64bit cpu help

bobbytomorow

I know this seems like a dumb question, but its really been bugging me. I know that in order to take of advantage of a 64bit cpu in a windows enviroment you need a 64bit edition of xp, what my question is, I only have win xp 32bit addition, so does my 64bit cpu offer me no improvements? And also for gaming, do I need win xp 64bit edition to take advantage of my 64bit cpu when it comes to gaming? Or does that depend on the game itself and have nothing to do with windows?

Thanks in advance

Judas

This is how it goes:


windows xp 32bit = 32bit only games/programs/advantages = meaning you get no x64 advantages whatsoever really. Your running pure 32bit

Windows XP x64 = 64/32 bit games/programs/advantages = meaning you get both x64 and 32bit advantages, your running pure x64 with 32bit support as well.

Long story short, you NEED x64 for anything at all that is x64.

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bobbytomorow

Ok thanks. So unless I get win xp 64, I'm not going to get any performance advantages whatsoever, gaming or otherwise. Alright, guess I'll get win xp 64.

Thanks again

Judas

np

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BlueMak

Soooo, there aren't any complication from going to xp64 in terms of programs/games? I am guessing there are 64bit drivers for my system but I am more worried about the software.

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Judas

There are plenty of x64 software solutions available right now that you can take advantage of.

Alot of games are now making available, patches and or alternative exe files in which are purely x64 native mode.

One of which is UT2004's x64 support which produces some very very nice performance improvements recently.

There are Windows Media Encoders and VirtualDub which have x64 variations that increase Decoding/Encoding speeds a fair bit.

There are many programs out there, the thing is, i'd say 95% of the programs you load up, are going to work just as good or better on x64 xp then on the xp pro 32bit version of windows. And when x64 support is available, you get that much more outa it.

x64 isn't for everyone, i mean there are some games that use a very stupid method of preventing someone from pirating a game in which breaks loading under a x64 platform due to attempting to load a 32bit driver into the OS (which x64 will refuse straight away). You might not even be aware of these games or programs that do this without you knowing it and x64 will pretty much tell you.

Reguardless, x64 is becoming more and more widely supported everyday.

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H3X4D3C1M4L

What about NX support? I think only AMD64/EMT64 chips support NX which works in 32 bit mode, so the advantage there is small but existant

Matth

One thing for certain, 64 bit is not going to double the performance from 32 bit (well ok, in a few cases, if the task has an inherent degree of "64 bitness"). At the moment, 64 bit does pose compatibility issues and 32 bit apps / 64 bit OS has more disadvantages than advantages.

I have a 64 bit CPU, and while I would choose a 64 bit Linux distro (everything compiled for 64), I'm in no hurry to go 64 for windows, not least of which being that it would cost real money for mostly theoretical advantages, such as the ability to manage more memory than can fit in my current motherboard.

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Mary had a little lamb,
Her father shot it dead
Now Mary takes her lamb to school,
Between two crusts of bread

Judas

I've yet to run into any concerning 64bit/ 32bit program issues.

If anything, i've seen nothing but improvements on my machine.

Right now, i would highly recommend x64 over xp pro 32bit.

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