Stick with XP pro 32bit or move to vista 64 bit

[[t..o..m]]

Hi guys

Need to make a decision.

Currently running xp pro 32bit with tons of games and junk installed on it, all working fine.

I am just about to move up to 4GB of RAM for gaming purposes and my question is should I move to vista 64bit to recognise the total 4GB and perhaps get into some direct 10 gaming? Or should I just stick with xp pro 32bit and have everything running fine just with a little less memory?

In other words is it worth the hassle of reinstalling OS and games for benefits of vista 64bit?

Money is no object so don't factor that into your decision.

Thanks

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

I'd say go for the upgrade. XP isn't "the OS" anymore, Vista has evolved and is not the OS you complained about back when it came out. Vista is pretty good now, definitely worth the upgrade from XP (maybe not monetarily, if you're looking to BUY a copy of Vista, not worth it yet, but if you already have a copy...or *ahem* "have" a copy, then yeah, use it).

 

[Jayce]

I run 32 bit XP Pro along with Ubuntu 64 bit, and I have 4gb of RAM. XP flies so fricken fast with 3gb of RAM I don't sit there and ever think "aww, man, I have another gig there I aint using."

I personally haven't used Vista in months... I took it off my laptop after I decided I wanted to be a happier person with less frustration. But that was before SP1, and since then a lot of people have spoke decently about Vista. I plan to put Vista back on my laptop, just so I'm familiar with it in case people ask me to troubleshoot something.

I think there are more important questions to ask yourself here instead of basing your decision off of the desire to utilize 4gb of RAM.

- Do you NEED Direct X10? If so, case closed. Get Vista.

- Are 64 bit Vista drivers available for all of your hardware? If not, well you're kind of stuck, aren't you?

 

[[t..o..m]]

Thanks for the quick reply's guy's.

I'll check to see if all my hardware has support for the 64 bit OS, (which they should) and will probably upgrade after that.

Since SP1 for vista I've been hearing good things about it so that's why I'm thinking of doing the upgrade. I've done the whole duel boot thing before (twice) and it never works well for me (too much work involved looking after both OS's). Im a one OS man lol

 

[enigm@tic]

What do you guys think of server 08?
My friend uses it instead of vista because on idle vista used about a gig of ram to just look pretty while server 08 used much less and has the same interface.

 

[KSoD]

Server 08 Doesnt have the same interface by default. You have to install many things to get it working. Also Vista does NOT use 1GB of RAM on idle. I have my laptop that uses 500MB with Windows Mail, Aero, Opera and the sidebar on.

Just be warned. Server 08 is a SERVER OS. Not a desktop. So first the Anit-Virus will have to be a Server AV which none are free. 2nd not all applications will work nor all games. It may have Vista's Kernel but it is not built like Vista.

 

[alehkcis]

mak how did you make it use only 500mb im just new to vista so i have no ideas on how to tweak it, i have 4gb of ram and it says in the monitor that it uses 35%of my physical memory that is in idle state.

 

[KSoD]

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Service Configurations by Black Viper

This helped. Along with my personal knowledge.

 

[alehkcis]

i have tried that already but i dont think it gave me that very good effect well 35% of 4gb is a lot of memory being hogged by vista that is more than 1gb , i dont think there is any spyware or virus coz this is only around 5 days installed.id be happy if i can see 20% or less of RAM usage in idle state.

 

[Jayce]

Also Vista does NOT use 1GB of RAM on idle.

You're right. It uses 1.3gb idle.

At least, my laptop does, with nothing running and everything disabled on startup.