I went from a GT 9800 to a GTX 660 and got no love at all. Several commenters have confirmed my own feelings that my system is simply outdated, especially my CPU. Now I am ordering:

• Intel Extreme Series Desktop Motherboard
• Intel Core i7-3820 Quad-Core Processor 3.6 GHz 10 MB Cache LGA 2011
• Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan
• Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

First, don't get an Intel motherboard.  Intel motherboards can be problematic, especially for enthusiast builds.  The good motherboard brands are Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and AsRock, though some people would quibble about putting AsRock in that list.

Second, unless you have unusual needs, you should look at a Socket LGA 1155 build, not LGA 2011.  A Core i5-3570K is basically the standard gaming enthusiast CPU.  The only reasons to get LGA 2011 are if you need six Intel cores (which a Core i7-3820 doesn't have), massive amounts of PCI Express bandwidth--more than one video card can get access to, since it's split among multiple PCI Express slots--or massive amounts of system memory bandwidth.  That last one has some HPC uses, but is irrelevant to gaming if you're using a discrete video card.  If you do insist on going with an LGA 2011 build, you want four memory modules, in order to fill all four memory channels.  For LGA 1155, two modules is fine.

Finally, if you're replacing a bunch of other stuff now, it might be a good time to add an SSD while you're at it.  The money you'd save by switching to a Core i5-3570K and a decent Z77 motherboard would make room for a very nice SSD like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-443

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As for your immediate question, Windows 7 and 8 aren't really that different.  I'd go with Windows 8 on the basis that I'd trust it to be supported for longer and you get whatever tweaks Microsoft has come up with over the course of three years, such as how to make it boot faster.  I'd question why you need the professional edition rather than home premium, however.  Definitely don't get Windows XP, as that's very old, and 64-bit XP was very much a niche product, so drivers might be dicey.

Originally posted by BitterClinger

 

I understand that if I choose Windows 7 or 8, there are some games I have that I won't be able to play on this system. In fact, there are some games that I've had to pass up because they don't support XP.

Upon further review, that might well fall under the category of unusual needs.  Why won't some games run in Windows XP?  Are they extremely old games that want Windows 3.1 or some such?  Would it be viable to use your old computer for very old games and play newer games on the new computer you're building now?

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by BitterClinger

 

I understand that if I choose Windows 7 or 8, there are some games I have that I won't be able to play on this system. In fact, there are some games that I've had to pass up because they don't support XP.

Upon further review, that might well fall under the category of unusual needs.  Why won't some games run in Windows XP?  Are they extremely old games that want Windows 3.1 or some such?  Would it be viable to use your old computer for very old games and play newer games on the new computer you're building now?

Well, some newer games, like Hitman Absolution do not support Windows XP.  That is what I was referring to.

Originally posted by BitterClinger

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by BitterClinger

 

I understand that if I choose Windows 7 or 8, there are some games I have that I won't be able to play on this system. In fact, there are some games that I've had to pass up because they don't support XP.

Upon further review, that might well fall under the category of unusual needs.  Why won't some games run in Windows XP?  Are they extremely old games that want Windows 3.1 or some such?  Would it be viable to use your old computer for very old games and play newer games on the new computer you're building now?

Well, some newer games, like Hitman Absolution do not support Windows XP.  That is what I was referring to.

Why then would choosing Windows 7 or 8 prevent you from running some games?

Windows XP only supports DirectX 9.0c and earlier, so that's why it might not support some newer games.  But Windows 7 and 8 should be fine on that count.

Personally I hate Windows 8. . tried the beta, gave it a good shot and did not like it.  Mind you I hated windows 3.1 and liked DOS better.

Windows XP is not going to be supported so for me Windows 7 is it.  I know there have been some updates to Windows 8 but if you already own 7 then I would stick with that.

Windows 8 is too new and they are still working out all the bugs. Half the older software is incompatable.  So I would wait until sp1 is released.  I got Windows 7 64 big profesional and I love it. 

Ok, I have changed my shopping cart based on Quizzical's hardware recommendations. Here is the new BOM:

• ASUS P8Z77-V LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
• Intel Core i7-3770 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155
• Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan
• Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
• Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s

Some people don't like Windows 8 because they think it's a huge change ...  but it's really not.  Most of the OS and functions are nearly the same.  They added a new type of program, that being Windows Apps, aside from that, once you get used to it, you almost never touch apps and it will act much as Windows 7 does.

Windows 8 is incredibly stable and fast.  With my same hardware, I saw little to no loss in performance upgrading to Windows 8.  If you can run a program on Win7, you'll likely be able to run it on Win8.

