XP Pro 64-bit

Fizman

I'm thinking of purchasing this over the next few days. I got a new rig last November and the hardware is roughly 2k euros worth. I'm currently only running XP home on it. I have 4 gb RAM so I would like 64-bit so it can see all of it (as opposed to 3.25gb). Can I upgrade from xp 32 or will I need completely reformat my hardrive and install everything again to accomodate 64bit?? I have games such as Crysis so i'd imagine 64-bit is a slightly better option (I don't fancy Vista).

EDIT: If I order off Komplett it will cost €150 inc shipping (137+12.50). Is there anywhere (online or otherwise) I could get it cheaper?

Any suggestions appreciated!

TheThreeDegrees

not sure why you are spending 150 yoyo's on XP which is going to be unsupported fairly soon and TBH VISTA is far more refined and with directx 10 you cover your arse in gaming for the foreseeable future.

here you can have this for 150

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=43653&cat=13

and i'll even post for free.

johntreacy

Hi
I used 64-bit for a few months and my advice would be to leave your 32bit as is and make it a dual boot and i had loads of driver problems as a lot of hardware vendors seem to be making vista 64bit drivers and don't bother makin xp 64-bit drivers imo.
I was shocked at the speed difference but the little things got to me (flash is still only 32bit). You'll be well impressed and happy for a few months like i was but in the end decided to give 64bit another little while to grow a bit more.

yoyo

I replyed to your other thread... Don't go near XP 64bit, if you must stick to XP, then 32Bit is the only choice, 64bit version as johntreacy said has buggy drivers/software support. Vista 64bit would be a much better choice, but if it must be XP, stick to 32Bit

Nick

duridian

I'd also say Vista 64 bit would be the way to go. A 2k computer should fly with that OS, and you wouldn't have as much of a job getting 64 bit drivers for Vista. If you are worried about program compatibility with Vista 64 then all I can say is I find 99% of stuff I've tried so far has worked fine. I think there is a lot of unfounded FUD about Vista.

yoyo

duridian wrote: »

I'd also say Vista 64 bit would be the way to go. A 2k computer should fly with that OS, and you wouldn't have as much of a job getting 64 bit drivers for Vista. If you are worried about program compatibility with Vista 64 then all I can say is I find 99% of stuff I've tried so far has worked fine. I think there is a lot of unfounded FUD about Vista.

Big time man, Vista is fine once you have the hardware, and Vista 64bit is actually a proper 64Bit OS, I'm regretting picking 32Bit Vista over 64Bit now

Nick

Gonzo

I got Vista64 bit with my new system and its fantastic. Great os, not a single driver problem, everything works the way it should.

Fizman

TheThreeDegrees wrote: »

not sure why you are spending 150 yoyo's on XP which is going to be unsupported fairly soon and TBH VISTA is far more refined and with directx 10 you cover your arse in gaming for the foreseeable future.

here you can have this for 150

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=43653&cat=13

and i'll even post for free.

The link just tells me i have no permission to view it! Ya I guess XP 64 might be the wrong option at this stage. I guess a lot of the negative stuff bout Vista over the past 9 months or so has been ironed out to a certain extent yes? Good chance i'll order it soon if thats the case.

EDIT: I'm open to suggestions where I could get Vista 64 relatively cheap. If I order off Komplett it'll be 200 inc p&p. I'd imagine i could get my hands on it somewhere for less?

FURTHER EDIT: Just looked at dabs.ie and the same version (vista 64 ultimate) can be got for 161 inc p&p!

Blazer

Found XP64bit absolutely flawless and I used it for about a year before moving to 64bit Vista.Then again my system is fairly new so all drivers are available for it. Very fast and extremely stable with sp1/2 for it. Definitely better than 32bit xp and 64bit Vista (hopefully not for long)
Also using Vista 64bit and found it very good as well. There are some games (old) that won't work on it and for that reason I have a dual boot with 32bit XP.
It's not as good at the 64bit version of XP but then again it's a new OS so probs are expected.
You also have to remember there are two versions of XP 64bit.
The one you want is the Windows XP Pro x64 which was released in 2005. The latest SP2 is also available for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Professional_x64_Edition


The good thing about 64bit is that you are immune to most of the viruses/roootkits going around as they're only written for 32bit xp.
However with memory being so cheap it's only a matter of time before more and more people make the transition to 64bit and the virus writers follow

Fizman

Just checked elara.ie and they have vista home premium 64 for 96.80. Seems pretty good. Is there any major difference between home and ultimate? Apart from gaming, online and some other basic apps, I wouldnt be using my pc for much else.

dazftw

Fizman wrote: »

Just checked elara.ie and they have vista home premium 64 for 96.80. Seems pretty good. Is there any major difference between home and ultimate? Apart from gaming, online and some other basic apps, I wouldnt be using my pc for much else.

