Windows XP 64bit... worth it?

[tom_gymrat]

How do, I have a core 2 duo E6300 overclocked, 1gb 800mhz ddr2 (soon to be 2gb), a 512mb radeon x1650 pro and a raptor drive. I mainly play Counter-Strike, along with all the latest games out, but Counter-Strike is the only game that I've played for years and will continue to play for years to come.

My question(s) is this; Will installing a 64bit xp have any significant imrovement to performance? Would Counter-Strike have any problems running on it?

Many thanks


Tom

[Mattbot2]

it may, check the site, or google counter strike 64bit and see what comes up.

[Lovefist233]

if you are using old fashioned CS then you may or may not have problems, depending on your luck but if you play CS:S you should be fine, I'm pretty sure the source engine runs in 64-bit mode.

as for XP, waste not your money, get Vista 64-bit, buying XP now is a little pointless

[Walrus]

Neither XP or Vista 64-bit will improve performance at all, in fact Vista 64-bit will almost certainly be slower than XP 32-bit for CS. The *only* differences in moving to 64-bit are memory capacity related, one of which allows adding more than 4GB of RAM to your PC (need hardware support for this also).

[tom_gymrat]

Walrus! That's the answer I was looking for, much appreciated.

[Hosser]

Actually that's not true - I know that some of Windows Vista's more advanced security features (I think including the Kernel Patch Guard) are only available on an x64-compatible machine. Also, full NX-bit functionality is only available on x86-64.

Also, if you're not bothered about advanced security, Crysis is planned to ship in both x86 and x64 versions. The 64-bit version will be noticeably faster.

[Walrus]

[quote:71bf97a221=\"Hosser\"]Actually that's not true - I know that some of Windows Vista's more advanced security features (I think including the Kernel Patch Guard) are only available on an x64-compatible machine. Also, full NX-bit functionality is only available on x86-64.[/quote:71bf97a221]

But that's not the point. The OP wanted to know specifically about performance of CS on 64-bit OSes compared to what I presume is their current 32-bit OS.

PS. NX-bit is a hardware feature that the OS utilises, it's called DEP on XP 32-bit.....

[Hosser]

[quote:22e1009ad3=\"Walrus\"][quote:22e1009ad3=\"Hosser\"]Actually that's not true - I know that some of Windows Vista's more advanced security features (I think including the Kernel Patch Guard) are only available on an x64-compatible machine. Also, full NX-bit functionality is only available on x86-64.[/quote:22e1009ad3]

But that's not the point. The OP wanted to know specifically about performance of CS on 64-bit OSes compared to what I presume is their current 32-bit OS.

PS. NX-bit is a hardware feature that the OS utilises, it's called DEP on XP 32-bit.....[/quote:22e1009ad3]

I'm aware of this - I was disputing your claim that the only advantages of 64-bit operating systems are to do with memory capacity.

Also, DEP and NX-bit are not the same thing.

[Walrus]

[quote:1c49805bee=\"Hosser\"]I was disputing your claim that the only advantages of 64-bit operating systems are to do with memory capacity.[/quote:1c49805bee]

Name me another.

As for NX-bit, I'm sure folks can do their own research if they are that interested, but either way I not going to be drawn into a debate on this forum. It is a hardware feature, Intel refer to it as Execute Disable Bit (http://www.intel.com/cd/business/enterprise/emea/eng/202162.htm). There is some confusion with DEP, but this is caused by Microsoft themselves (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875352), DEP does enforce hardware NX-bit, however Microsoft also choose to coin the same term for a software based technology.

[Hosser]

[quote:276ce26b69=\"Walrus\"][quote:276ce26b69=\"Hosser\"]I was disputing your claim that the only advantages of 64-bit operating systems are to do with memory capacity.[/quote:276ce26b69]

Name me another.

As for NX-bit, I'm sure folks can do their own research if they are that interested, but either way I not going to be drawn into a debate on this forum. It is a hardware feature, Intel refer to it as Execute Disable Bit (http://www.intel.com/cd/business/enterprise/emea/eng/202162.htm). There is some confusion with DEP, but this is caused by Microsoft themselves (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875352), DEP does enforce hardware NX-bit, however Microsoft also choose to coin the same term for a software based technology.[/quote:276ce26b69]

I have named you another.

And you're backing me up there - NX-bit and Software-DEP are unrelated.

Anyway, quitting this argument right now before it gets out of hand.

[Walrus]

Review your posts.

[quote:6ef4cd8d0c=\"Hosser\"]Also, full NX-bit functionality is only available on x86-64. [/quote:6ef4cd8d0c]

Rubbish. NX-bit is a hardware feature.

[quote:6ef4cd8d0c=\"Hosser\"]I have named you another. [/quote:6ef4cd8d0c]

No you haven't. Their is nothing in any of your posts the gives a definate advantage of 64-bit OSes.

[quote:6ef4cd8d0c=\"Hosser\"]And you're backing me up there - NX-bit and Software-DEP are unrelated.[/quote:6ef4cd8d0c]

No I'm not 'backing you up', I'm calling you confused. I stated 32-bit XP DEP and NX-bit are the same thing, they are. I gave you a 'get out of jail free card' by pointing to potential terminology confusion, that is your confusion - not mine.

All said and done, I still fail to see how the difference between Vista32 and Vista64, the operation of Crysis, or anything to do with NX-bit has squat to do with the performance difference of running CounterStrike on XP 32bit and XP 64bit.

[monkey56657]

Well the windows vista pc score of my machine (cpu in particular) went up by 0.4 when moving from vista 32bit to vista 64bit.

[Hosser]

[quote:6d5e114a91=\"Walrus\"]All said and done, I still fail to see how the difference between Vista32 and Vista64, the operation of Crysis, or anything to do with NX-bit has squat to do with the performance difference of running CounterStrike on XP 32bit and XP 64bit.[/quote:6d5e114a91]

Nuuuuuuurghhh. Did I ever mention CounterStrike? I agree that 64-bit will do nothing for it. I merely took issue with your statement that 64-bit has no advantage over 32-bit. In the case of Vista 32/64, this is NOT the case because some of the more advanced security features of Vista (including the Kernel Patch Guard) are only available on the 64-bit edition. I'd call that an advantage. And I still think Microsoft's software DEP and NX-bit are unrelated. However I'm not going to continue arguing; I don't care enough. Let's leave it.

[quote:6d5e114a91=\"monkey56657\"]Well the windows vista pc score of my machine (cpu in particular) went up by 0.4 when moving from vista 32bit to vista 64bit.[/quote:6d5e114a91]

Yeah I'm pretty sure my scores differed too - the CPU and memory scores at least. Maybe this has to do with the larger 64-bit processor registers providing faster access to memory?

I found this anyway:

http://64-bit-computers.com/windows-vista-32-bit-vs-64-bit-benchmark.html

10% higher benchmark score overall apparently. I'm taking it with a big fat pinch of salt, but there you are.