I think all the hate towards Win8 is how they tailored the beginning experience towards touch devices and to be fair, they earned that badge of failure.

If you want to use Win8, use it.  If you don't want/like the change in UI then go for Windows 7.  Windows 7 is the new XP and will be around for years and I don't think we'll see IT departments deploying Win8 anytime soon.

TLDR: Windows 8 is fine, stable and runs great.

Personally I really like Windows 8 however with my AMD GPU i've had constant driver conflicts and countless blue screens on win8. I've tried 3 times with fresh installs, different CCC versions and win8 settings tweaks nothing worked. Switched back to Win7 and haven't had an issue since.

Originally posted by Aori

Personally I really like Windows 8 however with my AMD GPU i've had constant driver conflicts and countless blue screens on win8. I've tried 3 times with fresh installs, different CCC versions and win8 settings tweaks nothing worked. Switched back to Win7 and haven't had an issue since.

This happens on all OS's though.  There are always a small percentage of hardware that never seems to work perfectly.  I say my previous statement as someone who does remote tech on hundreds of client computers a month.  I'm not trying to diminish your opinion, because it certainly is valid and happens on Win8, but what you are experiencing isn't exclusive to Win8.  I generally have good technical experiences with Win8, the issue that most clients have is how to use it as a keyboard and mouse user but once you find the shorcuts/tricks, it's just as easy if not easier than Win7.

Originally posted by BitterClinger

Ok, I have changed my shopping cart based on Quizzical's hardware recommendations. Here is the new BOM:

• ASUS P8Z77-V LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
• Intel Core i7-3770 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155
• Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan
• Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
• Crucial m4 256GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.  Posting here has already paid off quite a bit.

You should be aware that a Core i7-3770 basically can't be overclocked.  If you're fine with that, then go ahead, but to overclock, you'll need a 3770K.

Or a Core i5-3570K, for that matter.  Basically the difference between the two processors is that the Core i7 has hyperthreading.  Windows won't use hyperthreading in programs that don't scale to more than four cores (as it's only possible effects would be bad), but Intel says it can improve performance by up to 30% in programs that scale flawlessly to eight cores.

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by BitterClinger

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by BitterClinger

 

I understand that if I choose Windows 7 or 8, there are some games I have that I won't be able to play on this system. In fact, there are some games that I've had to pass up because they don't support XP.

Upon further review, that might well fall under the category of unusual needs.  Why won't some games run in Windows XP?  Are they extremely old games that want Windows 3.1 or some such?  Would it be viable to use your old computer for very old games and play newer games on the new computer you're building now?

Well, some newer games, like Hitman Absolution do not support Windows XP.  That is what I was referring to.

Why then would choosing Windows 7 or 8 prevent you from running some games?

Windows XP only supports DirectX 9.0c and earlier, so that's why it might not support some newer games.  But Windows 7 and 8 should be fine on that count.

He was saying (since XP was one of his options) that by choosing XP he wouldn't be able to play some/many newer games. If he goes with Windows 8 he won't be able to play some/many of his older games. 

If you already have windows 7 my advice is to simply use that. You don't really lose out on anything by sticking with windows 7. However if you have the extra cash my advice is to get an extra HDD and stick windows 7 on it. Put windows 8 on the SSD and use the second HDD as storage for windows 8. I actually have a setup like this on one of my rigs. Paid 40 bucks for windows 8 upgrade and it didn't invalidate my windows 7 license so I am dual booting the OS's. Win 7 for my progs that won't run or run well on 8 and win 8 when they can. Best of both worlds.

Windows 8

+ Most support
+ Newest features
+ Same or greater functionality as windows 7.
+ XBL features - Free and paid, music and movies
+ Cheap

-Some legacy games not supported. Ie fable 3.

Originally posted by cronius77
i have windows 8 on my laptop and its annoying to have to mod it just to have a start menu and functionality like windows 7 . I felt windows 7 was a decent OS and Windows 8 just adds extra windows to do the same things windows 7 has. Flipping from metro to the desktop gets annoying when its not even needed .

I actually look at it like, the Start Screen is what the Start Menu should have been in the first place.

It was already stated by Gray Ghost but if you have a retail version of Window 7 available without having to spend any more money I'd suggest you just stick with that for the time being.  Previous statement about waiting for the first service pack of a given generation are pretty much dead on.  If at a later date it is shown that Windows 8 is in every way shape or form better than Windows 7 then feel free to spend your money to upgrade.  I have a feeling you'll do just fine with Windows 7 up until the next version of Windows releases.

http://windows9info.com/item/windows-9-release-date-expected-in-year-2015