Windows XP 64-bit. Needing answers / info [Archive]

View Full Version : Windows XP 64-bit. Needing answers / info

Moonraker™

08-22-2006, 06:04 AM

Hi guys,

I've got 4GB memory brought for my new rig. I know there are issues with XP Professional and memory addressing, but I have heard of people getting it working fine. Should it not be, then I'd like to know what are the pros and cons of 64-bit XP?

Also can anyone answer:

1) Do drivers from MOBO's / GPU's work fine? (I know NVidia do ones for x64 but are there any known issues etc.)
2) Would there be issues with any games? i.e. would say "BF2" run slower etc.
3) Are there issues with old games? By this I mean really old up to say 2003
4) What are other common problems with 64-bit?
5) Would it network as easy as XP does? as I have 6 PC's / Laptops through a router here!

And finally!!! - if I put 64-bit on my raptor and XP on my Barracuda (so I can flick bott devices to run two OS) there wouldn't be a conflict would there?

Basically. Would it be faster as well?

Sorry for the noobie questions, but I'm so used to XP now :D

Thanks again :banana:

Sanborn

08-22-2006, 07:06 AM

I think we are on the same page here moon, i asked like 1 or 2 of those questions in this thread (or atleast people answered them)

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111772

Moonraker™

08-22-2006, 07:50 AM

Just read that m8 and it didn't quite reach what i wanted to know.

I've got like 6 exact questions I'd like answering so I didn't want to take over your thread either.

Sanborn

08-22-2006, 08:23 AM

oh no its fine, I wasn't trying to say this was the same thread or anything. Just thought I would point it out incase anyone answered your stuff in my thread.

[XC] mysticmerlin

08-22-2006, 01:13 PM

Moonraker™

08-22-2006, 04:42 PM

There is a lot of programs I have installed/tried to install that will not work with 64. I remember Tomb Raider:Angle Of Darkness as an older one that wouldn't go but then it wouldn't for some darn reason it wouldn't on XP pro either. I have downloaded a lot of little helper apps that will not install. Blah blah blah. I have 2x1gig G.Skillz running with not prob's but that is all the memory I have ATM. GL with it. I wish I would have stayed with Pro for a while longer.

Thanks for that merlin. Really helpful. It's annoying that there are a fair few apps that won't work. I mean, I'm worried now that a lot of programs I'm using will have probs.

When you go to d/load stuff in x64, do you just choose "Windows XP" if there is no options for x64. Like say a driver for something. NVidia has 64-bit drivers, but if something didn't, is that the "default" to choose?

I'm really thinking I'm gonna have to get x64 as the 4GB GeIL's I have just won't happen in normal XP Pro.

Plus, I've now been reading that the EM64T makes the Conroe's native for 64-bit Windows and "You would get more performance usage from any E6 and X6 family within x64 > XP".

I will install XP Pro normal on my Seagate so it's there to use, but will put x64 on my Raptor.

alucasa

08-22-2006, 09:36 PM

1) Do drivers from MOBO's / GPU's work fine? (I know NVidia do ones for x64 but are there any known issues etc.)
2) Would there be issues with any games? i.e. would say "BF2" run slower etc.
3) Are there issues with old games? By this I mean really old up to say 2003
4) What are other common problems with 64-bit?
5) Would it network as easy as XP does? as I have 6 PC's / Laptops through a router here!

1. No issues at all. Nope, none at all. *Thinks again*, no, not that I've experienced any and been using XP64 for more than a year on 3 PCs now.

2. I barely play any games. The last game I played was Elder scroll 4 and it ran fine. I don't perform benchmarks on games and don't care whether I get slightly lower frame rates as long as it's playable. There is also another game I play often. It's a Japanese game called "Nobunaga no Yabo". It's a 32bit game and runs fine as well.

3. No 16bit programs are gonna work. (If that is what you are asking.)
I tried few old games from 1990s. About half of them worked.

4.Its incompatibility with Wifi PC cards and Printer/scanners. But they are generally workarounds for that. Other than that, nope. If you have old hardware (2 years old and older), those components may not have drivers for Xp64.

5. I have 6 PC in my network, connected by a Watchguard firebox X5W. 3 PCs are running on Xp64. Two are running on XP pro and one is running XP home. Every PC is able to share files/a scanner/printer and NAS.

Don't expect it to run faster though.

Hope that helps.

Edit : Recently tried a game called "DropTeam". It works fine on XP64.

Moonraker™

08-23-2006, 05:34 AM

clokker

08-23-2006, 05:53 AM

Thanks Alucasa. Really appreciated.

I'm thinking more towards this now. I was going to get an OEM version, but people say you can only install it once, even if your HDD was to crash!?!? - Is that true?

Not true at all.
I've installed x64 on my ever morphing PC several times without issue.

You can run 4GB of RAM by making the appropriate adjustments in BIOS ("remap memory hole" or somesuch) but due to constraints of the AMD memory controller (I'm assuming you have an AMD chip here) it won't run at 1T command rate.
The performance hit of 2T is supposed to be minimal, you can test for yourself and decide.

