Do you consider EMT-64 when cpu shopping?

J

JetUsafMech

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Oct 19, 2001
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I remember (seems like years ago) when the A64's first came out, the cool thing to say was "LOL, I'll be Future Proof for 64 bit goodness, you noobs will have to upgrade LOL." When Paul Otellini (Intel CEO) said "Um, no one needs 64 bit goodness just yet." the masses laughed. Of course, Intel scrambled and added EMT-64, because hey, they wouldn't want the competetion to have a leg up. And just look at the selection of 64 bit software! It's like the people that are looking at notebooks, and saying "Hmmm, Yonah is a kick ass chip, but OH NOES NO 64 bit SEXORS." So it goes...

It seems to me that dual core is the hot thing; reference the multi-threaded patches for various games, taking advantage of dual core and HT. If 64 bit computing was so necessary, where are the applications for it? Do you consider EMT-64 when shopping for a chip?
 
LOL, no. i really don't care if it's 64-bit or not becuase the windows version is all buggy, but if it's 64-bit and it's just the same price, i guess i'll pick the 64-bit just in case anything ever comes up =D
 
I've been debating over this too b/c I found some clearance 3.6 Prescotts @ a local store, but they're not EMT-64 enabled so I was thinking its a poor upgrade path considering Vista's upcoming 64-bit support... but will I use or need it? It really doesn't matter anyway b/c Conroe and Vista are 6 months out (or more)...
 
At this point, 64-bit software seems too far off to actually make it a factor in purchasing chips. However, everything now has 64-bit support...sooo...can't say I won't get a chip based on the fact that it will have 64-bit support.

 
i WILL consider it because I tend to hold onto my rigs for years and years, and my next will probably have to last me at least 3 years.... so yea, 64 bit = very important to me, even if it is just smoke and mirrors right now...
 
Actually, x86_64 does make a difference.

Try uncompressing a large zip file, and notice the difference with a 64-bit version of gzip. Literally twice as fast. What about encryption... again, many times, twice as fast.

It all depends on what you use your PC for. Me, I can't live without it. Maybe if you're happy with 32-bit XP or 2000, 32-bit is fine.
 
Josh_B said:
Actually, x86_64 does make a difference.

Try uncompressing a large zip file, and notice the difference with a 64-bit version of gzip. Literally twice as fast. What about encryption... again, many times, twice as fast.

It all depends on what you use your PC for. Me, I can't live without it. Maybe if you're happy with 32-bit XP or 2000, 32-bit is fine.
Click to expand...
Have fun playing with gzip, since there isn't much else to do with 64bit systems.

Until there is widespread 64bit support, I couldn't care less.

-bZj
 
^LoL *zip, unzip, zip, unzip..* o0o0o fun! lolz

wut about 64bit vista that hows that suppose to be?
 
Down8 said:
Have fun playing with gzip, since there isn't much else to do with 64bit systems.

Until there is widespread 64bit support, I couldn't care less.

-bZj
Click to expand...

I do have fun playing with gzip, however I can assure you, for my work it does make a difference.

May I ask what you are using your PC for?
 
AMD was able to make a better push into server markets because of 64bit.

The next Exchange is going to be 64 bit only as far as I know. Anyone who bought servers recently with no EMT64 are going to have to upgrade...again.
 
No, I don't consider EMT-64 when shopping for a processor.

I do however, value EM64T.

If the vendor can't even get this simple acronym correct, he's probably no different from those who run the Nigerian Scam.
 
JackPack said:
No, I don't consider EMT-64 when shopping for a processor.

I do however, value EM64T.

If the vendor can't even get this simple acronym correct, he's probably no different from those who run the Nigerian Scam.
Click to expand...

I almost gut these guys on that scam maybe I did . I was contacted and I called the FBI right away . They asked me to play along so i did . I don't know the outcome though.
 
There is no way I'll go back to a 32-bit chip.

I run Gentoo Linux; 100% of my OS and all my apps run in native 64-bit mode, and I see around a 5%-10% gain because of that (I only benched a few things, but a little boost is a good thing). Stable as ever :)

Also, as a software developer, having the ability to use 64-bit integers and pointers makes my life much easier at times, and allows me to write faster, more efficient code.

