Windows XP 32 or 64???

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bozman

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Joined
Oct 10, 2005
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Greetings all......

This is my first day posting on the forum but I have been lurking for a long time.

I have a simply question to ask..... a simple yes or no will do.

I am in need of a new licensed copy of Windows XP Pro for my home office. What I am wondering is, should I buy Windows XP (the 32 bit version) or Windows XP 64? Will the 64 bit version buy me a little performance increase or benefit me in any other way?

I use my computer for both work and play (games, office apps, some video editing, graphics work and limited 3D modeling). My system stats as of today follow:

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 (stock speed)
2 gig. of Corsair RAM
PNY 6800 GT
Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 Tuner Card
(2) 74 gig. WD SATA Raptors in RAID 0 on the Nvidia SATA/RAID Controller
(1) 250 gig. Maxtor DiamondMax 10 hard drive on the Sil 3114 SATA/RAID Controller
Creative Audigy 2 Sound Card
NEC 3520 DVD Burner
Plextor PX-230A CD Burner

PS - I consider myself a skilled user of windows, so I am not afraid of minor conflicts and having to work through minor technical issues.

Thanks,
 
I think we may need a sticky on this particular topic. It's been done to death. Then dug up. Reanimated. Done to death again. Killed a third time, just to be certain. Ground up. Cremated. Encased in concrete. Scattered to the 4 corners of the globe. Nuked from orbit (It's the only way to be sure).

And now it's back from the grave. For blood.

Oh, and if you have drivers, it's pretty much the exact same thing as Win32. If you don't, it sucks. (Your hardware looks like it would all have drivers - check with your manufacturers.) Your apps will still work, but they won't run any faster, and there are hardly any 64-bit apps yet
 
Sorry, committed the horrible sin of not searching first.

But, seeing as though I have already posted, would it be worth it knowing that apps are begining to be developed in the 64 bit environment. I am not going to jump on Vista for quite some time. So, if you were buying a vanilla version of XP and had a 64 bit processor, would you buy Win XP 64?

Thanks for the reminder to search first and thanks for your input....
 
Most of the main hardware people, mobos, video cards, etc will have 64 bit drivers. Printers, cameras, other periphals, most will say "we dont want to recompile our drivers, its like hard and stuff"

I wouldn't bother with it. If you really want 64bit processing goodness, go Linux.
I couldn't wait for XP 64 bit to come out...but so many missing drivers. Why bother?
 
I would say your fine with xp32... BUT.. there's always a but.

There are more games and such coming out in 64bit.. I'd rather have the ability to run these today and take advantage of my hardware rather let it sit there. Now I havent read the eula,, but I wonder If you buy the 64bit version if you can downgrade to the 32bit.. My first thought is no..
 
SomeoneWhoIsntMe said:
Any emulation for it yet?

edit: to clarify, CD drive emulation (D-Tools, etc)
Click to expand...

D-tools x64 is said to be released sometime this month... or was that a120 :rolleyes:
 
seigejet said:
D-tools x64 is said to be released sometime this month... or was that a120 :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


I don't mind taking a trip to mexico to get a120, but I need emulation. That's nice to know.
 
I use XP64 Bit. I love it.

Its good to know that I have an OS that can do everything that the 32 bit version can, and more espically for the future.

I say if you already Own 32 Bit windows, keep it. But If you are in need of an OS, Just buy 64 bit.
 
USMC2Hard4U said:
I say if you already Own 32 Bit windows, keep it. But If you are in need of an OS, Just buy 64 bit.
Click to expand...
Unless you have software or hardware that isn't compatible just yet, that you need to use.

XP64 gives you nothing beneficial over XP32 right now. Down the road a bit, when drivers and apps are written and optimized for XP64, it will start to show it's potential. I say, check out if the trade in program is still going on. If so, buy XP32 Pro now, and when it's time, trade it in for XP64. I keep seeing people post that they have trouble getting some app or game working in XP64, so it doesn't seem like it's quite ready yet....or should I say the rest of the community has caught up yet.
 
