Nihonomaru Anime Network - View Single Post

toadvine · 03-29-2008, 08:31 AM

Well, I pooched vista yesterday by installing daemontools, and since I've got 4gb of ram in my system and had to reinstall windows anyways, I decided to make use of the Vista x64 SP1 disk I made the other week (full MSDN access ftw!) and go full out to see if x64 is actually as bad as I've been assuming. Since it's probably the scariest OS option around right now, figured I'd share my experience.

For reference going in, this is my sytem:
Motherboard: Asus P5NSLI using the nvidia nforce 570i chipset (the NIC on it's busted)
CPU: Intel Core2Duo 1.86GHz
Memory: 4gb of RAM running at 677mhz - 2 chips of kingston memory and 2 chips of some random brand
Graphics: Nvidia 8800 GTS 512mb
Sound: Soundblaster Audigy 4SE
Storage: Internal 160gb SATA drive for the OS and programs, external 500gb eSATA drive for files
Misc: Wacom Intuos3 6x8 tablet, creative live!cam pro webcam, logitech wireless keyboard and mouse, 2 Dell 19" LCDs, Dlink DWL-G550 wireless card.

The initial install went pretty smooth - booted to the disk, formatted the appropriate drive, put in product key etc. Took about 45 minutes, which is about normal for a Vista install. It detected my wireless card with a basic driver right away, so I was able to get online with no hassle. Rather than dig through the various manufacturers' websites for x64 drivers, I just let Windows Update do its thing, and it got everything up and running except my webcam and my tablet, whose drivers I installed manually, again without any problem.

So far it looks like MS has fixed their incompatibility problems between x86 and x64 apps/OS - I've gotten Firefox + all my plugins, msn, mirc, CCCP/Zoomplayer, itunes, the GIMP and utorrent all rolling with no problems. Windows makes a second program files folder called 'Program Files (x86)' where it installs any non-64bit-compatible programs and, I assume, runs them in some kind of compatibility mode. Either way, you don't have to do anything special - it puts them in the appropriate place automatically and runs them without you noticing any difference. To put a bit more stress on it, I've also put Oblivion on and played it for a few hours without any issues.

It sure is nice to see all 4gb of my RAM showing up in the system properties. 32bit limitations for the lose.

The only quirk I've found so far is that my CPU's Vista rating seems to have dropped a point, which could be from not having installed the ntune drivers from nvidia's website or from additional stress through making use of the 64bit functionality. Either way it doesn't seem to be slowing my system down at all, but it's there and deserves to be documented.

If anyone's got any programs that you'd like me to test, I'd be more than pleased to give them a shot (as time permits).

03-29-2008, 08:31 AM	#1
toadvine Combat Librarian Status: Offline Join Date: Feb 2008 Age: 22 Posts: 1,572 Awards Showcase Total Awards: 4	Vista x64 (SP1) Well, I pooched vista yesterday by installing daemontools, and since I've got 4gb of ram in my system and had to reinstall windows anyways, I decided to make use of the Vista x64 SP1 disk I made the other week (full MSDN access ftw!) and go full out to see if x64 is actually as bad as I've been assuming. Since it's probably the scariest OS option around right now, figured I'd share my experience. For reference going in, this is my sytem: Motherboard: Asus P5NSLI using the nvidia nforce 570i chipset (the NIC on it's busted) CPU: Intel Core2Duo 1.86GHz Memory: 4gb of RAM running at 677mhz - 2 chips of kingston memory and 2 chips of some random brand Graphics: Nvidia 8800 GTS 512mb Sound: Soundblaster Audigy 4SE Storage: Internal 160gb SATA drive for the OS and programs, external 500gb eSATA drive for files Misc: Wacom Intuos3 6x8 tablet, creative live!cam pro webcam, logitech wireless keyboard and mouse, 2 Dell 19" LCDs, Dlink DWL-G550 wireless card. The initial install went pretty smooth - booted to the disk, formatted the appropriate drive, put in product key etc. Took about 45 minutes, which is about normal for a Vista install. It detected my wireless card with a basic driver right away, so I was able to get online with no hassle. Rather than dig through the various manufacturers' websites for x64 drivers, I just let Windows Update do its thing, and it got everything up and running except my webcam and my tablet, whose drivers I installed manually, again without any problem. So far it looks like MS has fixed their incompatibility problems between x86 and x64 apps/OS - I've gotten Firefox + all my plugins, msn, mirc, CCCP/Zoomplayer, itunes, the GIMP and utorrent all rolling with no problems. Windows makes a second program files folder called 'Program Files (x86)' where it installs any non-64bit-compatible programs and, I assume, runs them in some kind of compatibility mode. Either way, you don't have to do anything special - it puts them in the appropriate place automatically and runs them without you noticing any difference. To put a bit more stress on it, I've also put Oblivion on and played it for a few hours without any issues. It sure is nice to see all 4gb of my RAM showing up in the system properties. 32bit limitations for the lose. The only quirk I've found so far is that my CPU's Vista rating seems to have dropped a point, which could be from not having installed the ntune drivers from nvidia's website or from additional stress through making use of the 64bit functionality. Either way it doesn't seem to be slowing my system down at all, but it's there and deserves to be documented. If anyone's got any programs that you'd like me to test, I'd be more than pleased to give them a shot (as time permits).