[AvvY]

I just installed Windows XP x64 along side my 32bit install and I am quite impressed. Apart from a couple of minor driver issues, most of my drivers were already included in the x64 package including my nForce 3 drivers (so much for downloading them in preparation ).

Also a couple of programs aren't compadible, but not to worry, I was able to find others to do the job (for example AVG free edition needed to change to Avast!). Also 64bit versions of programs run very fast such as Firefox.

Overall I think it is a very nice OS and provided I can get a few minor driver/compadibility issues resolved, I could even use it full time. I am using it at the moment for testing/experimenting hence dual booting. But it is very nice, but I wouldn't recomend anyone running 32bit XP to upgrade. Wait for the big bad long awaited bloated and resource hungry Vista if you want 64bit support. I was getting impatient having an AMD64 chip for the past 12 months and not taking full advantage. I had tried 64bit linux earlier this year but I am still a Windows man at heart.

Overall, even though it isn't as user friendly as 32bit (re: drivers/program compadibilty) it is a nice OS and I haven't had one crash yet. And I have to say things seem to run a bit faster than 32bit.

Edit:: For any one else who is brave or stupid enough to invest in x64 WinXP checkout http://www.3dvelocity.com/articles/w...64softlist.htm for program compadibility. Most stuff seems to run fine, but some still have issues.

[Skivvywaver]

I have in installed also. I hardly ever boot into it myself. I just don't like it as much as XP for some of the reasons you already stated plus it sucks for gaming.

There seems to be a hit when running a program in the WOW emulation mode and in a game that hit really shows. I don't think that is going to go away anytime soon.

It is great for surfing the web on my machine. The drivers for my nic seem to be better than the XP version. I am not ready to toss XP pro yet either. I agree that Vista may be a better choice "if" they do something to speed up WOW. All of my software is 32 bit. I tried the 64 bit Farcry just for S&G. Nothing spectacular there either.

I'll be staying with XP as the main OS for at least a few years.

[AvvY]

Yay, I got my first "blue screen of death" today. First one, but, BUT, I think that was my fault. I was trying to do a million things at once and I think I overloaded it all and it crashed. No biggie even though it was while I was installing several applications and I had to manually remove the installed data, fine and delete the registry keys and reinstall, it wasn't a problem.

And my games work perfectly in it (CounterStrike) and GTA: SA works again! I don't know why, but it decided to stop working on my x32 install. So yay that's all good. I have noticed things getting a lot slower now that more programs are installed, but that is just how it goes.

The only thing that would hold me back from using it full time is my printer which isn't 64bit compadible. I am really sick of Canon for driver support (relating to this printer/driver and several others I have had over the years). Their products rock, but their driver support is aweful.

[AvvY]

All *good* things must come to an end...

Well, I just nuked my XP x64 install. I downloaded a file - and I knew there was a 90% probability that it was dodgy, but I scaned with Avast! and nothing came up. I opened it and BANG! 30+ trojan infections with all kinds of ad-ware. Emails trying to spam all these addresses. It was utter chaos. So I gave up, booted into Windows XP (32bit) and am currently formatting the x64 partition.

Things I have learnt:
x64 is nice and can run very fast. Supports most applications, but very few native x64 programs available. Driver support is a bit of a pain, but it is still a possibility, and I was suprised by the amount of drivers prepackaged with x64.

One thing I am really peed off about is Avast!. I wanted to use AVG but it wouldn't install, so Avast! seemed like a fair trade off. None of these problems (the viruses) would have occured if the file scaning portion did its job. No, it decided to wait until the - had hit the fan and then throw up a million popups and be next to no use at all. I have never been a fan of Avast! but this was bloody aweful.

I may reinstall x64 again and be a little more careful (I have learnt a bit now) but I will certainly look for a better anti-virus solution.

[Skivvywaver]

What video card are you using Avvy? I need to ask because my 6800GT might be the issue with X64. Are you using an ATI card?

I used fraps to compare the OS' and I have a definite hit in my games, up to 10 fps lost in 64.

Yes the choices of firewall and AV's are limited and drivers can be a real pain to try to hunt down. My problem is mostly my games, and namely my favorite games. NFSU2 and NFS: MW both take quite a hit.

[AvvY]

I only tried out GTA: SA and CounterStrike both worked pefectly. I also installed Civilization 4 (but didn't get a chance to play it). I do have an ATI card - Powercolour 9800pro 128mb AGP.

The drivers were a pain to install, but after 2 attempts it was sorted. I read somewhere of a similar issue with gaming about the fram rate dropping, although I can't remember where, perhaps on NeoWin.

I will investigate finding a better AV/firewall program for x64 and will reinstall it again. Any you know of/recomend? I know of Tinyfirewall, but I can live with the inbuilt Windows one. I mainly need a reasonable AV.

[Skivvywaver]

My games are still quite playable on 64, instead of 80+ fps in say NFSU2 I get like 70+ and some small jerkiness in busy parts of the game. Nothing major I am just used to better I guess.

[O111111O]

I'm curious, what type of system are you running this on?

I recently fired up BOINC again, as it's a pretty good benchmark for math intensive operations. I was somewhat dismayed by AMD 64 Dual core Opteron performance w/ Linux 2.6 kernel. I'm curious to see if XP is any friendlier.

[AvvY]

Current config:
AMD64 3000+ 754socket
Gigabyte K8NS pro
Seagate 200GB HDD
1GB generic ram (two x512mb)

So nothing special at all - especially the old cpu and cheap ram. But it works relatively well. I have just reinstalled x64. I have Nod32 running nicely. I will keep x64 for most of my usage I think (especially for GTA:SA which only seems to work in x64).

I'll keep this thread updated though.

[Skivvywaver]

AMD 939 3700+@2500 mhz
Asus A8V Deluxe
2x160 Seagate 7200 rpm
1 gig Corsiar XMS
6800GT

Nothing special. Just my machine. Don't tell anybody I don't really have 4 x8000xt-pe cards in dual crossfire.

[AvvY]

Not bad, that's almost the system I am going to be buying for myself.