Like all of Microsoft's new operating systems, if you aren't willing to devote a good deal of blood, sweat and tears to the endeavor, stay away. First you have limited driver support until the hardware world generally decides Microsoft has got the thing stable, viable and with enough market penetration for them to get around to catching up. Next you have random incompatibilities that strike when you least expect it. (Ah, I have this problem so I'll just run this program and - What do you mean it does not work in this environment?!?) And finally, some of the supplimental functions will change to accomodate emerging technology. I was half tempted to pass up on getting xp64 since I expect Microsoft will continue its practice of coercing us customers (mayhaps I should use the term "bilking" instead of coercing) into abandoning our current, familiar platform for the new shiny $300 OS because they refuse to incorporate new technology into our old, working, stable, and reliable platform that we've gotten to learn all the ins and outs of.

Edit: Case in point, I just tried to check out the updates with IE x64 and windows update tells me I have to check with IE x32. Gah!
 
I did a little more checking and you CANNOT downgrade from xp64bit to xp32bit... oh well that would have been sweet
 
bozman said:
Greetings all......

This is my first day posting on the forum but I have been lurking for a long time.

I have a simply question to ask..... a simple yes or no will do.

I am in need of a new licensed copy of Windows XP Pro for my home office. What I am wondering is, should I buy Windows XP (the 32 bit version) or Windows XP 64? Will the 64 bit version buy me a little performance increase or benefit me in any other way?

I use my computer for both work and play (games, office apps, some video editing, graphics work and limited 3D modeling). My system stats as of today follow:

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 (stock speed)
2 gig. of Corsair RAM
PNY 6800 GT
Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 Tuner Card
(2) 74 gig. WD SATA Raptors in RAID 0 on the Nvidia SATA/RAID Controller
(1) 250 gig. Maxtor DiamondMax 10 hard drive on the Sil 3114 SATA/RAID Controller
Creative Audigy 2 Sound Card
NEC 3520 DVD Burner
Plextor PX-230A CD Burner

PS - I consider myself a skilled user of windows, so I am not afraid of minor conflicts and having to work through minor technical issues.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

I've been using x64 for months, at first I tought about going dual boot with XP, but now I see no need for it. You do have to work things out. But once you get it running its as fast or faster than XP, it boots faster and generally "feels" faster and more responsive overall.

If you can get 64bit drivers for your rig and if the apps (games) you use run without problem, then its worth using.
 
I love xp 64 but printer drives are lacking and thus I don't use it on many of my systems. All of my epson printers have drivers but my Dell printers have no drivers so that makes it suck but for 3d stuff it's great anyone check out cinbench 64 on xp 64 with a pair of opterons it is screaming fast . It blows the performance edge of the xeon away.
 
I had XP64 going, really loved the response of it..felt faster booting up, shutting down and less CPU/Ram hoggin it seemed like to me, then I tried to find a driver for my printer.

Suffice to say I've got around 3 hen's teeth now and still no Dell/Lexmark XP64 compatible driver. Back to 32bit I go :(
 
If you don't mind you can try the :) trial for 6 months which is what I'm doing. I don't really see much of a difference in real life but it does kind of feel faster. LOL if that made any sense!!!

Make sure you get all the drivers you need first!!! I did that and it has been a breeze. I installed my SATA with the 64 Abit drivers for raid.

X64 has 2 program folders: 1 for 64 and one for 32. Some programs will just not work and the "good" thing is it won't even let you install them. Antiviruses are brought to a minimum. I'm currently using avast. Almost every single program I had before works with the exception of the quote system, for stocks, and UGURU... that sux but that is really Abit's fault they should have something by now. Also a plus is the Virtual memory that you can assign.

Within six months, if you do the trial, the price of the original xp 64should go down a bit and you will also be that much closer to Vista.... which I probably won't get till a few months go by... almost always drivers are a problem in the beginning of an OS. Vista I'm sure will be much, much more supported fom the get go than this X64 though.

I've had no issues outside of those mentioned.... i haven't tried installing printer though.... hmmm. Now I'm curious.

