Hey, I heard there are some good techies here. I've got a question that I haven't been able to answer definitively with a long, hard slog through google, so I thought I'd see if anyone here knows.
I'm thinking of updating my desktop by getting a new motherboard and processor. I've had my eye on a few that I think look really good (if anyone's interested, the motherboards I've got my eye on are the Abit AN8 SLI and the Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI). In any case, I noticed that both those motherboards take AMD 64-bit processors, which I thought would be cool. But I was talking to someone about it, and he said that regular Windows won't run with a 64-bit processor. I know there's a version of Windows XP Professional for 64-bit, but Professional is pretty steep, and it doesn't look like the 64 version has the support or reliability of regular Windows.
Does anyone know if this is true? If I order a 64-bit chip and try to run my regular XP home edition, will it work at all? If so, will it work as well, or will it defeat the advantage that a 64-bit chip would bring? Will any of my drivers have trouble running on 64? Would I be better off waiting until Microsloth caught up with the technology, or maybe just buying a 32-bit system?
One last question, although this isn't as important as the other one. I noticed that I could get a dual-core processor for a reasonable amount more than a single-core. For a regular home computer end-user like me, would there really be an advantage, or is this something more for high-end gamers and programmers?
Thanks for all your advice. I really appreciate it.
Posted by BaoQingTian (Member # 8775) on :
Get the 64-bit. It is backwards compatable with Windows XP 32-bit, although the operating system will be unable to take any real advantage of the 64-bit instructions.
In ~5 months I believe, Microsoft will be releasing Windows Vista, a 64 bit operating system that will definately use your processor. Also, if you are interested in Linux, they've had a 64 bit version out for some time now.
I would echo Adam and NOT get Windows xp-64. As he mentioned, there is a lot of hardware with no drivers for XP64. You can be darn sure they'll have drivers for Vista.
Dual-core or not, its up to you. I went single core because I doing a lot of gaming (and if I recall single cores did better at CPU-intensive applications). This may change in the future as OS start to take advantage of dual core technology. Regardless, I'm not to concerned about encoding audio while playing HL2.
Hope this helps.
Posted by Baron Samedi (Member # 9175) on :
Thanks both of you. That really helps. I think I'm going to make my purchase today.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Adam and BaoQingTian are right—normal 32-bit programs run just fine on 64-bit processors, though you don't get the advantage of 64 bits unless you have a 64-bit OS. Also, Windows Vista will not be solely 64-bit; there will be both 32- and 64-bit versions.
Also, those are both great motherboards, as I'm sure you already know. Good choice, and have fun building your system.
Posted by BaoQingTian (Member # 8775) on :
Well, in the words of Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton, "Don't take my word for it...." Tom's Hardware