64 bit processors

[Tony Talmage]

This may be a stupid question, but I wanted to be a little better informed
before making a purchase decision... if I were to buy a 64-bit processor
(such as AMD Athlon 64 3400+), could I still run standard 32-bit WinXP? I'm
fairly sure there is a 64-bit version of Windows, but is it required? The
way I see it, in my uninformed current state, is that it's like a graphics
card: it has the ability to perform up to its memory limits, but also has
the ability to operate without using its full potential. Does this
hypothesis hold for procs?

--
Tony Talmage
Web Developer
Graphic Education Corporation
http://www.graphiced.com
(888) 354-6600

 

[David Candy]

Yes. But it won't run many programs. EG Dos and Win 16. Plus you're wasting your money. Plus people will only be writing things like web servers to run on it. Not things like Word Processors or other user type apps.

 

[purplehaz]

There is no 64 bit version of windows xp for AMD processor yet. Only for
intel itanium 64 bit processors and that only comes pre-installed right
now(no retail version yet). So right now unless you buy a pre-built intel
system with windows pre-installed, its really pointless, to build your own
64bit machine just yet. I would wait a year or so.

 

[Gary Tait]

This may be a stupid question, but I wanted to be a little better informed
before making a purchase decision... if I were to buy a 64-bit processor
(such as AMD Athlon 64 3400+), could I still run standard 32-bit WinXP? I'm
fairly sure there is a 64-bit version of Windows, but is it required? The
way I see it, in my uninformed current state, is that it's like a graphics
card: it has the ability to perform up to its memory limits, but also has
the ability to operate without using its full potential. Does this
hypothesis hold for procs?

AFAIK, AMD Athlon 64 is backwards compatible with 32 bit OSes and
apps, so it will run normal XP. Intel's 64 bit CPU does not, and
requires a 64 bit XP OS, which exists for that processor. They are
working on porting XP-64 for AMD's 64 bit offering.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

AMD 64 processor will run WIndows XP 32 bit. The 64 bit version for the AMD
64s will be out later this year (time ??????).

Y.

 

[Richard Urban]

But all reports seem to indicate that running Windows XP (32 bit) on an
Athlon 64, along with 32 bit applications give most computers a 15-25% speed
increase. Now, the question really is, Do You Need It?

--
Regards

Richard Urban
aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

*****************************

 

[CS]

But all reports seem to indicate that running Windows XP (32 bit) on an
Athlon 64, along with 32 bit applications give most computers a 15-25% speed
increase. Now, the question really is, Do You Need It?

Would you mind posting the "all reports" or are you just spreading
BS?

 

[Richard Urban]

Look to Tom's Hardware, Anandtech etc. The benchmarks seem to show that the
Athlon 64 bit processors run Windows XP 32 bit (and quite a few
applications) better than the 32 bit processors. Many gaming sites are now
calling it the consummate gaming rig (and the 64 bit version of Windows and
games are not even released yet). And this is on a processor running at 2.0
gig (I believe - actual speed)!

As to all reports. I am sure that there may be some that indicate otherwise
(Intel does sponsor their own tests), but the sites I frequent say no.

--
Regards

Richard Urban
aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

*****************************

 

[CS]

Look to Tom's Hardware, Anandtech etc. The benchmarks seem to show that the
Athlon 64 bit processors run Windows XP 32 bit (and quite a few
applications) better than the 32 bit processors. Many gaming sites are now
calling it the consummate gaming rig (and the 64 bit version of Windows and
games are not even released yet). And this is on a processor running at 2.0
gig (I believe - actual speed)!

As to all reports. I am sure that there may be some that indicate otherwise
(Intel does sponsor their own tests), but the sites I frequent say no.

OK, thanks. If Tom says so, It must be true.

 

[purplehaz]

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

Look to Tom's Hardware, Anandtech etc. The benchmarks seem to show that the
Athlon 64 bit processors run Windows XP 32 bit (and quite a few
applications) better than the 32 bit processors. Many gaming sites are now
calling it the consummate gaming rig (and the 64 bit version of Windows and
games are not even released yet). And this is on a processor running at 2.0
gig (I believe - actual speed)!

As to all reports. I am sure that there may be some that indicate otherwise
(Intel does sponsor their own tests), but the sites I frequent say no.

--
Regards

Richard Urban
aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

*****************************

 

[Alex Nichol]

This may be a stupid question, but I wanted to be a little better informed
before making a purchase decision... if I were to buy a 64-bit processor
(such as AMD Athlon 64 3400+), could I still run standard 32-bit WinXP? I'm
fairly sure there is a 64-bit version of Windows, but is it required?

There are three types of 64 bit CPUs around.

Two - Intel Itanium and AMD Opteron are purely 64 bit, needing a 64 bit
OS, and have different code sets: there is a Windows for Itaniums, and
one for the Opterons is in beta. They are versions aimed at 'server'
purposes

AMD also have the Athlon 64 3200+/3400+ and FX which have a subset 32
bit code set as well. These will run XP: presumably will run the 64 bit
version for AMD when it comes out, but I don't know what if anything is
being done about any 64 bit 'client' system more like regular XP

 

[James Van Artsdalen]

The Opteron works fine with a 32-bit OS. My dual Opteron 244 system
runs Windows 2000 in SMP mode without problem. Likewise ordinary
32-bit x86 FreeBSD runs with dual processors without incident.

Intel's Itanic is pretty much confined to a 64-bit OS since the
hardware is so poor at running 32-bit and because Intel/Microsoft
keeps pushing non-standard EFI ("DOS in ROM"). But the Opterons are
excellent at 32-bit code - faster than Intel's current offerings - and
the system vendors are using standard platforms for Opteron that
anything can work with.