XP-32 vs. XP-64 Problem

[ZombieStomper]

I've a homebuilt system.

Asus A8N-SLI
Athlon 64 4400+ x2
2xBFG GeForce 7800 GTX (SLI)
2GB Kingston Hyper-X (4x512mb-- all same make)
Maddog 500watt PSU (all rails good)
Windows XP-64 bit

Was running fine, albeit with intermittant lockups in BF2. Decided to give the thing an enema and rebuild.

Now, I rebuild and it locks up every time I run the 3dmark05 in one of the two CPU Tests. I try to run Prime95 and it errors within 1 minute, but if I restart Prime95, it goes forever without a problem.

Tried old chipset drivers and new drivers. No change.

I've swapped out memory (now only running 1 512 DIMM, verified with MEMTEST) swapped out video cards and no difference.

Now, the kicker is if I install win2k or a friend's winXP (both 32-bit) everything runs hunky-dorey. No Prime95 errors, no 3dmark lockups-- nada.

Any ideas before I shell out $200 for a <I>licensed</I> copy of XP-32?

Has anyone seen this kind of behavior before?

 

[spaceman]

you can get xp pro for 146 at the egg but you should get the 32 and do a dual boot using the 32 for games b/c I've seen nothing but issues for playing games on the 64 version b/c the games except for farcry and a few others (not bf2) aren't coded for 64 bit.

 

[darktiger]

If you go to a college, you might want to check in the bookstore/software center. I get my WinXP for $5....

 

[drizzt81]

what i find awkward is that you shelled out ~$500 for the CPU and $400 each for 2 video cards, but you are running a no-name PSU... anyway, it seems that power may not be your issue.

You did not say whether you are overclocking or not. Anyway, considering that you have no problems in32-bit windows and problems in 64 bit windows, i would assume that you have a driver problem.

 

[Stoly]

you can get xp pro for 146 at the egg but you should get the 32 and do a dual boot using the 32 for games b/c I've seen nothing but issues for playing games on the 64 version b/c the games except for farcry and a few others (not bf2) aren't coded for 64 bit.

Games don't have to be coded for x-64 (but it helps). I've been using XP-x64 for months and I have yet to find a game that just won't work. I've been playing BF2, Doom3 and ROE, far cry, and quake 4 without troubles or instabilities.

The problem is elsewhere, probably drivers, did you install IDE drivers? nvidia ide drivers are known to have problems on some systems in both 32 and 64bit systems.

nvidia firewall also is known to cause trouble.

If you still want to go back to 32bit then you don't actually have to buy a new license. XP-64 licence covers XP pro as long as you don't use both at the same time.

 

[drizzt81]

If you still want to go back to 32bit then you don't actually have to buy a new license. XP-64 licence covers XP pro as long as you don't use both at the same time.

Are you sure on that? I heard that people had to trade in their XP32 licences to get XP64

 

[awdark]

if XP64 is less compatable, what advantage does it have? Just overall faster than Xp32?

 

[Stoly]

Are you sure on that? I heard that people had to trade in their XP32 licences to get XP64

Yes I'm sure, as I said XP-64 license covers XP but not viceversa, hence the xp32 to xp64 trading program.

Thing is that you are allowed to only install one OS so no dual boot or installing on a 2nd pc or anything like that.

 

[Stoly]

if XP64 is less compatable, what advantage does it have? Just overall faster than Xp32?

I list a few Advantages I've seen.

-Overall it "feels" faster and more responsive than XP (you really have to use it to know what I mean)
-It's at least as stable at XP, as a matter of fact I've never seen a BSOD ever since I installed it, that is not related to overclocking.
-It boots faster than XP
-Rootkits do not work under XP-x64 (at least for now)
-maybe its a placebo effect but I swear Winrar runs a lot faster under x-64 than XP.

On the server side of things

At the beginning of the year we (the company I work for) assembled a Xeon server with 2 gb ram. By mid year it was replaced by an Opteron dual core processor and 4gb. A couple of weeks ago the server was upgraded to 8gb of ram which of course it works with 64bit.

 

[S[H]ady]

I list a few Advantages I've seen.

-Overall it "feels" faster and more responsive than XP (you really have to use it to know what I mean)
-It's at least as stable at XP, as a matter of fact I've never seen a BSOD ever since I installed it, that is not related to overclocking.
-It boots faster than XP
-Rootkits do not work under XP-x64 (at least for now)
-maybe its a placebo effect but I swear Winrar runs a lot faster under x-64 than XP.

On the server side of things

At the beginning of the year we (the company I work for) assembled a Xeon server with 2 gb ram. By mid year it was replaced by an Opteron dual core processor and 4gb. A couple of weeks ago the server was upgraded to 8gb of ram which of course it works with 64bit.

- You really do have to use it to understand, but it does seem to run better. Kinda like how a P4 just seems smoother somehow in OS stuff.
- I've never seen a BSOD since I installed XP, 3 years ago. But so far XP64 is just as stable for sure.
- Definately boots faster.


If your willing to troubleshoot some driver issues off the start, I go 64bit.
as far as the issue, I'm sure its just drivers. Maybe reinstall again.

 

[gerbiaNem]

I'm gonna venture a guess and say you're using the 81.xx nvidia drivers. Switch to the 78.03 and see what happens.. trust me

 

[[Spectre]]

what i find awkward is that you shelled out ~$500 for the CPU and $400 each for 2 video cards, but you are running a no-name PSU... anyway, it seems that power may not be your issue.

Many of Maddog PSU's are topower units....the oem behind OCZ