Which OS for my new A64 system?

[Gilda]

XP Pro 32bit?
XP Pro 64bit?

I'm an OC'er and a major gamer. Which would be better?

 

[lansalot]

All your devices supported under XP64? Go for that then. No reason not too really...

 

[yelo333]

Originally posted by: lansalot
All your devices and any devices which you think you may get at some time in the near future supported under XP64? Go for that then. No reason not too really...

Remember that it is a complete reinstall to go back to XP32. You may want to try out some sort of trial edition (like the betas, if you have those) first, before making the plunge.

I would personally wait to get XP64 for awhile, since, being a new OS, there are bound to be rough edges. Better to let it mature for awhile, first. There just are not any really good reasons to switch now instead of later. Especially since that "later" just might be longhorn.

 

[wexsmith]

Below are the Top 5 reasons to move to 64-bit XP taken from Microsoft's website. Being an OC'er wont affect you whatsoever with 32-bit vs 64-bit. However, gaming is supposedly handled better in the 32-bit enviornment. That's not to say the 64-bit editions of games wont run better, I'm just saying that 32-bit games running in a 64-bit OS are said to not be handled as well.

Personally I'll be sticking with WinXP 32-bit Pro. If I were a software developer then I'd definitely move to 64-bit so I could develop for both 32-bit and 64-bit on one machine. Dual core would be my other reason to switch OS's. Since I'm basically running games and doing the occasional bit of work on my system, the switch will have to wait.

Hope this helps.

Top 5 reasons to get to Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

1. High performance platform for the next generation of applications

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is a rich platform that enables the next generation of high-performance computing. 64-bit native applications can deliver more data per clock cycle, making them run faster and more efficiently.

2. Large memory support

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition supports up to 128 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and 16 terabytes of virtual memory, enabling applications to run faster when working with large data sets. Applications can preload substantially more data into virtual memory, allowing rapid access by the 64-bit processor.

3. Flexibility

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition provides a rich platform to integrate 64-bit applications and existing 32-bit applications using the Windows on Windows 64 (WOW64) x86 emulation layer, providing customers with the ability to move to 64-bit computing without having to sacrifice their existing investment in 32-bit software and Windows expertise.

4. Multiprocessing and multicore

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is designed to support up to two single or multicore x64 processors for maximum performance and scalability.

5. Same programming model

Developers with 32-bit skills will be comfortable and quickly productive in the 64-bit Windows environment, finding it virtually identical to the development environment for 32-bit Windows.

 

[cKGunslinger]

If you are a gamer, than stick with Win32 for now. Last I checked, 64-bit drivers for graphic cards, etc still weren't as fast as the 32-bit ones.

You have 0 need for 64-bit right now (ie: nothing to be gained,) but have the potential for losing some performance. Stick with 32-bit.

 

[Gilda]

Some great advice from everyone! I think I will stay with Windows XP SP2 32bit for the time being.

 

[gobucks]

personally, unless there are some big compatibility issues, i'd go x64. After driver support catches up, having x64 will be more desirable, so I'd rather just put up with a few little problems now than have to buy 32bit and then buy x64 later, especially since you can't upgrade to x64 without wiping. As for gaming and performance, it's pretty good. I haven't noticed any sluggishness at all with the 71.84 WHQL drivers, and the NGO Optimized 76.71s beat my previous best 3DMark05 score by like 150 points (it scored 4150, versus 4002 with 76.45s on XP 32bit). I'm using the 76.71s right now. The only game i've heard of that doesn't work is Chaos Theory, and it still installs fine, so I'm sure there will be a patch to fix it. Oh, and Farcry gets added eye candy in x64.

Anyways, the few problems I have are 1) The only AV tool available is Avast, which is okay since it's free. Norton is on the way, as is AVG. 2) Rivatuner doesn't work, so unfortunately you can't force OpenGL 1.5 to get riddick to work. According to the forums, somebody is working on it as we speak. That's really about it. So I'd say go for x64 if your starting from scratch, but it's not a big deal either way.

 

[TGS]

I tried XP-64. I mostly play City of Heroes (works great) and Battlefiled 1942: DC final. Punkbuster has OS exception errors, as the WoW emulation doesn't allow exclusive access for Punkbuster. So that forced me to reinstall Win2k.

The best thing from using XP-64, was all the drivers for my gear was there already. Sound, graphics, network, HDD over 128-138(?)GBs. It was really strange loading up XP-64 and seeing a normal desktop rather than the old 16 color screen I'm so used to on Win2k installs.

Also at the time, I'm not 100% on this, but I thought they didn't have DX9.0c out for XP-64. Though I could be smoking the cheap stuff on this one...

 

[Red and black]

Why not just dual-boot 32 and 64?

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
If you are a gamer, than stick with Win32 for now. Last I checked, 64-bit drivers for graphic cards, etc still weren't as fast as the 32-bit ones.

You have 0 need for 64-bit right now (ie: nothing to be gained,) but have the potential for losing some performance. Stick with 32-bit.

I agree. Stick with 32-bit just for now.

 

[OptimusDinkus]

Heres my take on the OS, its really somewhat buggy right now unfortunatly, but ridiculiously fast, it takes less than a minute to boot into with a 64 bit chip. however my sound doesnt work right now, my driver are shaddy on my controller card, also if you have gigabit eithernet I get around 800 to 900 k per sec, win 2k, only a freaking measily 300k, so network support is extremely well integrated and boot time, Out of curiousity, how do you guys dual boot, do you just install the os on top of another drive with the origional os?

 

[OptimusDinkus]

cause Id rather have the power of 900 k per sec versus the later, and gigabit ethernet is extremely fast too. Its ok to buy it now, just dont install it quite yet, but for me I need power baby!