Now, I can see why the Windows crowd doesn't really care. MS is so far behind in the 64-bit world, there really isn't much of a benifit to going to xp-64. A few scattered apps don't really make up for the stability issues and the bad driver support.
 
Down8 said:
Have fun playing with gzip, since there isn't much else to do with 64bit systems.
Click to expand...
Why wouldn't one do what one normally does on a 32-bit system on their 64-bit? The advantage is a speed boost due to double the number of registers. ... I don't see why you seem to think a 64-bit system isn't good for anything. It's the same as a 32-bit, but faster, and can support more memory.
Down8 said:
Until there is widespread 64bit support, I couldn't care less. -bZj
Click to expand...
I think you should take another look. I run a fully functional development workstation with 100% of the software on the box running in 64-bit mode. There is widespread 64-bit support right now... unless you're stuck in the slow and outdated windows world...
 
Josh_B said:
I do have fun playing with gzip, however I can assure you, for my work it does make a difference.

May I ask what you are using your PC for?
Click to expand...
At the moment, reading [H], DLing via Azureus, listening to XM (via XstreamXM), w/Outlook2k3 checking e-mail.

Later, I'll play some NFS:MW, maybe some UT2k4, burn some CDs/DVDs w/Nero.

Are all of those available in 64bit versions?

I didn't say 64bit wasn't good for anything. My intentent was to say that only a select few things are 64bit compatible, thus 64bit becomes a detrement if you want to do the things that most ppl do with their PCs - development work is not what most ppl use their PCs for.

-bZj
 
Down8 said:
At the moment, reading [H], DLing via Azureus, listening to XM (via XstreamXM), w/Outlook2k3 checking e-mail.

Later, I'll play some NFS:MW, maybe some UT2k4, burn some CDs/DVDs w/Nero.

Are all of those available in 64bit versions?

I didn't say 64bit wasn't good for anything. My intentent was to say that only a select few things are 64bit compatible, thus 64bit becomes a detrement if you want to do the things that most ppl do with their PCs - development work is not what most ppl use their PCs for.

-bZj
Click to expand...

That may be so, but the original poster's question was do WE consider x86_64 important.

Anyways, I am sure you are aware that UT2004 has a 64-bit port. Nero does have 64-bit support, and if those are your requirements, with all due respect, you could do those with a PIII. ;)
 
So enlighten me all you Intel folk, are non 64-bit chips from Intel still common? I don't even think AMD makes any non 64-bit chips anymore, perhaps except for the very cheapest couple of CPUs. If I was to shop for an AMD, unless I was going super low end, 64-bit would automatically be something that I would get. Is this not the case with Intel?
 
Retailers still have a few non-64 bit Celerons and P4's... but mostly the chips someone would or could buy are the 64-bit 6xx series, including Cedar Mill, the newest P4 version (this besides the Pentium D's which are all 64-bit).

Newegg's non-64 bit Intels
 
Josh_B said:
That may be so, but the original poster's question was do WE consider x86_64 important.

Anyways, I am sure you are aware that UT2004 has a 64-bit port. Nero does have 64-bit support, and if those are your requirements, with all due respect, you could do those with a PIII. ;)
Click to expand...
It seems that I am expluded from the "we"? :(

I was defending my opinion that 64bit isn't important right now, b/c it doesn't enhance anything I do - nor what the majority of ppl do.

And UT2k3 played quite well on my P3, thank you very much. :D

-bZj
 
To be honest I didn't really look for it but, I bought a 630 back in August and so it just kind of came standard. For the most part, a lot of the stuff out there has EM64T now - for the average user... I think I would suggest it. People say 64-bit is mostly useless, and it's true that it won't yield many benefits for the average user for a while, but it's not really out of your way to get yourself at least one that has it.
 
Yes, I most definitely want EM64T. My brother got a new PC a few months ago, and it came with Windows x64. It works quite well, and playing with 64-bit code is quite fun.
In some cases you get quite decent performance gains. And ofcourse other goodies, such as the enhanced version of Far Cry.
So I haven't really found a reason not to do it (there was some software that didn't work properly, but nothing an update or alternative program didn't fix).
 
I'm an average home user/hardcore gamer, so my arguements might be different than someone doing sometype of database, server, or other "professional" work.