Just some extra security features is all I think! I could be wrong but most people including myself went for home premium.

Walker34

Hi,
Interesting topic, I have Vista Ultimate which has the 32bit as standard and a 64bit upgrade disc included in the box. Is this the way to go or do I need to get the all in 1 64bit version?. Does it require me to format my HD to install the 64bit.TIA, John

Fizman

If you're planning to use SLI with Vista x64 - forget it. I tried to build a machine not so long ago with two 8600GTs and it crashed like mad. I had to use Vista 32-bit in the end.

Fizman wrote: »

Just checked elara.ie and they have vista home premium 64 for 96.80. Seems pretty good. Is there any major difference between home and ultimate? Apart from gaming, online and some other basic apps, I wouldnt be using my pc for much else.

The Home versions are missing features such as hosting a Remote Desktop, Group Policy, BitLocker Drive Encryption and multi-lingual support. Basically the same as XP Home vs Pro.

Walker34 wrote: »

Hi,
Interesting topic, I have Vista Ultimate which has the 32bit as standard and a 64bit upgrade disc included in the box. Is this the way to go or do I need to get the all in 1 64bit version?. Does it require me to format my HD to install the 64bit.TIA, John

The retail Ultimate pack comes with 32-bit and 64-bit media as you said. There's no need to install the 32-bit version first and I actually think that won't work. You just choose whichever one you want to use - they both take the same product key.

yoyo

Isnt the main issiue with XP64bit that it uses Server 03's kernel instead of actual windows one, if so good luck getting allot of games/drivers etc working on xp 64bit, Vistas not all that bad, hell if you have 4 gig of ram it will fly by, like xp flyed with a gig, dont be fooled by the neg press of vista, its actually fine

Nick

cregser

Try before you buy!

With a bit of work you can download a Vista x64 install and make your own bootable DVD to trial the OS for 30days. You can even reset the counter 3 times giving you 120 days. I've read about a very simple hack that can extend the 30day grace period indefinately, but that would be illegal...

I'm doing the trial at the moment despite having a Home Premium key. I've just built a new PC and don't want Vista giving out if I change too many components. I'm also using the trial to find out what all the fuss was about Vista. It's not terrible by any means, but there are new nuances and nuisances to learn about - always the way. For example, I have my old PC connected directly using gigabit network cards but I can barely transfer files at ~25% gigabit speeds. And if you play music, it slows by half again. :rolleyes: SP1 is supposed to adress it somewhat.

Fizman

cregser wrote: »

Try before you buy!

With a bit of work you can download a Vista x64 install and make your own bootable DVD to trial the OS for 30days. You can even reset the counter 3 times giving you 120 days. I've read about a very simple hack that can extend the 30day grace period indefinately, but that would be illegal...
QUOTE]

Nice one, downloading those files now so will give it a try.

Den_M

A quick question on a related issue: will your processor limit how much RAM you can use? Would I be able to use more than 3.25GB with Vista 64 using a pentium D processor?

Den_M

Den_M wrote: »

A quick question on a related issue: will your processor limit how much RAM you can use? Would I be able to use more than 3.25GB with Vista 64 using a pentium D processor?

Yes it will work fine. Once the CPU is 64-bit capable and you use a 64-bit OS you can use more than 4GB of RAM.

Den_M

So the Pentium D is a 64-bit processor then? A friend of mine bought and installed Vista Ultimate on his Pentium D based machine and was only able to recoginse 3.25 of 6Gb or RAM, do you have to enable or activate any settings in Vista?

