of 6.9 in Win7, while the 5870 gets the max of 7.9... there you go.

I've been playing Dragon Age: Origins on my laptop with a GTS 8800M and haven't noticed any performance hits so far, everything has been pretty smooth.

Your right tho, a 8800GTS should smash right through oblivion...try updating the drivers recently? 5870...nice hoping to grab one myself soon (ish)

I don't know, at 1920x1200 Oblivion is not dominated by last generation yet ;)
should net you 40-50fps without any fancy mods
http://www.madshrimps.be/images/vga/madshrimps22-6.png

there are however a couple of really nice looking Oblivion overhauls, new textures, new water effects, etc which really increase IQ a lot, but performance will drop, even on Geforce GTX 285

Missed the 1920x1200 :S I'm still gaming at 1680 x 1050 until my Ultrasharp U2410 shows up (hopefully soon)

Well, the 8800GTS did smash thru Oblivion like a hot knife thru butter... when running XP... On Win7 it's getting on my frail nerves, because of stuttering when going through a city gate, blacking-out for one or two seconds before I appear at the other side. Sound runs normal (squeeking and slamming sound of the city gate) but the pic blocks for a few seconds everytime.

I would like to keep the 5870 in that system, but I can't because of the card's arse being too big (actually, it's the Asus P5K-E which has its S-ATA connectors in the wrong spot) and I'm unable to use any of my hard S-ATA drives/ROMs. I had to traffic a SATA cable to squeeze it in-between the board and the 5870. Even with the 8800, I had to cut off one of the three legs (the one closest to the mobo) at the back of the card's cover to keep the lower 4 of the six SATA connections accessible.

I've got an i7-860 and an Asus Maximus III Gene mATX to go with the 5870, but didn't have any money left to buy memory :p

Sorry for highjacking the topic, by the way... :(