So no, I don't consider 64-bit support on my chip when buying. And I won't until WinXP64 is the standard operating system and is whats shipped on all PCs.

Win64 has been out for a while and support for it is still beta at best. Finding drivers for most devices is impossible. Hardly any apps have been recompiled for 64bit. There's no performance improvement going to 64 over 32. So the only advantage to go 64 is to have more than 4Gb of ram addressable, or so each 32-bit app can have its own 4Gb of addressable ram.

So basically everything you need as reasons to go 64 is missing.
1. Operating system is there... but many drivers are missing... so NO
2. Apps are mostly missing
3. Need for over 4Gb not really there (unless dealing with huge databases, etc)
3b. No games need more than 2Gb at the moment, much less 4Gb
4. Performance advantage - NOT there
5. Most motherboards won't even support over 4Gb so hardware is somewhat missing.
 
How many of you people who talk about how 'beta' Windows x64 is, have actually used it as their primary OS for a few weeks/months?
I've set it up for my brother a few months ago, as I said, and we found no problems with the drivers... Intel has good chipset drivers, ATi has good drivers, Creative has good drivers... Microsoft has good drivers... Everything in his system works fine.
Can you tell me what kind of drivers don't work fine then? The 'regular' brands we use seem to have their stuff together just fine.
Okay, Microsoft didn't have an x64-version of Intellitype/point at the time of purchase, but that wasn't a big deal, really. The mouse and keyboard still worked, just some of the special buttons that weren't supported with the default drivers.
But Microsoft released the x64-version a while ago, so that's fixed now aswell.
I really can't relate to all these horror-stories about driver problems etc.
 
Scali said:
How many of you people who talk about how 'beta' Windows x64 is, have actually used it as their primary OS for a few weeks/months?
I've set it up for my brother a few months ago, as I said, and we found no problems with the drivers... Intel has good chipset drivers, ATi has good drivers, Creative has good drivers... Microsoft has good drivers... Everything in his system works fine.
Can you tell me what kind of drivers don't work fine then? The 'regular' brands we use seem to have their stuff together just fine.
Okay, Microsoft didn't have an x64-version of Intellitype/point at the time of purchase, but that wasn't a big deal, really. The mouse and keyboard still worked, just some of the special buttons that weren't supported with the default drivers.
But Microsoft released the x64-version a while ago, so that's fixed now aswell.
I really can't relate to all these horror-stories about driver problems etc.
Click to expand...

You quoted the few things which I've heard the drivers are ok for.
Nvidia & ATI - 2 main brands of GPU's
Intel - largest chipset maker
and
Creative the largest add in sound card maker

Try using some relatively older hardware, or just walking in to CompUSA and buying a few USB devices and plugging them in. See what happens.
 
chrisf6969 said:
Try using some relatively older hardware, or just walking in to CompUSA and buying a few USB devices and plugging them in. See what happens.
Click to expand...

Like what?
It's a new PC, so obviously there IS no older hardware anyway.
Haven't seen any trouble with USB devices either.
We have 3 USB gamepads... an Asus, a SpeedLink and a Seitek (or something), and they all work fine.
Maxtor external harddrive also works fine... Sony digital cam works fine...
Why don't you name some actual products, so we can see what doesn't work...
I can name all sorts of products that do work, haven't seen anything fail yet, so to me it seems like pretty much everything just works okay... at least for most people it should be fine.
 
JetUsafMech said:
I remember (seems like years ago) when the A64's first came out, the cool thing to say was "LOL, I'll be Future Proof for 64 bit goodness, you noobs will have to upgrade LOL." When Paul Otellini (Intel CEO) said "Um, no one needs 64 bit goodness just yet." the masses laughed. Of course, Intel scrambled and added EMT-64, because hey, they wouldn't want the competetion to have a leg up. And just look at the selection of 64 bit software! It's like the people that are looking at notebooks, and saying "Hmmm, Yonah is a kick ass chip, but OH NOES NO 64 bit SEXORS." So it goes...

It seems to me that dual core is the hot thing; reference the multi-threaded patches for various games, taking advantage of dual core and HT. If 64 bit computing was so necessary, where are the applications for it? Do you consider EMT-64 when shopping for a chip?
Click to expand...

There are tons of 64-bit apps. Run a free unix & compile your own!

Rob
 
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