Which (Windows) operating system(s)?

[LeetestUnleet]

I have components for a new PC coming in tomorrow. Relevant specs are an i7 920 CPU with 6GB (3x2GB) RAM and a Radeon 4850 on an Asus P6T Deluxe V2 board. It's a huge upgrade from my Barton 2500 system with 1GB RAM and a Radeon 9600XT on an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe

Anyway, this new PC is primarily intended for moderate gaming, but I'd like to squeeze every bit of performance out of it as I can, since I'll be using it for, well.. just about everything (occasional encoding, graphics, media playing, etc.). I know 32-bit operating systems have the physical memory limit, and to fully take advantage of the 6GB I'd need to use 64-bit, but have all the quirks been worked out of that yet? Is there a 32-bit auto-"legacy" mode for non-64-bit-compliant apps that works well?

I have no objections to multiple operating systems (whether it's multi-boot or in a VM), and my choices come down to 32- or 64-bit XP or Vista (though I'm really not a fan of Vista and would prefer to wait until Windows 7, which I'll probably VM once RC1 comes out), or thinking outside the box and going Windows Server 2008 "Workstation".

I'll probably keep an install of 32-bit XP around for legacy purposes for various older games and apps, but probably won't use it as my primary OS since I'd be wasting so much of my computer's potential.

What are people's thoughts? Previous/similar experiences?

 

[lxskllr]

I've dual booted Vista and XP since Vista's release, and I've only gone into XP twice for "real" work. That's because when I went to Vista64, there weren't any scanner drivers available, and I don't scan enough to buy a new one(that got remedied this winter. I got an HP all in one, but it's still boxed up). I'd use Vista64 or Win7-64, and not bother with dual booting. If you do want to dual boot, XP32 would be my choice for a secondary O/S.

 

[Nothinman]

thinking outside the box and going Windows Server 2008 "Workstation".

The only box that idea is outside of is the "common sense" one...

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

thinking outside the box and going Windows Server 2008 "Workstation".

The only box that idea is outside of is the "common sense" one...

I love people who don't want to run Vista and instead run 2008 server, as if the code is magically different :roll:

Run V64, then upgrade to 764 when its available. No reason at all to run a 32 bit OS you'd lose about 1/2 your available memory.

 

[MadRat]

Don't forget to get into Team Anandtech and crunch numbers when you're not otherwise using it!!

 

[LeetestUnleet]

Originally posted by: MadRat
Don't forget to get into Team Anandtech and crunch numbers when you're not otherwise using it!!

I was part of that a long time ago for S@H... I don't have a clue what my login was now Looks like I'll have to start my credits over.