I'm not a gamer so I can't address those concerns but as to networking...x64 is based on the Server 2003 kernel and so it's networking capabilities are fine.

Drivers for all my hardware were no problem either.

You can dual boot (or more even...at one point I was running both versions of Vista Beta and both versions of XP Pro) without issue as well.

Can't say I saw any particular up or downside to using x64- if you have a special need that requires it, or if you just want to try it- then go ahead but I doubt you'll see much difference from regular XP Pro.

Moonraker™

08-23-2006, 07:10 AM

Not true at all.
I've installed x64 on my ever morphing PC several times without issue.

Do you have OEM? - You don't have to "activate" it do you? My m8 did that on his XP Home, we had to reinstall and it came up with some crap about it "this serial has been used previously"!!!

You can run 4GB of RAM by making the appropriate adjustments in BIOS ("remap memory hole" or somesuch) but due to constraints of the AMD memory controller (I'm assuming you have an AMD chip here) it won't run at 1T command rate.
The performance hit of 2T is supposed to be minimal, you can test for yourself and decide.

You mean you CAN run 4GB in Windows XP Pro (32-bit)? - I will be having a Conroe build on Asus P5B mobo (which says it supports 8GB memory), so there's no probs on that front.

But what's this "Remapping memory" thing?

As I say, I'll install XP 32-bit on my Seagate drive. If I can get it to see 4GB on there, then I won't get x64 and just mirror the that onto my WD Raptor 74GB (which will be the one I will use for OS be it x64 or if the 32-bit XP works on Seagate).

Can't say I saw any particular up or downside to using x64- if you have a special need that requires it, or if you just want to try it- then go ahead but I doubt you'll see much difference from regular XP Pro.

That's ace if you're saying that. But I've just googled 32-bit vs 64-bit Windows and lots of people say 32-bit programs run slow in x64. Is that true m8? - Obviously you have 1st hand experience here

clokker

08-23-2006, 08:12 PM

Do you have OEM? - You don't have to "activate" it do you? My m8 did that on his XP Home, we had to reinstall and it came up with some crap about it "this serial has been used previously"!!!
Yes, mine's OEM and no, it doesn't require activation.

You mean you CAN run 4GB in Windows XP Pro (32-bit)? - I will be having a Conroe build on Asus P5B mobo (which says it supports 8GB memory), so there's no probs on that front.
No, I don't believe it's possible with 32-bit Pro, only 64-bit.

But what's this "Remapping memory" thing?
I'm not an expert here- nor, oddly enough, do I play one on television.
Since I only run 2x1GB I've never had to deal directly with this issue.

As I say, I'll install XP 32-bit on my Seagate drive. If I can get it to see 4GB on there, then I won't get x64 and just mirror the that onto my WD Raptor 74GB (which will be the one I will use for OS be it x64 or if the 32-bit XP works on Seagate).

That's ace if you're saying that. But I've just googled 32-bit vs 64-bit Windows and lots of people say 32-bit programs run slow in x64. Is that true m8? - Obviously you have 1st hand experience here
Nothing that I ran was noticably slower although some programs (Aquamark3 comes to mind) refused to run at all.
I doubt my PC or it's usage could be considered normal, I tend to build 'em, tweak 'em and fiddle with the waterloops, then sell 'em off and start over.
I'm employed at a computer shop and work on computers all day so my personal home computers are really just toys.
You might find more relevant info here. (http://www.planetamd64.com/index.php?showforum=84)

alucasa

08-23-2006, 08:39 PM

There is no XP64 retail version. All is OEM and no XP64 requires activation nor does it have any kind of "protection", which I love personally. I can change hardwares as much as I wish to and it doesn't trigger "Activation" since there is none.

As for 4gb+ memory, I believe it can be only done with XP64. Of course, other OS can do that, too. But we are talking about Windows XP.

In order to support 4gb+ memory, OS has to support it & hardware has to support it as well.

As for 32bit running slow in 64bit, perhaps. But you won't notice. It may run slower, but not "that" slower for us to notice.

Hell, if rest of PCs at home has either AMD64 or EMT64, they'd all be running xp64.

Do you have OEM? - You don't have to "activate" it do you? My m8 did that on his XP Home, we had to reinstall and it came up with some crap about it "this serial has been used previously"!!!

You mean you CAN run 4GB in Windows XP Pro (32-bit)? - I will be having a Conroe build on Asus P5B mobo (which says it supports 8GB memory), so there's no probs on that front.

But what's this "Remapping memory" thing?

As I say, I'll install XP 32-bit on my Seagate drive. If I can get it to see 4GB on there, then I won't get x64 and just mirror the that onto my WD Raptor 74GB (which will be the one I will use for OS be it x64 or if the 32-bit XP works on Seagate).

That's ace if you're saying that. But I've just googled 32-bit vs 64-bit Windows and lots of people say 32-bit programs run slow in x64. Is that true m8? - Obviously you have 1st hand experience here