On Sep 3, 5:47=A0pm, "Rarius" <rar...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> A lot of hardware drivers do not exist for XP 64bit and XP 32bit
> >> drivers appear to not be sup****ted in XP 64bit. Check for drivers
> >> before selecting XP 64bit.
>
> >Well, I checked the Nvidia Quadro4 drivers and it has native x64
> >sup****t, and the add-on wireless NIC card also has x64 sup****t. Those
> >are the only add-ons we'd be using (I assume RAM and mobo naturally
> >work with x64.) So, hardware-wise, I think we're good.
> >I'm just concerned whether XP x64 will run most software OK.
> >Thanks for the driver reminder. :)
>
> You can't assume the mobo will have x64 drivers... you could end up
findi=
ng
> something like the USB ****ts dont work!
Hmm, OK, good point.
> How much RAM does the video card have? Unless it has 1Gb or more (some
do=
),
> I would suggest WinXP32 is fine for your use.
>
> The problem with 32bit OSs is that they can only address 4GB of ram.
=A0I=
f you
> have memory mapped hardware (like the video card), and you have, this
mem=
ory
> has to come out of that 4GB address space... A WinXP 32bit installation
w=
ith
> a 256MB video card will generally end up with about 3.25Gb of usable
RAM.=
...
> enough for most users (some users NEVER have enough!)
Hmm, from what I can tell, regardless of the video card 32bit can only
address 3.12GB of RAM, period.
But, I don't understand how a video card with its own RAM ALSO takes
up system RAM? Guess that's something I'm going to have to look into.
> Your other option of course is to go to Vista 64bit, which I am told has
> better driver sup****t than XP64 ever did.
I too have heard it has better driver sup****t. However the OS itself
eats up a lot of the available RAM.
From everything I can find, XP 64bit uses the hardware significantly
better than Vista and XP 32bit while using less resources. From what I
can tell, XP 64bit blows Vista and XP 32bit out of the water when it
comes to CAD and 3D modeling and rendering--which is exactly what this
computer is going to be used for.
I'm to the point where I can see it's a sure thing XP 64bit is the
best OS for this rig...my only issue is whether or not we can still
run our copies of CS3 and Lightwave and Maya, etc. on XP 64bit as we
do the 32bit Windows.
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