I thought of making a thread of all the programs that I have that work :) and the ones that don't :mad: . Maybe I'll eventually get to it. Just been really busy!!! :)
 
I have it and love it. It is very stable (it's based on server 20003 after all) and fast. I only wish peripheral manufacturers would get off their collective duffs and develop some drivers for printers and scanners (are you listening Canon?). Microsoft has already stated that drivers developed for x64 will be compatible with Longhorn so be proactive, release some drivers so we can be your guinea pigs as usual and you will have fully functioning drivers the day Longhorn hits the shelves! /rant

Software incompatibilities are not as bad as some would have you believe. If you do run across an app that won't work, a workaround can usually easily be found over at Planet AMD64 forums. There are a few apps that absolutely will not work but they are few and new versions are coming for most of them. If you will be using a scanner and/or printer on this machine, check first if x64 drivers are available.
 
bozman said:
My system stats as of today follow:

Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 Tuner Card
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure there is no 64bit driver for this card yet - if there was, I'd be upgrading my htpc to 64bit goodness.
 
You can downgrade from x64 to x32 if you have a client access license, in fact, you can downgrade to any MS OS that's lesser than the license you have, which you have to buy in lots of five? or is it as few as three? I'll have to talk to someone at my company's vendor (ASAP.com software, which I'm pretty sure anyone can buy from, with a credit card, and they ship quite fast).

Anyway, CALs are a whole lot cheaper than buying the OS if you can split it with a few friends. I know I'm not going to get the retail version of Vista, even if you have to buy ten we've got that covered. You have to buy a CAL for each person, and at least one copy of the media, which is a pre-pitted CD (you don't need a CD key to get it installed) that doesn't have any DRM all over it, so you can copy it to your hearts' content.

Sorry if I'm telling people to do shit that's against EULA, but hell, I don't think it is, and I doubt anyone's going to hunt us down.

To give you an idea, we buy XP pro licenses for $3.50 and media is $27 (it's always twenty-seven bucks, for everything, no matter how many CDs you get; Win 2K was one CD, $27, Exchange 2003 was, oh, fourty CDs and it was $27). Now I'll bet that Vista or x64 costs more, but it's basically guaranteed to be insignificant compared to retail, and gives you tons more flexibility.

You do that with a few people, get x64, install whichever pleases you. Or, just wait 'till Vista come out, and you can install any of all three, if they don't change their licensing rules between now and then (not fucking likely).

Now, I like x64. It installs clean in less than twenty minutes, has no service packs, twelve hotfixes to date, and boots in 25 seconds, from off to desktop on a 16k striped RAID. It uses more ram, though, (280 at boot, up from 225) and if I had to run any legacy hardware, I doubt it would work flawlessly. But I don't, and it's GREAT. I haven't had any non-Microsoft software fail to run, and what didn't install were the XP PowerToys, which aren't a big loss.

I did run into one bug, however, which forced me to re-install the OS (in under half an hour) which was I fucked with the folder icons, which made everything open in a new window. What had happened was that the double-click command defaulted to "explore" not open/ run and there was nothing could be done. Shit like that happened to me when I was running x32, too, but in different ways. Practical upshot: XP hates customization. But we know that.

What I have yet to try installing, but have little doubt of problems, is Cygwin. Anyone here try Cygwin in x64?

Anyway, couldn't convince me to go back for the speed that it runs at. If I hate anything, it's waiting for the OS to snap, and I don't have that now.

A
 
One reason i can easily tell somebody to use XP64 is if they are going to be running the next generation of audio editing applications, such as a 64-Bit Version of Cakewalk's Sonar.

This software i believe is out already, and it is fully compatable with everybodys 32bit plugins, but it gives you the added benefit of using a much larger system ram, which all these plugins need to run flawlessly anyways.
 
Thanks to all that have posted........

I was not aware of the trial version, so I am going to make a good image of my existing system and then put the trial on. If I have issues that I can not resolve, I'll just reinstall from my image.

Off to Microsoft's site to look for a trial or eval version........

