Can anyone say some good words about XP Pro x64 in relation to DataCAD? Would it be a reasonable choice for a new PC (Athlon 64 X2 Dual 4200+)?
I would say why not...if it's in your price range, getting the fastest/latest chip shouldn't be a bad thing.
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Hello Marko,
Funny you should ask -- I have WinXP Pro x64 Edition installed on an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ -- and if your motherboard and peripherals have all the required drivers, then you should be fine. I was able to get 64bit drivers for all but one printer that I needed to (out of 5).
I was not able to find a good 64bit firewall, so you have to trust the one in Windows for now. Only a few antivirus programs work in 64bit Windows -- luckily the one that I like best is supported: NOD32 by Eset.
FireFox and Thunderbird both work fine, as does OpenOffice 2.0. The only program that I can't replace, is the monitoring program for Folding@Home.
DataCAD 11 runs fine. However, there is a caveat: it always resets the printer selection, so you have to keep reselecting it. I did find that it is a little bit slower than running in 32bits, on the same hardware -- 'cuz I later installed WinXP Pro (32bit) on a second HD, and it is now dual booting.
If you build it with 4GB of RAM (or at least leave room for this much), then x64 is required to access that much RAM. 32bit Windows has a maximum of 3.25GB total, with a 2GB limit per program, or for the OS. So it you are working with very large models, or are doing heavy-duty rendering, having a lot of RAM (as much as the motherboard supports!), then x64 Windows is for you!
DataCAD 12 will have an option for a 64bit Display List, and hopefully the whole program will (optionally) be 64bit, to take full advantage of everything the Athlon 64 has to offer. It has 16 registers (vs only 8 in 32bit), which are the fastest memory anywhere in the computer. Intel's "64bit" CPU's do not have these 8 extra registers, AFAIK. If v12 was fully 64bit, the Athlon 64 would gain a lot of speed, instead of lose a little, as it does with the 32bit.
You could go three routes:
Install x64 only and live with the current situation, in anticipation of the future benefits.
Install 32bit Windows now, and upgrade the x64 when you need/want to (though if Windows Vista has issues at first, you would want to think about that).
Install a dual boot as I have, and use both/either as needed.
Funny you should ask -- I have WinXP Pro x64 Edition installed on an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ -- and if your motherboard and peripherals have all the required drivers, then you should be fine. I was able to get 64bit drivers for all but one printer that I needed to (out of 5).
I was not able to find a good 64bit firewall, so you have to trust the one in Windows for now. Only a few antivirus programs work in 64bit Windows -- luckily the one that I like best is supported: NOD32 by Eset.
FireFox and Thunderbird both work fine, as does OpenOffice 2.0. The only program that I can't replace, is the monitoring program for Folding@Home.
DataCAD 11 runs fine. However, there is a caveat: it always resets the printer selection, so you have to keep reselecting it. I did find that it is a little bit slower than running in 32bits, on the same hardware -- 'cuz I later installed WinXP Pro (32bit) on a second HD, and it is now dual booting.
If you build it with 4GB of RAM (or at least leave room for this much), then x64 is required to access that much RAM. 32bit Windows has a maximum of 3.25GB total, with a 2GB limit per program, or for the OS. So it you are working with very large models, or are doing heavy-duty rendering, having a lot of RAM (as much as the motherboard supports!), then x64 Windows is for you!
DataCAD 12 will have an option for a 64bit Display List, and hopefully the whole program will (optionally) be 64bit, to take full advantage of everything the Athlon 64 has to offer. It has 16 registers (vs only 8 in 32bit), which are the fastest memory anywhere in the computer. Intel's "64bit" CPU's do not have these 8 extra registers, AFAIK. If v12 was fully 64bit, the Athlon 64 would gain a lot of speed, instead of lose a little, as it does with the 32bit.
You could go three routes:
Install x64 only and live with the current situation, in anticipation of the future benefits.
Install 32bit Windows now, and upgrade the x64 when you need/want to (though if Windows Vista has issues at first, you would want to think about that).
Install a dual boot as I have, and use both/either as needed.
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