OK, I’m feeling kind of dumb right now, but I bought a new computer and about half of it came today (I expect the other half Monday). Anyway, I got an Athlon 64 and it didn’t occur to me (until just a few minutes ago) that standard winXP does not support 64 bit processing.
Until XP 64 comes out (or is it out???), should I just run plain old WinXP? How much of a performance hit am I taking not running a 64Bit OS?
Relative to other CPUs running on 32-bit operating systems, you’re not taking any performance hit. The Athlon 64 runs very well in 32-bit mode, and its on-die memory controller is a big advantage.
Windows XP 64-bit beta version is avaialable as a free download, but driver support is spotty. But A64’s run stock Windows XP just fine. When XP/64 ships, you can just upgrade to that.
So, now that it’s shipping, how is driver support? Do I need to get new 64-bit drivers for everything if I upgrade? And if so, are they available? Is it worth doing?
In the near to mid-term future, due to driver support, it’s only worth doing on a specifically built system for application tasks where you want to have more than 4 gigs of RAM.
Short answer, no.
Windows XP 64 is great! Seriously. I got it up and running after finally finding the SATA/RAID drivers at htttp://www.planetamd64.com/ :).
The Ethernet drivers were built-in to Windows (even though they didn’t detect it during install for some reason), the ATI drivers I found at https://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=1156
The Audigy drivers I found at http://preview.creativelabs.com/default.aspx
I tried playing a couple of games and they work too, without a problem. I’m also running it in RAID 1 to attest to the stability so far. My only beef is that so far I couldn’t find any virtual CD apps (Daemon tools and Alcohol 120% don’t yet have win64 versions).
I think there is Norton Anti-Virus for XP64 too, but you have to use the Win2003 version for it, since the regular WinXP version is 32-bit.
p.s. you can get it from MSDN :)
Too lazy to look around for it - is the 64bit windows version windows home, pro or both?
I think it’s only Pro (probably due to the sort of user who’d actually want
that sort of Windows variant). Dig around the MS homepages for info on
the beta. Even though it might be unavailable, there should be a page
bragging about how good it is ;)
XP 64-bit Edition is a Pro version.
It’s only available as an OEM product now, though many mail order dealers will sell OEM discs.
I’ve played with it and it rocks, but personally I’m going to hold off until my next hardware upgrade before I go 64-bit, in order to let driver and compatibility issues iron themselves out. It really takes 64-bit-compiled apps to really get the most from a 64-bit OS.
My understanding is that one doesn’t need to run WinXP64 to get 64-bit gaming on though, right? I have an AMD64 and if I grab the FarCry 64-bit patch (for example), it still does 64-bit calcs in game, yeah? Or is that a waste of time until the OS layer itself is 64-bit?
You’ll need the 64-bit version of the O/S.
When I tried the 64 bit beta, I couldn’t get Silent Hunter 3 to install. Anyone have any success with that?
SH3 uses Starforce protection, which uses device drivers for its protection.
Win XP 64-bit Edition requires 64-bit drivers.
I assume that Starforce only includes 32-bit drivers in its protection scheme.
Another reason to hate Starforce.
I feel a strange combination of sorrow for those who have starforced games and exultation at being proved right. This sort of problem is exactly the reason that copy protection shouldn’t muck about at the driver level.
Sorry for the Hrose style itoldyaso fit, but now that my theory about Starforce has been proven right my resolve to never buy a starforced game has only gotten more adamant.
Starforce is evil.