 | Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years. Thanks, CNET Support |
with vista in mind, i could get an athlon 64 system now for $300. do i need to upgrade now. not sure what to do. in a dilemna. any suggestions? how important is 64 bit?
Discussion is locked
You didn't list any 64-bit apps you were using. I can list mine and like the cheap speed boost for video processing in the programs that use it.
Bob
If you are going to run VISTA, you'd better find out what kind of guts are in that box. Your going to need a graphix card that can handle it and some balls hung on that CPU.
You need to give everybody more details on this system, if you want the right advice.
an e machines (which some people really dont like but i have had good success with them)64 bit 2200+ with 4 gig ram capacity, pci express x16 slot, 160 gig hard drive. refurb.
it looks like with a little upgrading on the inside it could last me a good few years into the future.
what do you think?
thanks,
richard
1) Don't buy refurb. You never know what someone else has done with the computer. It could be working fine for a couple months, and then boom; the CPU and mobo fry. I'd know; it happened to me
2) You'll want to upgrade to 2GB of RAM; Vista with the Aero interface on uses close to 1GB.
3) You'll need to get a graphics card with at least 128MB of dedicated memory; I'd suggest waiting a little bit longer for the DirectX10 cards to come out; they'll have no problem with any DX9 game. They should come out around the 3rd quarter of this year; the latest being Q1 2007.
the best thing to do for now is wait for Vista.....at least a YEAR............IF you don't buy the Premium/Professional/Business version you'll be better off running XP........the less costly versions are throttled down version offering zilch of what the "real" (more expensive) Vista OS offers. You also should expect to spend ~ $3000.00 to $4000.00 for your new machine. Even if you try to run the low-end version of Vista, you'll need to invest close to $2000.00 - $2500.oo for things to work right. This OS is NOT backward compatable in the cheap version. And very little compatability in the costlier version. It's for the new technology that is just now being developed and hasn't even been put into mainstream production. I'd wait on Vista, but design a screamin' rig with the hardware available (before memory/etc. prices climb even more) now that "could" run Vista once the bugs are out and it's fine-tuned more. Your biggest concerns are this:
3.0G (64bit) or bigger CPU
MINIMUM 1.0G memory (2 recommended)
HUGE, fast harddrive
HIGH-END video card
Quality high output PSU
Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic