Gaming on Windows Vista, 13 years later

Windows Vista is arguably the most infamous version of Windows ever, and today we're revisiting it- how far can we push gaming on Windows Vista?

Timestamps -
0:00 - Introduction
0:48 - Meeting the hardware
1:19 - RGB
1:32 - GTX 750ti
2:20 - I have hope
2:45 - Setting up Vista
3:10 - Drivers, drivers, drivers
3:23 - New monitor
4:11 - Vista was... innovative?
4:44 - Downloading/installing games
5:36 - 3DMark
5:49 - Half Life 2
6:14 - Minecraft
7:01 - CS: GO
7:43 - Tomb Raider
8:10 - Rocket League, Dirt 3
8:30 - DirectX11 and compatibility
9:30 - Firewatch
10:02 - Skyrim
10:17 - Master Chief Collection
11:18 - Concluding thoughts

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Music:
Miami Nights 1984 - Accelerated (intro music)
HOME - If I'm Wrong
HOME - Night Swim
HOME - Warmth
HOME - Without A Sound
A-GON - Simplicity (outro music)

[Tech]

Hey at least Vista is still better than Windows ME, right? Right?
I'm going to have to do a video on Windows ME eventually aren't I

[Dashz]

I miss the aero transparency feature that Vista/7 had

[HansCampbell]

FYI, Windows 7 is Windows Vista. After working out the bugs in Windows Vista Microsoft decided to rename it to Windows 7 and release it with the new name. Yes, Windows Vista is actually the best version of Windows. I love it and have NEVER had any problems with it. I still use Windows Vista today (January 2024), works great. All of my software and games run beautifully. 😁

[washim-]

The beautifulness of vista is unexplainable

[jackirvin]

Whenever people talk about windows, they mention that windows xp and how nostalgic it is and how great it was. While windows vista wasn't great, my parents used it as a kid and its very nostalgic for me.


Is it nostalgic for you?

[stye_]

Windows 2000: Good, easy and fast.
Windows ME: Adds almost nothing, and it's slower.


Windows XP: Legend
Windows Vista: Legend, but also Failure

[WorldSuperCars-WSC]

"Hey Mom can we put RGB on our PC?"
"We have RGB at home"

RGB at home: 1:27

[samyt]

I used vista from 2007 and enjoyed it a whole lot, and still prefer the design to W7 even in some areas. It was soooo slow, but so was 7 so it was probably the Athlon 64 x2 in my laptop lol

[thunderbolt]

Fun fact, that security feature of blocking applications from launching is actually a thing in Windows 7 too. I run into it from time to time on my PC, since I still use 7.

[sburton]

For me, 2007 was a big year for the tech world. First, Microsoft released Windows Vista in January, then later that year, the first iPhone and iPod touch were released. Also dual and quad core CPUs were really taking off during this year. This was also the year when I started learning and speaking Spanish as well. During this time as well was also the peak or when things were going the best of my job that I had at Publix from 2004 before it tragically ended in 2010, but I guess the rise and fall of Publix in my life could be another topic for another video.

[laks]

Every night Satan checks under his bed to make sure windows vista is not there

[furus]

Csgo is a game that utilizes the cup more than the gpu. That's why you can run it with an gt 710 but for optimal results you will need at least a 4 core cpu

[smipy]

2:08 Did mario just threw off that graphics card in the background? 😂😂

[jonathanrequena]

Hah the real challenge would be gaming on Windows 98

[loldd]

I never had any issues with Vista, like 10 years ago I remember I could run every game on it easily, fallout 3/nv, Crysis was running quite well on medium/high and 720p

[mrsmiithxix]

For the refresh rate depends the version of the HDMI for 144hz or higher you need DisplayPort

[FinnLovesFP]

I can tell you exactly why the PC had a low fps in CS:GO even with the 750 Ti. Cause the game has gotten so bloated with updates and stuff lately, that pretty much any dual core CPU without hyper threading is going to suffer. it does not like anything less than 4 cores or 4 threads anymore.

[pedroroberto]

I'm glad to see someone making a video on the subject, i'm a big fan. Loved to see Vista in 1440p :-)
Vista Ultimate SP2 x64 is an excellent OS, and it's my main OS today, i wouldn't replace it by 7 or 10 even if someone gave me a license for free. Vista has a lot of stuff i like and no other Windows have.
Buuut... a Core 2 Duo would be great to test what are the newest and most demanding games you can run on Windows XP, not Vista (what i mean is, on a powerful PC, Vista can do more).
My PC specs: Intel Core i7-870, Intel DP55WB motherboard, 16GB of Kingston DDR3-1333 RAM, PNY NVIDIA GTX 970, Crucial MX500 500GB SSD, Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD, PCIe USB 3.0 card. Full HD monitor, gaming mouse, headset and RGB mechanical keyboard). I play GTA V and Far Cry 4 on Ultra settings at 1080p on Vista.
I already became an expert in Windows Vista (every component you have to install in order to run the newest software Vista can run, patches, hotfixes, tips, settings, useful tools, etc.).

Some advices:
1-The newest NVIDIA GPU series that have drivers for Vista is the GTX 900 series (and the Titan X), and the last Intel platform that has drivers for Vista is socket 2011 (X79), that is the best hardware Vista can be used on.
GTX 1000 series and Intel 2011-V3 (X99) only have drivers for Windows 7 and newer. I don't know about AMD, though.
2-The web browser i use on Vista today is Maxthon Browser, it's very good and is an updated browser that still supports Vista (the last version of Chrome that works on Vista is from 2016, still works OK, but doesn't support the latest features of some websites).
- If you're using an SSD:
3-Since Vista acknowledge SSDs exactly as HDDs, you should disable the automatic disk defragmentation for the SSD on Disk Defragmenter.
4-Vista doesn't support TRIM out of the box, but you can install 3rd-party SSD optimization tools to perform the TRIM optimization, keeping the SSD at peak performance (i use SSD Tweaker Pro).

A lot of people consider Vista close to XP, with Windows 7 being the revolution, but the revolution was Vista. Windows XP (NT 5.1, 2001) is of the same generation as Windows 2000 (NT 5.0, 2000). Windows Vista (NT 6.0, 2007) is of the same generation as Windows 7 (NT 6.1, 2009).
From the point of view of the OS internal architecture, Windows XP is cavemen stuff compared to Vista, and Windows 7 is an updated Vista.

[oatmealtheecat]

As someone who started out on windows 8 on my first computer, i am proud to see these things hold up.
(Yes I do have a MSI gaming laptop and I get max 87 fps on some games)
What I am saying is that these old systems have hold up REALLY well.

[rzxxxxxxx]

I understand people are supposed to hate Vista but I still liked it despite the popular issues. Windows looked and felt organic. Modern flat and minimalist interfaces are nice but there's something about the 3D and glossy look of Vista along with Aero.