windows 64 v home for my build?

[tafate]

building 2 machines for local gamming shop and the cpu im using is AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice core, im wondering if its worth it to get the windows 64 or just use home?
and will my Geforce 6800GS 256MB have any trouble with 64 it says it wants xp or 2000 wasnt sure if xp 64 is considered xp for this.
thanks

 

[fkloster]

how about windows pro (non-64) ??

 

[tafate]

im a little price sensative on this so i am trying to keep it down so i would like to save the 55$between 64 pro/ pro and home btw i use pro on my machine

 

[Ricemarine]

Ehh, if you are fully sure everything you have has compatible drivers with it, you should be fine with x64, Logitech webcams have no 64-bit drivers.

 

[DaveSimmons]

XP-64 is a bad choice.

Program compatibility issues, driver issues and no real extra performance. A couple of xp64-specific versions of games are not worth the problems.

 

[tafate]

ok any reason why i shouldnt run home besides that it blows?

 

[tafate]

hmm answerd before i ask
leet

 

[Jhhnn]

From what I've read, Win64 isn't really ready for prime time... let the folks who can afford to choose poorly fiddle with it...

XP home is a sure bet, and easily the best consumer level Windows ever...

 

[karstenanderson]

x64 is built on a much more stable code base (win2003), there's no comparison between it and xp-home. it's like comparing win2003 server enteprise edition to windows ME. -doink-

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: karstenanderson
x64 is built on a much more stable code base (win2003), there's no comparison between it and xp-home. it's like comparing win2003 server enteprise edition to windows ME. -doink-

Nope, your comparison is way too extreme to accurately describe the differences between the two. XP home is based on the exact same code as XP pro, only with plenty of artificial limitations built in to make people want to pay more for XP pro. XP home/pro vs. ME is absolutely no contest, but the relative difference between XP home/pro and x64 is much, much less. Any difference that you see in stability between XP home / pro and 2003 Server / x64 is going to come from poorly written drivers, which were probably written by lazy developers who wouldn't port them to x64 anyway - hence, instant stability improvement.

 

[xtknight]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
XP-64 is a bad choice.

Program compatibility issues, driver issues and no real extra performance. A couple of xp64-specific versions of games are not worth the problems.

That's funny. I run XP64 with the only thing left unsupported as my TV Tuner. My Audigy 2, GeForce 7800GT, nForce 4 Ethernet Controller, Silicon Image Ethernet Controller, and Logitech G5 mouse all have specific drivers for XP64 and none of them have ever caused a crash. All the 64-bit drivers are just as configurable as the 32-bit ones too.

Battlefield 2 (32-bit) runs great and from what I felt better (less stuttering) on XP64 than it did on XP32 when I had 1 gigabyte of RAM. Photoshop CS 2 runs without a single issue on XP64 (I used it on XP64 when my Photoshop install on XP32 was FUBAR'd). The sole thing I have had a problem with is Wolfenstein: ET (32-bit)'s PunkBuster component. (BF2's PB is just fine.) That can easily be fixed with a Wolf: ET patch or PB update and they probably have fixed it, but I haven't tried it in awhile.

 

[Brentx]

If these computer are going into a business, where they have the possibility of computer illiterate people using them, use Home edition. I am sure the shop owner is not going to want to check if the software and hardware he has will run in XP x64 or not. Home edition is fine, and it is the mainstream along with XP Pro.

Otherwise, if you were building these machines for yourself, and you were feeling adventurous, I would say go for the XP x64. I ran it for a couple of months and I loved it, however some software compatibility problems have brought me back to XP Pro 32bit.

 

[mechBgon]

I would get XP Professional 32-bit for that role.

• If they have a domain, or intend to use one later, Pro can join the domain. Home cannot.
• Pro has longer support life from Microsoft than Home does.
• Pro allows you to use local Group Policy to tighten up stuff even without an AD domain (Software Restriction Policy, mandatory screensaver engagement & lock, browser security/privacy settings, Windows Messenger and Windows Media Player stuff, and lots more besides). Home doesn't have a local Group Policy.
• XP Pro 32-bit can be bought in retail-boxed form so it's legally re-useable down the road. XP Pro x64 Edition is OEM-only, last I knew.
• XP Pro has Windows Backup, with the Automated System Recovery capability. Could be handy if you set it up so you can re-image the system after it's been messed up.