Is 64 bit worth it?

SquillSquill Chesterfield, Va
edited May 2006 in Hardware
I have been hearing that there is not alot of 64-bit support when 64-bit processors first came out. But it's been almost 2 years and has anything changed? I was wondering if it would be worth it moving to Windows XP Professional x64, and is there alot of driver support for 64 processors?

Comments

  • EssoEsso Stockholm, Sweden
    edited May 2006
    My advice is to make an dual boot system.
    64 bits are as an slow train coming.

    AMD64 Drivers & Software Support
  • i0esign
    edited May 2006
    Its worth it to me cause its free (180 day trials from Microsoft)
    I have drivers to all my stuff. The only thing without drivers is HP. Funny cause Lexmark has the 64bit support (didnt HP buy Lexmark?)

    Anyway I have been using 64 for over a year and it works nicely for me, did I mention FREE!

    EDIT:HP now has 64 bit drivers:celebrate
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited May 2006
    If you are going to be buying a new system soon, I would highly suggest going for a 64 bit cpu. With vista coming out soon, who knows what its capable of. And besides, its not like 64 bit cpu's cost ridiculous amounts of money.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    An AMD Athlon64 is worth it simply because it runs all current stuff faster, but going to a 64bit OS isn't worth it unless you're using Unix (as there is very little native Windows stuff and things run generally slower).
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited May 2006
    My amd 64 3200+ benches higher than my parents p4 3.2, and theyre supposed to be "equal". If its for gaming, definately go with something in the amd 64 series.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    In a nutshell

    64 HW is worth it

    64 OS is lacking driver support and confidence
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    Yeah I love hearing the whole "there is not much 64 bit software out there" excuse for why not to buy it... but the fact is while it's a 64 bit processor... it works as a 32bit processor just so much better... :)
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    yeh, but come on; these developers need to get on the ball, its like having a v8 under the hood and only using 4 of the cylinders..al la cadilac, well, not exactly the same
  • SquillSquill Chesterfield, Va
    edited May 2006
    Yeah I do have a 64-bit processor, i have the AMD 3800+ X2 but I'm still running it on 32-bit windows. I was just double checking before I did anything stupid like try to install 64-bit windows. Thanks for all the info!
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited May 2006
    airbornflght wrote:
    ...these developers need to get on the ball, its like having a v8 under the hood and only using 4 of the cylinders...
    Definitely. I am surprised at the dearth of 64-Bit apps at this point, I figured we'd be seeing them rolling out like mad by now. Like tmh88 alluded to, maybe they're all waiting on 64-Bit Vista. :-/
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    who wants to use vista...from what I've heard, all the crap they've put in it make it extremely un-atractive to me.
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