Den_M

Den_M wrote: »

So the Pentium D is a 64-bit processor then? A friend of mine bought and installed Vista Ultimate on his Pentium D based machine and was only able to recoginse 3.25 of 6Gb or RAM, do you have to enable or activate any settings in Vista?

Sounds like your friend installed the 32-bit version. Are you sure he used a 64-bit disc?

yoyo

Den_M wrote: »

So the Pentium D is a 64-bit processor then? A friend of mine bought and installed Vista Ultimate on his Pentium D based machine and was only able to recoginse 3.25 of 6Gb or RAM, do you have to enable or activate any settings in Vista?

Yeah, Pentium Ds and even the newer P4s are 64Bit compatible, make sure you install the right version

Nick

Leman_Russ

So from what I am hearing in order to utilise 64 Bit i have to use the god awful vista?

Is XP64 that bad?

yoyo

Leman_Russ wrote: »

So from what I am hearing in order to utilise 64 Bit i have to use the god awful vista?

Is XP64 that bad?

If you want to play many games, and have stable drivers, Vista x64 is the way to go, all XP Pro 64Bit is is Server 03 x64 rebranded, its built from ground up on server 03s os

Nick

Leman_Russ

ok 1 more question: any hacks to make Vista look and act like XP? ;p

yoyo

Leman_Russ wrote: »

ok 1 more question: any hacks to make Vista look and act like XP? ;p

You can switch to classic skin (Make it look like 9x) or use the basic theme rather than Aero... Basic theme has no demanding graphics effects...

Nick

Leman_Russ

Yeah the thing is I used vista for a while and hated the Interface

Ah wel I guess my Lovely new Quadcore will be stuck on a low bit OS then

yoyo

Leman_Russ wrote: »

Yeah the thing is I used vista for a while and hated the Interface

Ah wel I guess my Lovely new Quadcore will be stuck on a low bit OS then

If you've got a Quad and 4 gigs RAM lol Vista will fly, I have Vista running on a Quad and PC5300 2 gig memory (not high end) and it runs brilliantly full effect, games likewise...

Nick

Mr. Presentable

yoyo wrote: »

If you want to play many games, and have stable drivers, Vista x64 is the way to go, all XP Pro 64Bit is is Server 03 x64 rebranded, its built from ground up on server 03s os

Nick

Just for the sake of evenhandedness, this PC is XP64. Currently residing are the following games:

Bioshock
Call of Duty 2
Shark Tale
Oblivion
Call of Cthulhu
Camp Man 4
Football Manager 2008
Duke Nukem 3D
The Sims 2
Flatout 1 & 2
Civ 4
Call of Juarez
Pony Luv
Prey
Serious Sam the second encounter
GTR2
STALKER
HL2
UT
UT2004
UT3


All run well, stable and without problems. Quake 3 wouldn't install on the machine, but then, who has a PC and hasn't had a problem game?

yoyo

nipplenuts wrote: »

Just for the sake of evenhandedness, this PC is XP64. Currently residing are the following games:

Bioshock
Call of Duty 2
Shark Tale
Oblivion
Call of Cthulhu
Camp Man 4
Football Manager 2008
Duke Nukem 3D
The Sims 2
Flatout 1 & 2
Civ 4
Call of Juarez
Pony Luv
Prey
Serious Sam the second encounter
GTR2
STALKER
HL2
UT
UT2004
UT3


All run well, stable and without problems. Quake 3 wouldn't install on the machine, but then, who has a PC and hasn't had a problem game?

Most of them are newer and or have fan patches, I dont think older games will run on it well, well it didnt work well for me when I tryed and many other ppl I know

Nick

Mr. Presentable

yoyo wrote: »

Most of them are newer and or have fan patches, I dont think older games will run on it well, well it didnt work well for me when I tryed and many other ppl I know

Nick

Phew! I was afraid you'd point out Pony Luv That's cool Nick, just sharing my own experience.

yoyo

nipplenuts wrote: »

Phew! I was afraid you'd point out Pony Luv That's cool Nick, just sharing my own experience.

Lol man, best game in the list , nah seriously, I think I had probs with quite a number of games in XP64bit, hadnt had issiues with em in 32bit ver, I did try it out a while ago though, I do know server 03 kernels totally different to XPs so that could have beena issiue, then again it could have changed but I doubt fully..

Nick