Thanks again,
 
amicus said:
I love xp 64 but printer drives are lacking and thus I don't use it on many of my systems. All of my epson printers have drivers but my Dell printers have no drivers so that makes it suck but for 3d stuff it's great anyone check out cinbench 64 on xp 64 with a pair of opterons it is screaming fast . It blows the performance edge of the xeon away.
Click to expand...


Easy fix for that.. Go get an Epson printer.. The printers Dell resell are rebranded LEXMARK.
 
It's in the post, www.asap.com , though they will ask you to start an account with them, which is free, you just tell them stuff on the phone. When I set mine up, I did it for my company, but it's not as though I had to prove it.

When I make an order, I might take orders from people. But seriously, it isn't hard. Call 'em, maybe they've got pricing established already, who knows. Again, once I get the ball rolling for me I'll let people know how it works.

A
 
Note: this is just an observation, I have no first hand experience of XP 64bit

I went to a large LAN recently and sat next to a guy running XP 64bit.

for the duration of the LAN I did not have a crash or have to reboot my PC for anything (I was pretty stoked, 3 day LAN with no crashes reboots or viruses) however the guy next to me seemed to have constant issues, he restarted his box at least 10 times that I saw.

I can't remember the specifics of his machine, but I'm pretty sure he was running a slightly higher spec'd machine than mine.

I have an Athlon 3500+ a Radeon X850Pro and an Abit AN8 he had something like this, I know for sure he had a Radeon X800XT, but don't know what mobo or CPU he had.

Also, just a quick note, my system was spanking new, I built it 2 weeks before the event.
 
I'd like to know how you put an Athlon3500+ in an AN8!!! ;)

:D


Thanks Axeman. Looks like I have to do reading :eek: but it may be worth it... thanks.
 
Deimos said:
I went to a large LAN recently and sat next to a guy running XP 64bit.
for the duration of the LAN I did not have a crash or have to reboot my PC for anything (I was pretty stoked, 3 day LAN with no crashes reboots or viruses) however the guy next to me seemed to have constant issues, he restarted his box at least 10 times that I saw.

I can't remember the specifics of his machine, but I'm pretty sure he was running a slightly higher spec'd machine than mine.
Click to expand...

Excuse me if I clean up your post a bit but I just had to say, "Being on the bleeding edge of (consumer) technology sometimes involves a lot of bleeding."

Its one of the reasons I use tried-and-true parts and software for my clients and family (and keep myself from getting a good night's sleep :( ).
 
IdiotMD said:
Excuse me if I clean up your post a bit but I just had to say, "Being on the bleeding edge of (consumer) technology sometimes involves a lot of bleeding."

Its one of the reasons I use tried-and-true parts and software for my clients and family (and keep myself from getting a good night's sleep :( ).
Click to expand...

I agree but I also don't agree (if that is possible).

There is always the misconception that newewer is never better (in computers) I bore witness to it when XP came out, so many people claimed that it was unstable, I had a few teething issues in the first few weeks, but my first successfull install of XP lasted me 2 years (the longest strech I have had without a significant PC upgrade).

64bit Windows may be OK, like I said, I have no first hand experience with it, and after seeing that guys PC crash something wicked, I'm not willing to try it out just yet, maybe when more drivers come out, and there is a 64bit version of office, then it will be worth while.
 
Deimos said:
Note: this is just an observation, I have no first hand experience of XP 64bit

I went to a large LAN recently and sat next to a guy running XP 64bit.

for the duration of the LAN I did not have a crash or have to reboot my PC for anything (I was pretty stoked, 3 day LAN with no crashes reboots or viruses) however the guy next to me seemed to have constant issues, he restarted his box at least 10 times that I saw.

I can't remember the specifics of his machine, but I'm pretty sure he was running a slightly higher spec'd machine than mine.

I have an Athlon 3500+ a Radeon X850Pro and an Abit AN8 he had something like this, I know for sure he had a Radeon X800XT, but don't know what mobo or CPU he had.

Also, just a quick note, my system was spanking new, I built it 2 weeks before the event.
Click to expand...

A lot of people don't know how to take care of their computers. They accumulate spyware and malware with cause the system to bu unstable. With Windows 64 you should be extra careful, spyware designed for 32-bit might go doing worse things.

