# 32 bit OS on a 64 bit processor. **URL:** \ **Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281 "2009-02-18T19:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/1 "2009-02-18T19:18:51Z")
I’m building a new rig, finally stepping into 4 years ago with a 64 bit processor. I went to UB to get myself a free copy of XP 64 bit since I’m a student, but they only offer Vista and only in 32 bit. No thanks. That pretty much seals the deal for me to build this thing as a hackintosh running OSX, but I’m still wondering does it matter? Are you actually losing any performance if you run a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit processor? ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/2 "2009-02-18T19:29:05Z")
Looks like it wasn’t too hard to find an XP Pro x64 Corporate torrent. Sounds like corporate installations don’t require an activation? If so I’ll be dual booting XP Pro & Leopard on the new rig. :tup: ---
**Author:** ![Red99GTVert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ea924/32.png) [@Red99GTVert](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Red99GTVert)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/3 "2009-02-18T19:41:26Z")
A 64 Bit OS comes in handy if you want to use more than ~3.2GB of system memory. Never used XP 64 Bit, but i’ve used Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64 and it uses all 4GB of my RAM. I never use all 4GB during normal use but it’s nice to know it’s there when I need it. Other than that, make sure your hardware is supported and has 64 bit drivers. XP x64 was notorious for poor driver support. ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/4 "2009-02-18T19:51:55Z")
Cool. I’m putting 4 gigs in my new computer so there’s at least a tangible reason to use an x64 OS. ---
**Author:** ![Moruitelda](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/moruitelda/32/5348_2.png) [@Moruitelda](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Moruitelda)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/5 "2009-02-18T20:14:52Z")
Yes, I’m very pleased with Windows 7 x64, but you should never use XP x64. Vista at least. ---
**Author:** ![\_Karu](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/_karu/32/7602_2.png) [@\_Karu](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/_Karu)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/6 "2009-02-18T20:18:33Z")
Fry, you should be able to get both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Windows XP Pro at UB Micro. ---
**Author:** ![BillysRevenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@BillysRevenge](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/BillysRevenge)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/7 "2009-02-18T20:31:51Z")
> [@Fry](#): > > Cool. I’m putting 4 gigs in my new computer so there’s at least a tangible reason to use an x64 OS. Vista 32 does recognize all 4 of mine. Not sure if it utilizes all of them. Check demonoid for a 64 bit ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/8 "2009-02-18T20:45:39Z")
> [@\_Karu\_](#): > > Fry, you should be able to get both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Windows XP Pro at UB Micro. Nope. I was just there a couple of hours ago. Vista x86 Business and Ultimate only, no XP, no x64 anything. Unless the dude I talked to didn’t know what he was saying. So why not XP x64? Just the driver issues? With Vista generally being slower I really see no point to it. I’d jump to Windows 7 if I don’t go XP. ---
**Author:** ![Joe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/joe/32/7219_2.png) [@Joe](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Joe)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/9 "2009-02-18T20:48:51Z")
Vista is only slower on machines that can’t handle it. With a new rig, there is no noticable performance difference between vista and XP. Plus the drivers are a million times better in the 64 bit edition than they are in XP. Not to mention, when 7 final version does come out, you can do a direct upgrade as opposed to having to format an XP box and start over with a clean install. ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/10 "2009-02-18T20:53:49Z")
Meh. I can reformat a box with my eyes closed. Clean install FTW. I guess I could step up to Vista, but I really don’t want to. Maybe I will kiss XP goodbye though. 😢 The disk I still format with is stamped 2002. :nostalgia: ---
**Author:** ![\_Karu](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/_karu/32/7602_2.png) [@\_Karu](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/_Karu)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/11 "2009-02-18T21:02:06Z")
> [@Fry](#): > > Nope. I was just there a couple of hours ago. Vista x86 Business and Ultimate only, no XP, no x64 anything. Unless the dude I talked to didn’t know what he was saying. > > So why not XP x64? Just the driver issues? With Vista generally being slower I really see no point to it. I’d jump to Windows 7 if I don’t go XP. Interesting. So, not even 32-bit XP? I got the 32-bit and 62-bit versions of XP Pro and Vista Ultimate from UB Micro. I suppose they might have changed the agreement with MS. ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/12 "2009-02-18T21:20:14Z")
