To 64bit or not 64bit....

**Boomer** · January 13th, 2009, 06:55

That is the question....

For reasons I wont go into now I am gonna box up a 3 week old rig & tell Dell to shove it up there Kazoo.

I am plan on ordering another Alienware rig in the next few days & am inclined to get a 64bit rig with 12gig of ram.

I am a neophyte when it comes to 64bit & am not really sure what I would be getting into so my questions is this.

What are the cons of a 64bit system? I think I am familiar with the pros but havent heard many naysayers of it.

harleyman · January 13th, 2009, 07:04

Hi Boomer...I understand about the dell...You are not the first....LOL sorry it did not work out..

OK 64 bit...Its a great system.. The few cons are that there are still some old programs that will not run or install properly...My wife just discovered that PhotoShop element 5 will install goofy on a Vista system..It works,but tends to corrupt...

Some older games will do the same too...But Not FS9 or FSX......

It will also use all your ram ..That is good....BUT

I think 12 gigs ram is way overkill..But thats just me....

If you are going with i7 and X58 than the recomender ram is 6 gigs.....

However...I still LOVE XP Pro 32 bit SP3......

If you are going Vista 64 (XP 64 is not so good) then there are things you can do when installing FSX to help....

Hope this helped some....

**kilo delta** · January 13th, 2009, 07:09

No real cons....you may have issues with older hardware (check for relevant drivers), but that's it. I've been running it for ~1 year and find it extremely stable especially since SP1.

PS. Mind if I ask what issues you had with your Dell? I've an XPS420 running Vista Ultimate 64bit and no issues (using it as a media centre connected to a TV)

**Boomer** · January 13th, 2009, 08:02

Thanks guys, Im leaning towards the X58. Lotta jack to pony up & I am sure the Mrs will make me sleep on the couch for a month....

KD, it was the damnedest thing. I dbl clicked on Max on my start menu & immediately got the BSOD. Unable to restart, every time I tried another BSOD.
I reformatted the HD & reinstalled Vista but the same thing.

A call to Dell support & they think it may be a short in the mobo somewhere so they want me to send it back. Think im gonna tell em to keep it.

**kilo delta** · January 13th, 2009, 08:43

Bear in mind that Alienware is a part of the Dell empire and they share many internal components. Unfortunately hardware can go bad...happens with every PC manufacturer. I'd be inclined to contact Dell and request an RMA with a priority turnaround and give them the benefit of the doubt. I've owned several Alienware desktop systems and have found that their case design...whilst v. purty........has very poor airflow qualities. They've a new case design that will be launched in the coming months which "may" perform better.
Having said that...an i7 system would be veeeeeeery nice.

***srgalahad*** · January 24th, 2009, 21:45

I just ended up with a Vista 64 system and so far have been very pleased with the driver issue.. it found my Saitek x-52, my 6 yr old Epson inkjet, my 4 yr old Samsung laser printer with nary a whimper except having to help it find the drivers for the Samsung (3 minutes work) and all work like always. It took the dual monitor setup without a fight ( Dell 22"WS & Ben-Q 19" (4:3)
Dang think hasn't found a cure for my typing but I'm used to that.

**Boomer** · January 25th, 2009, 04:42

My new Alienware rig was delivered yesterday (specs in sig) & I am as pleased as punch. I had no problems whatsoever with any of my peripherals save one. I cant get my Th2Go to go above 3840 x 800. I installed the latest drivers but the option for higher rez isnt available in the Matrox utilities. On my desktop it says it can go much higher but when I enable it I get a black screen for 15 sec. I can hear that it has resized the desktop & 15sec later I get my display back when it reverts back to the original settings.

Performance with FSX is amazing! I have everything set at max & even used a cfg tweak to change max autogen to 6000 & still it is fluid.

I couldnt be happier! :typing:

harleyman · January 25th, 2009, 07:26

Oh sweet...........I see you ponied up for the 12 gigs........

Very glad you are again in love.......

:ernae:

Nice specs there.....

**kilo delta** · January 26th, 2009, 00:32

Congrats on the new system,Boomer. :ernae:

**mike_cyul** · January 26th, 2009, 12:37

Hope this isn't a dumb question, but if I get a Vista 64bit laptop, are there going to be any problems trading files with Vista 32 desktop and vice versa?

Mike

harleyman · January 26th, 2009, 13:09

I would say no...It should not...But there I am not an expert by any means...

Really need more info as to the types of files you are moving? As in are they pictures, music, etc? Or game files that are installed and attached to the 32 bit regestry?

**mike_cyul** · January 26th, 2009, 13:40

They'd be just about everything, from .jpeg's and .bmp's, Gmax files, emails, word documents, .pdf etc... Wouldn't be exchanging programs, so don't think the registry would be involved.

Mike