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Switching from XP pro to XP 64


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Well, the title speaks for itself. My current specs are:

 

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300

Abit AB9 Pro motherboard

2GB DDR2 RAM

GeForce 7900 GTO 512MB

Onboard HD Audio, using DD 5.1 to an external decoder

80GB ATA HDD

250GB SATA HDD

 

 

I just bought some more ram (2GB for a mere 70 bucks, i just had to) and i wondered about the compability and performance gain by switching from 32-bit to 64-bit (Apparantly, XP pro doesn't use 4GB of RAM that well, thus the reason for an OS-upgrade). I still have some older games such as Fallout 2, Unreal 1, Unreal Tournament, SS 2, Deus Ex and PS:T, that i might play again in the future, but will those be playable at all? Or should i just stick with my regular 32-bit WinXP Pro?

 

Oh, and no Vista recommendations please. I will not touch that one until there's a service pack or two out.

Edited by Meshugger

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

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In my ever so humble opinion you would be better off sticking to XP Pro til you are ready or need to jump to Vista then get a 64 bit version of either Home Premium or Ultimate.

Murphy's Law of Computer Gaming: The listed minimum specifications written on the box by the publisher are not the minimum specifications of the game set by the developer.

 

@\NightandtheShape/@ - "Because you're a bizzare strange deranged human?"

Walsingham- "Sand - always rushing around, stirring up apathy."

Joseph Bulock - "Another headache, courtesy of Sand"

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Take this with a grain of salt, but I dont believe there are any 64-bit applications out yet for mainstream consumers. What that means, AFAIK, is you wont realize any performance gain but you will be future proof.

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OBSCVRVM PER OBSCVRIVS ET IGNOTVM PER IGNOTIVS

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OPVS ARTIFICEM PROBAT

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Alrighty then, it seems like i'm gonna stick with WinXP Pro for a while then. Nevermind having 3.25GB of memory, or whatever the explorer is going to show.

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

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Share on other sites

3079276 KB in my window.

 

taks

 

What happens to the extra 1GB then? Is it reserved for I/O-interrupts or is just sitting there, doing nothing?

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

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Share on other sites

Take this with a grain of salt, but I dont believe there are any 64-bit applications out yet for mainstream consumers. What that means, AFAIK, is you wont realize any performance gain but you will be future proof.

 

There are a few, but typically not the ones that pushes your computer enough to warrant the change.

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3079276 KB in my window.

 

taks

 

What happens to the extra 1GB then? Is it reserved for I/O-interrupts or is just sitting there, doing nothing?

i've read that winders actually uses it, though i cannot fathom why or how. it would seem to me that if the memory is being used by winders, than a similar amount must also be used even when you have less than 3 GB total. however, in such cases, winders reports the entire amount, which leads me to believe that either a) what i've read is hand-waving to throw suspicion off of a bug or b) when winders sees that you've gone that far with extra RAM, it chooses to use that in addition to its normal paging file, so you're still getting some gain.

 

the conspiracy theorist in me says "a," but i really don't know. either way, my system definitely runs fast now, but that's also a result of the E6600, 8800GTS and 7200.10 SATA drive (parallel read) as my system components.

 

taks

comrade taks... just because.

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3079276 KB in my window.

 

taks

 

What happens to the extra 1GB then? Is it reserved for I/O-interrupts or is just sitting there, doing nothing?

i've read that winders actually uses it, though i cannot fathom why or how. it would seem to me that if the memory is being used by winders, than a similar amount must also be used even when you have less than 3 GB total. however, in such cases, winders reports the entire amount, which leads me to believe that either a) what i've read is hand-waving to throw suspicion off of a bug or b) when winders sees that you've gone that far with extra RAM, it chooses to use that in addition to its normal paging file, so you're still getting some gain.

 

the conspiracy theorist in me says "a," but i really don't know. either way, my system definitely runs fast now, but that's also a result of the E6600, 8800GTS and 7200.10 SATA drive (parallel read) as my system components.

 

taks

 

Hehe, sounds like a definite 'a' :)

Edited by Meshugger

"Some men see things as they are and say why?"
"I dream things that never were and say why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man."
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 

"The amount of energy necessary to refute bull**** is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it."

- Some guy 

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btw, my dell system at the office, with 4 GB, reports about 3.3 GB. the only difference i can think of is the fact that it is doing two dual-channel kits, each with 2x1GB, but my home system has 2x2GB, dual-channel.

 

taks

comrade taks... just because.

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