Buying a Dell with Vista

[Paula Sinclair]

I am just about ready to buy new Dell desktop but have seen a few comments on
their chat room about issues with the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.

First, does Vista Premium actually come in a 64 bit version? If so, how will
I know that is what Dell is installing?

Second - I am looking at an Intel Quad Core processor (6600). Will this be
compatible with Vista Premium?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Mick Murphy]

Home Premium comes in 64bit Version.
You have to ask for 64bit version, as 32bit version is their default sale
version.
When you get it, click on Start>Right-click Computer>Properties>Vista
Version, CPU, RAM info.

 

[Dustin Harper]

Yes, Home Premium can be 64 Bit. I believe that Dell installs the 32 bit
version by default, unless you ask otherwise. The Quad Core CPU is
compatible and is very good with Vista.

 

[Bob Campbell]

I am just about ready to buy new Dell desktop but have seen a few comments
on
their chat room about issues with the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.

First, does Vista Premium actually come in a 64 bit version? If so, how
will
I know that is what Dell is installing?

Second - I am looking at an Intel Quad Core processor (6600). Will this be
compatible with Vista Premium?

The Q6600 is perfectly fine with Vista 64 - that's what I am using right
now. Unless you have an old parallel port scanner or something that might
not have a 64 bit driver, there is no reason to not use Vista 64. All 32
bit applications will run just fine, and recent hardware will have a 64 bit
driver. Generally, if there is an official, signed 32 bit driver there
will be a 64 bit driver. Even my 10 year old HP Laserjet 4+ has a 64 bit
driver.

There is no reason to get a quad core system that can handle 8 GB of RAM and
then cripple it with a 32 bit version of Vista.

 

[Bob Knowlden]

Vista Home Premium comes in an X64 version. The system I write this on is
using it.

It also has a Q6600 CPU. (All 4 cores are reported in Device Manager.)

Dell certainly sells workstation machines ("Precision" series) with Vista
X64 installed, but the ones that I saw on their web page offer Business or
Ultimate. I don't know whether they sell any configurations with Home
Premium X64. You may not want a Precision series machine; they are
relatively expensive.

There may be little point in getting a 64 bit version of Vista unless you
intend to use 4 GB of RAM or more. (I have never seen a 32 bit desktop
version of Windows report more than 3.25 GB, due to addressing limitations.)
I can't name any significant 64 bit applications. (I don't do finite element
modeling, or other serious memory-hungry work.) On the plus side, regular 32
bit applications seem to run well under Vista X64. Before going to Vista, I
waited until the promised Vista X64 drivers were available for my
peripherals.

I suggest that you contact Dell directly.

I obtained the 64 bit installation CD from Microsoft for free, with $10 S&H.
I qualified for it using an upgrade version of Home Premium.

(I regret having not spent the extra money on a full version. The
limitations Microsoft engineered into the Upgrade version are much more
restrictive than they were under XP.)


Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[Paula Sinclair]

Just wanted to say thanks to the four gentlemen who answered my questions so
quickly and thoroughly. I appreciate your brain cells!!