New build -was thinking Vista -now XP 32-bit or 64-bit?

[Bad_Daddy]

Noob here....

My new system components arrive from NEWEGG today and the resulting system will be:

E8500 processor
ASUS P5Q PRO 775 P45 Motherboard
4G Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 DDR2 800 (2X2G)
Corsair 550 watt PS

These will go along with my existing:
2 X WD 750 GB SATA HD's
2 SATA optical drives (CD/DRV & DVD burner)
NVIDIA 8800GS Video card


I have been running windows XP SP3 and have been happy with it. But I was going to go with Vista on the new bulid (I can get it at a student discount) in order to have a 64-bit OS and have better access to memory. But this week's news has me convinced that I should should stick wiht XP until Windows7 comes out.

I do moderate gaming and lots of multitasking (many open windows, ITunes pumping to my home stereo, etc.)

So, here is are my questions:

-Is windows XP 64-bit even available anymore?
- If so, is it worth it to install the 64-bit version? (will the diferences even be noticable?)
- Any other words of wisdom?

 

[gamerk316]

Don't touch 64-bit XP! Theres almost no driver support for it. Almost nothing works right on it. 64-bit Vista is OK, but stay away from XP-64!!!

 

[Bad_Daddy]

I just realized that I already have a copy of XP 64-bit....the CD came with my student version of XP and I never really paid much attention back then.

So, I could use XP64 for absolutely free. (Vista would cost me $80)

Still not sure if I should go with either 64 bit platform.....maybe just hold out for windows7?

 

[br3nd064]

Seriously though, don't install xp x64. I've been using vista x64 for a while now and haven't had any problems with anything, including driver support.

 

[Bad_Daddy]

Thanks for the tips.

From what I have been reading today, for the kind of things I do, the performance payoff for XP64 might be barely noticable and Vista will actually be slower.

I also found out that my Adobe CS2 wont work at all in XP64 and it is not supported in Vista64. Replacing that suite would cost me $200, and I would have to pay $80 for Vista. I don't want to pay extra $280 just to give myself headaches. If I was going to blow that kind of cash, I'd be better off picking up a rockin' video card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398


It looks like another year or two of good ol' XP32........ I'll have to get my ya-ya's somehow else 'till a better version of windows comes out.

 

[Zoron]

What news have you read? What was the exact date of the article? Photoshop CS 2 works on Vista... even 64-bit Vista... I've had it running. Vista won't be slower than XP on the hardware you're planning on using.

It surprises me how many articles still use year-old, third-hand information as fact without even bothering to check anything for themselves. Yeah, there was a time when Vista wasn't so good... but then there was a time when XP wasn't so good either (or at least not as good as people believed it should have been).

 

[1Kratos1]

I am using 32bit XP and noticed that on system properties in the general tam there was my cpucore 2 duo E8300 @ 2.83Ghz 2.83Ghz, 3.50GB of RAM (because I have 4gb on 32bit). The second 2.83Ghz somethimes lower down to 1.93Ghz. Why is this happening?

 

[br3nd064]

It's probably speedstep. Check cpu-z and see if the multiplier drops to 6x when it's not doing anything.

 

[BeakerUK]

Don't touch 64-bit XP! Theres almost no driver support for it. Almost nothing works right on it. 64-bit Vista is OK, but stay away from XP-64!!!

Balls. That opinion belongs in 2005, when XP64 1st came out. I've been using it on my desktop machine for about 2 years, and apart from an old lexmark printer I've had no issues at all. Even the Samsung laser printer works perfectly. All the major vendors sorted out the XP64 support, even the Nostromo speedpad works without a hitch. The only time I've seen problems of sorts have been with REALLY old games, i.e. 16-bit ones.