Yeah the guy said something like they can’t get XP anymore, so that contract probably expired or something. Well I guess you can’t stop progress. I think I’ll dual boot OSX and Vista 64 on my new machine. Assuming the OSX image I have works like it’s supposed to and I can find a copy of Vista 64 I don’t have to pay for. ---
**Author:** ![garbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@garbs](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/garbs)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/13 "2009-02-18T22:00:57Z")
Definitely go the Hackintosh route. I had one before I bought my Mac and it was so solid that I could even update using Software Update. As long as your hardware is compatible and you like OS X, you can’t go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/14 "2009-02-18T22:20:06Z")
I love Apple engineering. I hate Apple marketing. No you are not smarter than the rest of us PC’s for owning a Mac product! No your iphone wasn’t the first of anything, and it doesn’t do anything unique! But I can’t argue with a really really user friendly Linux distro. I was reading the same as what you experienced, that you don’t need to hack it to get updates or keep it from shutting off in 30 days like you do with microsack. I’ll probably use primarily OSX and dual boot some form of windows for the stuff that requires it. ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/15 "2009-02-19T05:23:34Z")
If you need help getting the OS X stuff to work, let me know ---
**Author:** ![sickboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sickboy](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/sickboy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/16 "2009-02-19T05:43:41Z")
I installed XP 64 a few months back. Ended up reinstalling XP 32 two days later because of driver issues. There are a lot of people that never made drivers that work with XP 64… At least if you have older components. For me the deal breaker was the HP printer driver, not available for xp 64. I was actually surprised how many driver issues I had in the two days it was installed. ---
**Author:** ![JayS](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/jays/32/15375_2.png) [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/17 "2009-02-19T05:46:55Z")
> [@Fry](#): > > Meh. I can reformat a box with my eyes closed. Clean install FTW. I guess I could step up to Vista, but I really don’t want to. Maybe I will kiss XP goodbye though. 😢 The disk I still format with is stamped 2002. :nostalgia: Don’t be afraid of Vista because of all the idiots that did upgrade installs on their old shitboxes and cry about how crappy it is. I’ve been using it here at work 5 days a week 8 hours a day for the last 8 or 9 months and love it. Disable user account control so it doesn’t ask you “do you want to do this” for every task you try to run and it’s great. I hate going back to XP at home after using Vista all day at work. ---
**Author:** ![chino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bcef8e/32.png) [@chino](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/chino)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:54am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/18 "2009-02-19T05:54:55Z")
eh, i’m still not a vista fan and i had computers capable of running it just fine… but i also had not suffered through to vista SP1, maybe it’s better after that. regardless you should certainly run a 64 bit os, just check and make sure that your software is compatible (lol as if you bought any… :nono: ) ---
**Author:** ![Fry](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/fry/32/7284_2.png) [@Fry](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Fry)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/19 "2009-02-19T06:51:37Z")
> [@chino](#): > > (lol as if you bought any… :nono: ) Word. I’ll probably end up installing a hacked copy of Vista 64 so that I can run all the pirated software that I can’t find for my hacked copy of OSX. Sidenote: Ended up installing Linux at 1am last night because I couldn’t sleep and was moving data around my two hard drives in preparation for using one in my new box. Fucking windows couldn’t even create a partition on my older drive for some reason. Ubuntu installed no problem and had a partitioning app ready to go when I needed to make further changes this morning. I’m tempted to say the hell with Microsuck and Fapple and just run Linux. :eyebrow: ---
**Author:** ![boardjnky4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281/20 "2009-02-19T06:59:26Z")
you could make do with just Ubuntu but you will end up at some point having to get down and dirty with some scripts, hacking and re-compiling code. [Next page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/32-bit-os-on-a-64-bit-processor/63281.md?page=2)