Is Windows XP 64 worth the upgrade??

[mean6]

Hey guys, I am going to be installing my Expert board this weekend, and was thinking about trying out windows xp 64 bit, but just wanted to know if everything is going to work on it now. I am able to find drivers for all of my hardware, but I am curious as to how it will work with apps and games. Have all the bugs been worked out yet? Any comments would be appreciated.

[shatteredsteel]

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/showthread...ghlight=Windows

 

Search is your friend...

 

I'm running it, and it works just fine, just be prepared to dl alot of drivers. (Seeing as they rarely come with the product.

[Angry_Games]

no

 

forget XP-64

 

there's no reason for it, and you'll find a lot of things still don't work properly and/or the driver support is weak because everyone is putting resources into teh Vista drivers

 

stick with 32-bit XP (I mean, hey, 20,000+ of us can't be wrong can we?) until Vista is mature (ie: SP1 is released AND THEN all the software that gets broken from SP1 gets fixed to work with Vista + SP1)

[red930]

If you already have x64 it'll work fine, I'v eused it on many boards including the Expert.

 

But yeah...it provides no benefit really so theirs no reason to switch to it now.

[Voltes-5]

Its a PIA if you ask me. CPDMF helped me out a bit but it was not worth all the trouble. I tried for my 4GB Ballistix but did not see much of a performance increase on my gaming rig. It helped me a lot on my video editing though, cut the time in half.

[Angry_Games]

problem with me is, I've tried it probably 6 different times...with all the normal software I use, and it always craps out in some stupid way (ie not supported, won't work properly, crashes, etc)

 

I remember installing Vista 64-bit probably beta2 (the first huge public beta) and even with hardly any real support of anything except ATI video drivers, it outperformed XP-64 in terms of compatibility by a longshot

 

 

 

here's the difference between guys like me and guys like Voltes or technodan:

 

the software I use all day everyday just doesn't like XP-64 or wouldn't even work in XP-64

 

the software they used (or use still) all day everyday...works just fine.

 

This is the major reason you will see such a huge difference in opinion as to whether XP-64 is worthy or a huge pile of . (pos in my book lol).

 

 

But these days, the overriding decision to avoid it altogether has zero to do with compatibility, and everything to do with what I mentioned earlier: Windows Vista

 

 

you worry you need DX10 and 4GB of RAM?

 

why, at the moment, when nothing you do on a consumer board requires either DX10 or 4GB RAM? (if you doing stuff that requires 4GB of RAM, you are a fool for not using a server board with an Opteron or Xeon as that is a real 'workstation' that is used in mission-critical environments)

 

but 4GB RAM doesn't work on my 32-bit XP!

 

(see above about how you don't need 4GB of RAM for anything, and if you do, you are in the wrong class of computer)

 

 

32-bit just doesn't do it fast enough!

 

uh...ok. I still use 32-bit Windows XP 100% of the time...and my work is plenty fast. I might shave off 3 minutes in a video render by using 64-bit, but that is assuming the particular render program you use works in 64-bit, not to mention that if you doing video rendering you'll normally have a fun time getting RAID drivers and all of the other drivers not only working but not crapping out or crashing on ya.

 

But here again...if you are doing something that REQUIRES 64-bit, you are in the wrong class of computing. You need to look at a specialized version of 64-bit Linux for your work, or a specialized 64-bit Windows with Opteron/Xeon platform.

 

And how many corporate/mission-critical setups have switched to Windows XP-64?

 

not a single one that I know of.

 

oh, many many use 64-bit platforms...but those as far as I know are all exclusively Linux 64-bit platforms.

 

 

Why?

 

Because 64-bit Windows XP was never properly implemented (it was just 32-bit XP with 64-bit extensions written over the top...sorta like a second paint job covering an old one on a house), and because Windows XP 64-bit was never properly supported by hardware nor software companies.

 

Nvidia, ATI, Intel...they all did a pretty decent job, but nothing like the work they are putting into 64-bit Windows Vista.

 

Software companies? *laughs*

 

all software is 32-bit. There are some software titles that are 64-bit, but...I can't even think of one right off the bat.

 

All your games are 32-bit still. They'll run in 64-bit, but almost always in 32-bit emulation mode.

 

FarCry & HL2!

 

hah! I DID think of some 64-bit software!

 

 

FarCry had a 64-bit patch...so did HL2 as far as I know...

 

so it sorta means zero really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, the main reason to stick with 32-bit is all that I described above...but mostly because of Windows Vista.

 

Vista64 will be 64 done right.

 

Hey, maybe not right away, but you know...by Service Pack 1 it will be pretty good I bet....well...about 90 days after Service Pack 1 I mean, which is usually how long it takes all software that worked under pre-Service Pack to be patched/repaired to work after you install a Service Pack.

 

And no OS I ever used was worth a crap before a Service Pack.

 

98 wasn't (sucked until 98SE, which was akin to a Service Pack for that OS)

2000 wasn't (took until about SP4 I think, but I gave up after SP2 and went back to 98SE/Millenium)

XP sucked butt until SP1 (er....until after SP1 and all the software was patched and working in SP1)

 

but then again, those are just my personal feelings.

 

I wouldn't touch XP-64 for free (heh, funny, since I have free 5-license volume because of my job..and I hate it and won't install it other than to test something...or about once a month I get the bug thinking I REALLY want it and install it and as soon as I start putting anti-virus, office, sony vegas, and all my lil programs like teamspeak, skype, daemon tools, all the drivers, etc....it goes to hell and I fight it and get very very angry and finally wipe all the drives and throw the damn disk back into a drawer and ignore it for another month)

 

but

 

hey...that's just me ;')

 

If you got it, and it works, then shoot for the moon because angry is a stupid jerk

[red930]

the software I use all day everyday just doesn't like XP-64 or wouldn't even work in XP-64

 

the software they used (or use still) all day everyday...works just fine.

 

Very much agreed.

 

I don't do a damn thing on this computer really so it works fine for me for the most part. If you have some critical software you have to run though you better make damn sure its compatible before you try running it, otherwise you're gonna be really upset.

[mean6]

thanks for the responses guys, and thanks for the very in depth reason not to switch Happy_Games, it looks like you steered me away. I think I will just stick with the 32 bit for now, and put my effort into getting this expert board working and stable. Wish me luck!

[The_Shadow]

I've been using XP Pro-64 for awhile, and yes there are a lack of drivers for several things, also as posted above many older programs will not work under the XP Pro-64 enviroment.

 

Video and DVD / Cd burns have been great so far even multitasking.

 

I think I will set up Windows 2000 Pro on another HDD to run some of the older programs I still need, but curently use on another system.