OS for multi-core support...

[Don]

I'm toying with the idea of a PC upgrade. Looking at a duo or quad core. Not sold on Vista yet so I want to stick with XP (especially since I have a licensed copy of XP Pro and not Vista). However I heard that Vista is architected better for multi core support. Also I think the new cores are 64-bit so am I better off with 64-bit version of the OS?

Thanks!

 

[WoodPeckr]

I'm not sure if this is correct but it seems if you get a 64 bit OS it has to run on a 64 bit equiped PC to take full advantage of that OS. Then you have to use 64 bit apps to take full advantage of that.

Getting 64 bit drivers used to be a big problem but this is supposedly getting better. It seems the biggest lag is software written to fully utilize dual and quad core capability.

 

[kidd_29]

Actually I was facing the same problem what I ended up doing was buying the 64bit cpu to take advantage of the memmory that they can use within windows vista. It is true that some applications you will find problems with and you will not be able to use them. Personally Vista is a cpu and memory hog especially if you are using the ultimate version as your media pc.

 

[Don]

WoodPeckr - Right. I will get that 64-bit PC.... it's just what OS to get. To be honest I'd rather go with XP 32-bit since I own a copy (I plan on buying a bare bone system with no OS included). I guess I am thinking of the future.... when more apps are 64-bit, I can easily take advantage of it right away vs having to upgrade my OS, etc...

 

[WoodPeckr]

Was talking with one of the Geek Squad techies at Best Buy who claimes he loves his new AMD 64 bit PC with 64 bit Vista with 6GB RAM. He claimed it boots up in 15-20 seconds and he said he hasn't had that much trouble getting 64 bit drivers as in the past.

 

[Don]

hmmm... tempting... I guess my only fear is potential issues with my existing software currently running on 32 bit XP to running on 64 bit Vista

 

[Master_Bates]

I just upgraded my computer and went with 64 bit vista.... I haven't had any problems with drivers.... and all of my software works.... 32bit apps will work on a 64 bit os....

some advantages with 64bit os is that it allows you to have more than 3gb of ram... it will actually use less ram to run the same amount of programs... and 64 bit apps will run significantly faster....

 

[Sexy_Dave]

.... 32bit apps will work on a 64 bit os........

I think it is better to say SOME 32-bit apps will work. I recently upgraded to the E8400 dual core cpu and 4 gigs of RAM running Vista 64-bit and I have found that there are still some apps that will not work...eg Partition Magic...but the number of times I get the message telling me that a particular app is incompatible is not really significant or even that annoying really, I just go and find an alternative app that DOES work...lol

Overall though I am pleased with the Vista 64-bit, I like the boost in RAM I get and can go as high as 8 GB if I want. I have noticed that at idle Vista is not a drain on CPU however it does use approx. 1 to 1.2 GB of RAM.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Fwiw

Thought of passing this info on from another tech board:

As for 32-bit versus 64-bit, it really depends on how you use your computer. Not many consumer applications take full advantage of 64-bit computing at this point, and some software is not currently available for 64-bit systems, particularly some web browser plugins. If you're going to use the computer for general computing (i.e. web browsing, word processing and other office uses, etc.), you might therefore consider installing the 32-bit version, since more software will be compatible with your system. On the other hand, a 64-bit system will provide better performance for tasks like compiling programs or encoding audio and video, so if you're a programmer or work with multimedia, you definitely want to go with a 64-bit system.