In dire need of help. Am I being conned?

[copyright_1978]

The computer shop I am buying from said that with an extra £150 they can install Windows XP 64bit pro. The money isn't a prob but I have heard that XP 32 bit for the moment is better. I did research on the comp and all the drivers are working and installed. I even played around with the comp, seems to work well. Should I just get it?

I read some old reviews on 64bit, but there are no newer ones I can find that are updated. What would you guys suggest?

I really need one for uni that has a lot of processing power for database learning.

[LocoCoyote]

Good question. Chances are MS will give you a copy of it's windows XP 64bit edition. (google it)

I am assuming of course that you are getting a 64bit cpu?

Right now there are not many 64bit capable apps out there. Your perfromance gains will most likely be small.

I would just leave it alone..unless you are palnning on moving to a 64bit linux distro. Might be some advantage there.

[copyright_1978]

Thanks LocoCoyote. I'm still searching for info on this as I write. The processor is an AMD Athlon FX-55, 1 terbyte HDD, 4 GIG ram, SLi 2 x Nvidia 6800GT so it's a pretty goos PC I hear? Now it's costing me £3000 so I was thinking, shall I go with the XP32 right now, wait a year and fork out more for the 64bit? Or just get the 64bit now and be done with it.

All the reviews on most sites are really old, i.e. they were written the very next day XP64 was released. I wish there was a more up-to-date progeress report because the 64bit scene from the manufacturers point seems to have progressed rapidly.

[glc]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Wait till you *need* a 64 bit OS before you upgrade.

[copyright_1978]

Well I bought it y-day with windows XP 64 bit and a trial copy of Windows Server 2003 64bit. It works fantastically. All the drivers are available, and I just benchmarked my Oracle Database against a 32bit one and also Vmware with a 32bit one and I am VERY VERY happy.

I was concerend with the one thing that everybody was talking about - lack of application support for 64-bit. But I've noticed that although the applications are 32-bit, the main engine (XP-64) does the same background processing for the OS rubbish much much faster. Giving a less hoggy system.

Thanks guys.