64 or 32 bit processor?

[ShadyTails]

should i get a 32 bit processor so i can get more Operating Frequency for less money, or a 64 bit with less operating frequency? which would be better for gaming? also the brand is AMD Athlon XP/AMD ATHLON 64, and whats the difference between sempron and amd 64?

[blue60007]

If you are going AMD, I think all of the new ones are 64 bit. To be able to use 64 bits you'd have to have a 64 bit OS (there is one , but there are a ton of horror stories to go along with it) and 64 bit games (only one I can think of). I would stick with a 32 bit OS, so there isn't going to be an performance difference between a 32 and 64 bit CPU.

Sempron are the budget CPUs and the athlon 64's are the top of the line ones.

What's your budget for a processor?

Oh, and a slower (lower frequency) Sempron is probably going to perform slower than an equal priced Athlon (lower speed than the Sempron) because the Athlon's have a much bigger cache.

[tomster2300]

You can run anything on a 64 bit processor. You just can't run it at its full potential until a 64 bit operating system comes out to support it. Just wanted to clarify that. Anything will run on a 64 bit processor (including games) great if not better than on a 32 bit processor. The current Win64 is disasterous, yet the future is bright.

With a 64 bit processor you'll have to upgrade your motherboard as well to one which accepts 64 bit. A basic 32 bit board isn't compatible. If your budget is large enough and you want to make the leap to 64 bit, then by all means go ahead.

[catacon]

64-bit isn't that useful now because of the lack of software/OS's. However, like blue said, if you are going AMD you almost can't avoid getting a 64-bit processor.

[blue60007]

Right, keep in mind, even if you have a 64 bit OS, you have to have 64 bit programs, otherwise it drops back to 32 bit mode. There's only one game right now with a 64 bit version.

[jayb1234]

I would lean toward the 64 bit. Although there aren't many things that use it yet, they should start becoming more common in the fairly near future.

[ShadyTails]

well, im not sure exactly, ill have around 500 dollars i think but i already have some pretty important parts from my old pc...
a
120 gig 7200 rpm harddrive
ati radeon 9250: 256 DDR
DVD Burner
monitor
keyboard
mouse

the motherboard and Processor suck XD thats whats keeping this thing from running good so i plan on building my own and really the only parts i would need is Ram, Motherboard, Processor, im sick of upgrading this crap gateway with good parts and seeing little performance boost, its 4 years old, so i figure i can build my own now ^^, oh yeah and id need a case >> lol

[jayb1234]

You are likely to need a new case, power supply and Windows too. A lot of the major makers use proprietary motherboards and power supplies with non-standard pin assignments on the power connectors and the Windows is probably keyed to the BIOS of the gateway motherboard and wouldn't work on another machine. I'm not certain if the Gateways use nonstandard pin assignments or not, but you should look into that before you try to reuse the case and power supply.

[ShadyTails]

Originally Posted by jayb1234 You are likely to need a new case, power supply and Windows too. A lot of the major makers use proprietary motherboards and power supplies with non-standard pin assignments on the power connectors and the Windows is probably keyed to the BIOS of the gateway motherboard and wouldn't work on another machine. I'm not certain if the Gateways use nonstandard pin assignments or not, but you should look into that before you try to reuse the case and power supply.

allright heres the specs of the original system so no one gets confused

Windows ME
20 gig 4500 RPM harddrive
1.2 GHZ AMD ATHLON
Motherboard with build in graphics and sound
CDRW
200 Watt powersupply
128 MB RAM PC133

Now

Windows XP Home Edition
120 Gig 7200 RPM harddrive
1.2 ghz amd athlon
motherboard with build in graphics and sound (graphics not used)
ATI radeon 9250
DVD Burner
CDRW
300 Watt Powersupply
384 MB RAM PC133

so i was thinking of taking out the 120 Gig harddrive, graphics card, windows xp, and dvd burner for my computer and then putting the gateway almost originally the way it was with windows me and then i would buy a case, motherboard and processor, and if the motherboard dosent come with built in sound, a sound card, and powersupply, ohyeah and case fans >>, and i would use this monitor mouse and keyboard until i got more money

[gigabyte9]

There is WIndows XP Pro x64 bit edition for about $140.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by ShadyTails should i get a 32 bit processor so i can get more Operating Frequency for less money, or a 64 bit with less operating frequency? which would be better for gaming?...

A 64 AMD is faster. It is also a very fast 32 bit CPU. It runs everything availible today and runs it good. They also have a better instruction set for improved performance even if one had the same speed rank (xxxx+) as an old technology 32 bit CPU. Not sure why 64 bit OSs are in question: it took about 10 years for software, including OSs, to catch up to 32 bit CPUs, but nobody said "wait" when they (32bit CPUs) came out. Pound for proverbial pound, the 64 is faster.

[arthur666]

So, if you have an Athlon64, 32bit OS (XP Pro) and a 64bit supporting game (Far Cry), does the game run at 64?

[gigabyte9]

No you need a 64 bit OS.