Confused: Is it best to install WinXP as "ACPI" or "standard PC"?!..

[Dance123]

Hi,

I will get a new Pentium 4 3.0Ghz soon with Asus P4C800 mobo, and will install WinXP for the first time. Apparently you have to decide between "ACPI computer" and "standard PC", so what do I choose?

Sometimes I read it's best to install as ACPI, but I also read sometimes that "plain ACPI" (what is that??) always means performance loss, so what do I choose? Anybody can please clarify this?!

Also, is it true that the Audigy 2 or if you have 2 cards (Audigy 2 + Audiophile 2496 for instance) has problems with ACPI for some reason?

Also, is it true you can always swith from ACPI to standard PC but not the other way around?!

I would use my PC for games and music production, so what do I choose? Does Asus P4C800 support ACPI by the way, as I believe this is also important?!

Anybody can answer the above questions?! Thanks in advance!!

Mike.

 

[8ballcoupe]

Originally posted by: Dance123
Hi,

I will get a new Pentium 4 3.0Ghz soon with Asus P4C800 mobo, and will install WinXP for the first time. Apparently you have to decide between "ACPI computer" and "standard PC", so what do I choose?

You won't be asked to decide. Almost any new system will automatically get one of the ACPI hardware abstraction layers installed by the Windows XP setup procedure -- unless you hit the appropriate function key (at the point where the setup program tells you to hit F6 if you need to install different HD drivers) to force the setup program to let you choose.

Sometimes I read it's best to install as ACPI, but I also read sometimes that "plain ACPI" (what is that??) always means performance loss, so what do I choose? Anybody can please clarify this?!

I'd ask the people who are saying it to clarify it. I don't buy it. At least not in general.

Also, is it true that the Audigy 2 or if you have 2 cards (Audigy 2 + Audiophile 2496 for instance) has problems with ACPI for some reason?

I don't know anything about the cards you're mentioning. But I would contend that, if they don't work well with ACPI, you probably don't want them in your system. Any device vendor that hasn't got their crap together on ACPI by now should be avoided.

Also, is it true you can always swith from ACPI to standard PC but not the other way around?!

That's sort of true. I would be willing to use a machine that had been switched from ACPI to Standard PC HAL in a somewhat-mission-critical application, but I wouldn't say the same for a system that had been switched the other way around. There is a pretty effective procedure for switching from Standard PC to ACPI, but you'd be better off with a clean install -- IMO.

I would use my PC for games and music production, so what do I choose? Does Asus P4C800 support ACPI by the way, as I believe this is also important?!

The more varied and complex your device support issues are, the more you need ACPI. Regarding Asus P4C800 support for ACPI, I'd check with the manufacturer for the exact level of the support. Or, I'm sure someone here will know. We'll just hope that someone who knows answers, and not someone who thinks he knows.

Ernie