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#1
Who's built or building a Windows 8 machine?
The reason I post this question here is since most of us are high end system builders, modders, and overclockers, Id like see how many of you have or are building a high end Windows 8 machine.
I'm not going to argue the merits of whether the OS is good or bad. I'm sure many have their minds made and I'm certainly not going to try to sway one way or the other. For me, my answer is simple, as one who is actually using the OS, it works for me.
That said...
I built a Haswell system a little over a month ago with Windows 8.1 in mind, and thus far I’ve really had no major issues; even driver or app wise. And those items that wasn't working at first (Corsair Link), have now been updated and works as advertised.
What does get on my nerves at times however is the fact that at times I have to search high and low to find stuff. The start button (or lack of true one) gets me at times.
I’m still in the habit of hitting the start button like on Windows 7 and finding what I want only to be reminded it doesn't work that way now. On 8, it’s basically the start screen or search feature to find stuff. And unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, that can be a real pain at times.
Then there’s the learning curve of the new OS as to the way it functions and works. I’ve had to unlearn some habits I’ve used for years with XP, Vista, and 7, and think differently with 8 – i.e. hitting the start button for everything and anything I needed, and instead, get use to search.
Despite those, if you’ve got a new system, Win 8’s performance is undeniable – the OS boots faster, courtesy of UEFI. Runs smoother, and has some really good improvements – Windows Explorer, Task Manager…. Which gives you all sort of useful info.
And, as I said earlier, no gaming issues there. Even Steam and Origin works without issue. I completely played Mass Effect 3 (Origin) on 8 without any issues, finished off Deus Ex: Human Evolution – Director’s cut; knocked out Bioshock Infinite – Burial at Sea (Steam). I'm am currently playing Witcher 1 (Steam based games), again, no issues.
Now I know there's a lot of negativity about the OS, but you'd really be hard pressed to find any of it leveled at it's performance... which is just as good if not better than 7's.
Is Win 8 perfect… NO. But (in my opinion) once you get past the GUI and its idiosyncrasies, you’ll find an OS that just flies; especially with new hardware like a MB or a GPU such as Sapphire’s UEFI enabled card which allows for faster boot/resume times - UEFI BIOS support
Again, this isn't about debating the merits of 8, there are hundred of threads between here and eightforums for that.
So, anyone else planning on a new upgrade with Win 8 in mind?
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