Foo - 64 bit hardware...software compatibility?

Lets pretend for a moment that I buy a 64 bit hardware setup. AN Athlon 64 setup and some Asus board to accompany. Whatever.
Will I need to purchase a 64 bit operating system, such as Windows XP 64 bit edition? Or will I be able to continue to use my older home edition. I don't care if it won't be taking full advantage of what 64 bit has to offer, just as long as I can still run whatever. I may purchase winXP 64 bit in the future, as I think Solidworks would benefit from it. That's for another day

AMD64 equipment runs 32-bit software just fine. I'm running 32-bit Ubuntu on a 64-bit notebook as I type this.

Great! Thanks. I'm going to go ahead and place my new egg order.

No problems here using 32 bit XP on 64 bit Asus board & Athalon 64 processor.

The universe will end. Don't do it! :eek:

What happens is your 32 bit software runs faster than you've ever seen it run before ;)

What happens is your 32 bit software runs faster than you've ever seen it run before ;)

Can't complain about that! Now, I wonder how much of a difference having the faster ddr2 will make. I guess we'll wait and see. I've only ordered from New Egg but I recall they were pretty fast.

Can't complain about that! Now, I wonder how much of a difference having the faster ddr2 will make. I guess we'll wait and see. I've only ordered from New Egg but I recall they were pretty fast.

OK, my laptop has the AMD Turion 64 processor and it screams! Only thing is, if you are doing anything that requires a lot of processor power, it is a battery HOG!:eek:

If your motherboard requires DDR2, you have to get DDR2. Both DDR and DDR2 memory modules have 240 pins, but the notch is in a different place. The two types aren't backward- or forward-compatible.

[edit: Err, scratch that, DDR SDRAM is 184-pin, DDR2 is 240. Whoops. No chance of any kind of compatibility there in the first place. :)]

[edit: Err, scratch that, DDR SDRAM is 184-pin, DDR2 is 240. Whoops. No chance of any kind of compatibility there in the first place. :)]

I can make it fit.

well I bought a 1GB stick of Kingston. DDR2.
Should work nicely

OK, my laptop has the AMD Turion 64 processor and it screams! Only thing is, if you are doing anything that requires a lot of processor power, it is a battery HOG!:eek:

My laptop is rocking and rolling with a 1ghz Pentium 3 :D.
Luckily I save all of my heavy duty apps for my main battle station.

just make sure that the motherboard you have can handle the RAM upgrade. if you have 1+ Ghz Ram and only a 1 Ghz processor, I am sure you can see where you might run into problems.

I'm pretty sure it was his motherboard that got toasted and needed replacement ;-)

Anyway, with most modern mobos you would have been better off with 2x512mb, running them in dual channel configuration. Of course, you can pick up another 1gb later :-)

I am running an AMD 64 3500+ CPU on a Asus MB and its set to 32bit and it suits me well.

The difference in the 32 and 64 bit is minimal for most software. The only place you will really see a difference is in software specifically designed for 64 bit, which theres not a lot out there.

I dual boot with XP 32 bit and Ubuntu 64 bit.

What would be the point of getting 64 bit hardware unless you also are getting more memory than you could address with a 32 bit system? I wouldn't want to buy that for a "just in case" scenario -- spendy. Not many consumers are likely to need a 64 bit OS in the foreseeable future

[edit: Err, scratch that, DDR SDRAM is 184-pin, DDR2 is 240. Whoops. No chance of any kind of compatibility there in the first place. :)]

Of course they are compatible, all you have to do is trim off the unused portion. What did you think that little notch was for?

What would be the point of getting 64 bit hardware unless you also are getting more memory than you could address with a 32 bit system? I wouldn't want to buy that for a "just in case" scenario -- spendy. Not many consumers are likely to need a 64 bit OS in the foreseeable future

Because my motherboard has committed suicide. For not a lot more than a comparable board socket 478, I can get an AMD athlon + Motherboard combo from New Egg. And I was wanting to get some more memory right now (only have 512mb), but DDR2 is quite a bit less costly than DDR1. So by the time I add up what I would have spent getting a decent motherboard (which they don't make many of for 478 anymore), and new RAM, I'd have spent about the same. Also, it seems like AGP graphic cards are also becoming extinct, PCI-E is taking over. I was looking into a graphic card upgrade several months ago, but was limited by the AGP. The setup I have just purchased has potential for modern upgrades, if I choose to. The fact that it's 64 bit is just a fringe effect, I don't expect a lot from that.
An immediate example of a benefit will be the DVI output that this motherboard has. My radeon 9200 has it, but it won't work for my widescreen resolution. So I'm using powerstrip and an old VGA.

And Solidworks is available 64 bit edition. I'd like to take advantage of that, as this is my only "heavy" application.

Because my motherboard has committed suicide. For not a lot more than a comparable board socket 478, I can get an AMD athlon + Motherboard combo from New Egg. And I was wanting to get some more memory right now (only have 512mb), but DDR2 is quite a bit less costly than DDR1. So by the time I add up what I would have spent getting a decent motherboard (which they don't make many of for 478 anymore), and new RAM, I'd have spent about the same. Also, it seems like AGP graphic cards are also becoming extinct, PCI-E is taking over. I was looking into a graphic card upgrade several months ago, but was limited by the AGP. The setup I have just purchased has potential for modern upgrades, if I choose to. The fact that it's 64 bit is just a fringe effect, I don't expect a lot from that.
An immediate example of a benefit will be the DVI output that this motherboard has. My radeon 9200 has it, but it won't work for my widescreen resolution. So I'm using powerstrip and an old VGA.

PCI-E is great. If you game at all you will see a huge difference.

When other operating systems went 64 bit, they had major version number changes. For example, Solaris 2.6 to Solaris 7.

Of course, (if I remember right) AIX went from 4.2.2 to 4.2.3, then added more support in 4.3. I just think it is funny how something as major as that goes into a 0.01 release, but at the time it worked, and worked well.

PC, if you haven't ordered yet, I suggest getting either a pair of 512, or perferrably, a pair of 1Gig DDR2 sticks. A pair of sticks will allow you to run in dual-channel mode which is a fair bit faster than running a single stick of RAM. (a pair of high quality 1GB DDR2 shouldn't run you more than $70-75 after rebate)

Well my order has already shipped. When I actually have money, I'll order another stick of 1GB ddr2.

Can't go wrong with more RAM, and this applies to pretty much any OS.

64 bit hardware will run 32 bit OSs swimmingly. I'm typing on an Athlon 64 machine with 32 but XPPro right now.

I actually wouldn't recommend getting XP64. Drivers are a major issue and there is no decent reason to run it over the 32 bit XP.

well I bought a 1GB stick of Kingston. DDR2.
Should work nicely

Get at least one more. 2 gig ram is minimum in my book. Ram speed is something to be concerned with, though. Keep an eye on the latency as well as the speed. And, yes, run identical sticks in dual-channel mode.