win xp pro 64 bit - stable and compatible enough for my main PC?

[slugg]

what kind of problems would i expect when running windows XP 64 bit? I'm considering it because I'm interested in building a Conroe based computer with 4 gb of memory without the need of a pagefile... What are some known compatibility or stability issues with xp pro 64 bit? I'd imagine some games wont like it...

 

[Madwand1]

The problem's with hardware drivers -- you can't use 32-bit drivers in XP/2003 x64. Check to see that all the peripherals you're interested in have 64-bit driver support.

 

[postmortemIA]

You can't turn off pagefile, even if you have 400GB of RAM. Simply Windows is set-up that way.

You're free to try XP x64, but you'll end up running 32-bit code anyway.

 

[slugg]

hmm ok so let me ask THIS... what are some advantages to running the 64 bit version?

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: slugg
hmm ok so let me ask THIS... what are some advantages to running the 64 bit version?

You can run 64-bit apps.

 

[L00ker]

I would say remember (if your old enough) when we went from 16 to 32 bits and everyone thought it would be the end all in computing but it really wasn't? probably the same, I am doing a dual core build now and plan on giving x64 a try but I am not expecting great things, hopefully better multi-thread managment and resource allocation....

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: slugg
hmm ok so let me ask THIS... what are some advantages to running the 64 bit version?

You can run 64-bit apps.

Additionally, many 32-bit programs seem to run slightly faster, likely for no reason other than normal windows background processes taking less CPU cycles since they run 64-bit. Also, the network core used for XP x64 is literally cut and paste from Server 2k3 x64, which brings with it some distinct advantages, though you'll likely not notice them unless you really know where to look. Certainly more stable network code.

In general, the OS is more stable than normal XP, though how much is debatable. As has been mentioned, there is an issue with drivers, but I've found that it is a problem which I encounter less and less nowadays. Provided you don't have any really oddball hardware you should be okay. Even then, there's a chance somebody hacked some drivers to work for you. Case in point, the third-party BT848/878 TV Tuner drivers. You'd be surprised at how many TV Tuner and Video Capture cards use that chipset.