I'm using Windows x64 and can attest that it is extremely stable on my bleeding edge hardware using even beta drivers for some things. The only had two problems so far. CSS crashing to the desktop with an error, that happens to a lot of people with 32-bit, so it's CSS's fault. Then Firefox 1.5b2 crashes sometimes when it's packed with extensions(some modified by me to work with 1.5) and nearly 30 tabs, never had a problem with 1.06 before I switch, and the software is beta(worth it for the extra speed for me).

That guy at the lan party also may not have know how to install his drivers properly or tried some "tweaks" intended for 32-bit that don't mesh well with 64. Basically, there are millions of reasons why his system would crash, you can't isolate Windows 64 specifically.
 
Deimos said:
maybe when more drivers come out, and there is a 64bit version of office, then it will be worth while.
Click to expand...

LOL, you would switch to x64 for the POWA of Office x64. Watch as word displays that CPU intensive static text in all of its 64 bit glory!
 
Shit, with all the bloat of Office, doubling your processor means editing at near-VIM speeds. . .I suspect office, what, Twelve will be x64.
 
Just to share my own experiance, the only crashing I've had with my X64 has been due to my overclocking (a little voltage bump, loosening of a timing or lowering of an HTT fixed it), and asides from having a Lexmark printer (cheap printers anyway), only driver problem I had was with nvidia active armor firewall wanting to block things I told it not to, close ports I didnt want closed and otherwise just slow my system down. (Fix = don't install that crap)

As for spyware and virus's, never got a virus on it yet. spyware I get, but dont we all? Nothing a nightly sweep from Spybot S&D doesn't nuke. Never any bad malware, either, like a keylogger or something.

Then again, give x64 to a n00b that gets a email saying "Woah, check out this naked babe! <Attached: n00bp00t3Rk1ll3R.exe>" and you'll have stability problems, from bad setup, bad maintenance, and heaven forbid, an incorrectly done OC.

As for lack of software, I recently stepped up to multithreaded x64 7zip for the best in compression and speed since I probably zip up 1 to 10gb of stuff a day, and it works much better than it used to, more then what just a step up to dual core can account for in benchmarks I've seen. Playing FarCry with the x64 update but NOT the expanded content is pretty noticeable as well.
 
Axman said:
Shit, with all the bloat of Office, doubling your processor means editing at near-VIM speeds. . .I suspect office, what, Twelve will be x64.
Click to expand...

Common misconception, 64-bit doesn't double speed.
 
Just my 2 cents that no one asked for....

I'm double booting XP Pro and XP64. Doing all my work (newspaper production...InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat, FTP....etc) in XP64. Just got a used Epson 3170 Perfection because they had 64bit drivers available, and my Umax Firewire did not. I'm managing to print from our Xante printers using the only driver that came with the OS (for a much older Xante printer....where do they come up with this? Why would I have a state-of-the-art OS and be using a 10 year old printer? Anyways, the driver *kinda* works with the newer Xante). I've always liked dual booting... sort of the ultimate Safe Mode...;-)

Like others have mentioned, XP64 just feels faster and cleaner for some reason, despite the occasional glitch. I'm running completely stable with my 3800X2@2600 (43C on stock air). Maybe I'm lucky.

I thought a long time before installing the trial. The installation was completely painless. My apps run great, and I don't mind being the MS guinea pig since I chose to do this. While there is no compelling reason to make the switch, it's certainly worth the 4 month trial to see if you like it. Just do your homework and be prepared for the disaster that may never come and you'll be fine.
 
Common misconception, 64-bit doesn't double speed
Click to expand...

I know that. I also didn't say that, I just think that Office 10 and 11 chug. I expect them to perform better.
 
Thanks again for all of the information.......

I am not worried about a little work-arounds and what not. Also, as to the stability issues, I am convinced that 75% of these issues are user issues and 25% are issues with the OS. With a good image of my current set-up, I always have the ability to revert within 15 minutes.

I will be installing the 64 bit trial version this evening.

Thanks all, I will report back if I have any issues.....
 
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