For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System???

gamer 1097 · 05-20-2009, 07:51 PM

Intel i7 920 Quad Core Socket
Asus Extreme Rampage 2 motherboard
Corsairs HX 1000watt power supply
Western Digital Velicoraptor 300gb hard drive (x2)
Asus ENGTX 295 graphics card
OCZ DDR3 Triple Channel (3x2048) Blade series
LG CD/DVD rewriter
Antec P193 full tower case
Samsung T240 monitor

I'll be running my old sound card the Audigy Z 4 pro limited edition if that sound card is still compatible and i'll be using my old keyboard and mouse.

Ive heard from some people that you'll not be able to add more than 2 gigs of RAM if you continue to use Windows XP professional. Do you need to upgrade to a 64 bit Operating System in order to use more RAM? Im upgrading using the OCZ DDR3 blade series 6GB of RAM. Is Windows Vista 64bit fine or should i stick with Windows XP Professional 32bit? or just Windows Vista?

**Tyree** · 05-20-2009, 07:56 PM

You can use any OS. You need a 64Bit OS to recognize all the RAM but any other OS will work.
Anything over 4GB is pretty much a waste.

gamer 1097 · 05-21-2009, 12:11 PM

So i can still use 6GB of RAM and be able to run windows xp professional at the sametime? (confused) or do you need windows xp64 bit in order to reconigze the RAM? and be able to use 6gigs?

**wrench97** · 05-21-2009, 01:29 PM

32 bit operating systems have a mathematical address space limit of 4 gig including any add in cards that require address space they will see up to 4gig and report between 2.8 and 3.5Gig as usable usually around 3.2Gig depending on the specific system.
With XP 32 bit that is really all you need, for 6 gigs you need a 64bit os Vista or Win7 XP 64 bit has very poor driver support and basically the manufacturers have moved on so driver support for XP 64 will not drastically improve.

gamer 1097 · 05-21-2009, 05:43 PM

so is it cool upgrading to windows 64 or should i stay 32bit with windows xp? if i go for 6gigs of RAM?

**wrench97** · 05-22-2009, 01:36 AM

If you go with 6Gigs use Vista or Win7 64 bit, or 3 Gigs with XP 32 bit.

Warfare · 05-22-2009, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyree

You can use any OS. You need a 64Bit OS to recognize all the RAM but any other OS will work.
Anything over 4GB is pretty much a waste.

I really wouldn't say that, remember when people said that a 10 gig Hard drive is useless?

Also, if im not mistaken you can also use 6 gigs WinXP 64x

HD_Monkey · 05-22-2009, 04:05 PM

In my opinion you should go ahead and upgrade to a 64 bit os. You likely will not see a drastic difference at the moment, but considering the top of the line rig you are building you will eventually need a 64 bit os to take full advantage of it with newer applications. True, driver support for XP x64 could be better, but I have only had one issue with a wireless pci card. Otherwise, it is still the fastest most stable os microsoft has ever produced (Based on Server 2003).

gamer 1097 · 05-26-2009, 11:04 AM

Alright thanks im going to go with that Operating system once i get this this i'll have a kickass PC, not top of the line until i go SLI lol

05-20-2009, 07:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
gamer 1097 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 15 OS: windows xp service pack 2	For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System??? Intel i7 920 Quad Core Socket Asus Extreme Rampage 2 motherboard Corsairs HX 1000watt power supply Western Digital Velicoraptor 300gb hard drive (x2) Asus ENGTX 295 graphics card OCZ DDR3 Triple Channel (3x2048) Blade series LG CD/DVD rewriter Antec P193 full tower case Samsung T240 monitor I'll be running my old sound card the Audigy Z 4 pro limited edition if that sound card is still compatible and i'll be using my old keyboard and mouse. Ive heard from some people that you'll not be able to add more than 2 gigs of RAM if you continue to use Windows XP professional. Do you need to upgrade to a 64 bit Operating System in order to use more RAM? Im upgrading using the OCZ DDR3 blade series 6GB of RAM. Is Windows Vista 64bit fine or should i stick with Windows XP Professional 32bit? or just Windows Vista?

05-20-2009, 07:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,746 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System??? You can use any OS. You need a 64Bit OS to recognize all the RAM but any other OS will work. Anything over 4GB is pretty much a waste. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

05-21-2009, 12:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
gamer 1097 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 15 OS: windows xp service pack 2	Re: For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System??? So i can still use 6GB of RAM and be able to run windows xp professional at the sametime? (confused) or do you need windows xp64 bit in order to reconigze the RAM? and be able to use 6gigs?

05-21-2009, 01:29 PM	#4 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,712 OS: Win7	Re: For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System??? 32 bit operating systems have a mathematical address space limit of 4 gig including any add in cards that require address space they will see up to 4gig and report between 2.8 and 3.5Gig as usable usually around 3.2Gig depending on the specific system. With XP 32 bit that is really all you need, for 6 gigs you need a 64bit os Vista or Win7 XP 64 bit has very poor driver support and basically the manufacturers have moved on so driver support for XP 64 will not drastically improve. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

05-21-2009, 05:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
gamer 1097 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 15 OS: windows xp service pack 2	Re: For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System??? so is it cool upgrading to windows 64 or should i stay 32bit with windows xp? if i go for 6gigs of RAM?

05-22-2009, 01:36 AM	#6 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,712 OS: Win7	Re: For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System??? If you go with 6Gigs use Vista or Win7 64 bit, or 3 Gigs with XP 32 bit. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

05-22-2009, 04:05 PM	#8 (permalink)
HD_Monkey Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 367 OS: XP x64 SP2 My System	Re: For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System??? In my opinion you should go ahead and upgrade to a 64 bit os. You likely will not see a drastic difference at the moment, but considering the top of the line rig you are building you will eventually need a 64 bit os to take full advantage of it with newer applications. True, driver support for XP x64 could be better, but I have only had one issue with a wireless pci card. Otherwise, it is still the fastest most stable os microsoft has ever produced (Based on Server 2003).

05-26-2009, 11:04 AM	#9 (permalink)
gamer 1097 Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 15 OS: windows xp service pack 2	Re: For tyhis gaming rig do i need to upgrade my Operating System??? Alright thanks im going to go with that Operating system once i get this this i'll have a kickass PC, not top of the line until i go SLI lol