Need Expert advice on 32bit OS vs 64bit OS

[ItalianDDog]

Greetings all... I havent been playing much lately because Ive been busy with work and the wife.. anyway... Im in the process of gathering hardware for a new computer I will be building. I wil be using an AMD64.. and was thinking of going with windows xp pro x64. Since most companies have the 64 bit drivers now. And I hear nothing but good things when it comes to gaming...  Anyway.. I was wondering if any1 had any opinions... or if I ran the 64 bit OS if it would conflict in anyway with layo's hakpaks etc etc...  or the game itself? the game is quite old. Thanks in advance.

[SuperMunch]

Heya!

I have an AMD64 also and it works great with no conflicts nor problems.

I run it under Win x64 sometimes, usually when I forget to dual boot, and it works just fine on the x64 version of Windows.

As for other games, I've had a mix successes and misses - mostly with the more modern games, Civ 4 nor HL2 ran at first but after a few Windows updates and NVidia updates, they're working right - not to mention that HL2 now has a native 64-bit engine (I think, long time since I haven't played).

If I may, install dual boot on your machine just to be safe when it comes to driver and application selection.  2x 10Gb partitions for Win XP and Win XP x64 and a massive one for the shared files (such as NWN).  With the price of today's HDDs, allocating 10Gb to a partition that you don't usually use isn't that big a deal if you're shelling out money for a mid-to-high end x64 system.

[ItalianDDog]

interesting.. yea i was thinking of a dual boot with two separate hard drives...  it seems 64 bit is the wave of the future. Great possibilities... thanks for the help.

[Aurhinius]

64bit Os's are only of value if you intend to make use of more than 4 gig of ram.  As most people don't use that much your probably wasting your time especially with windows Vista coming out in Jan 2007.  The most important thing right now would be to make sure you have a DX10 compatible graphics card assuming you want to make use of the new vista interface.

[Deacon]

Do not get Vista right now...it's bound to be buggy.  Wait a while for the inevitable service pack to be released.

As far as x64 goes, you would be holding your PC back if you didn't use it.  I'm going to upgrade soon to get the full potential of my CPU.  I'm not sure about the 4 GB of RAM thing, but I don't see why you wouldn't get 64 bit since it is about the same price as the 32 bit.

[OneST8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit

Spend your money on the latest and greatest video card, then with the money leftover buy the rest of the computer. If the money leftover is enough for the 64bit proc, why not get it but just make sure you've got over 1G of RAM and a good enough motherboard for your brand new uber shiney video card that probably has a fan the size of your foot and requires it's own power supply.

64bit is virtually meaningless for the average user. Sure, get it 'cause that's the trend but don't get it thinking your sliced bread will be pre-buttered and toasted for you before you even wake up.

[ItalianDDog]

I really appreciate the input guys.  Think Ive decided to go with an ASUS motherboard SLI capable AMD socket 939 .... processor im undecided.. either an AMD64 X2 or an AMD 3500+ or 4000 etc...  2 gb ram .. (mb supports 4) 2 sata hard drives for dual boot with 32bit and 64 bit.. video card.. i was leaning towards a 256 mb geforce 7800.. overclocked and with 12 pixel pipelines..  this card is sufficient for any game on the market. Waste of money for anything more being core clocks and memory clocks are still all around the same speed. I am not going to SLI two video cards yet b/c that is also a waste of money I feel.  Anyway thought Id share the build in mind incase any1 had any input. Thx Guys!


by the way OneST8 I appreciate the link

[ItalianDDog]

Alright guys .... one more question. Regarding SLI.  This computer Im building.. the motherboard Ive chosen is SLI ready.. is it worth it to use say two 256mb Geforce 7600s?  or just one? How big of a difference would it make in games like call of duty2 online or FEAR ?  and If I do this does my power supply have to be "special" or is any 500 - 600 W ok?  Anyway thanks in advance.

[Lord of the Forest]

Well, can only say something about the powersupply here since I've never worked with SLI before ... sometimes there are huge differences between powersupplies ... my old 350W has more power than my dad's 500 W Watt isn't the only thing what counts, also Ampere