New PC -- 64 bit or not?

Tristan · 03-05-2004, 22:55

Over the next month or two I will be buying components to build myself a new PC. I've already decided on the majority of things I want, and it's just a matter of finding the best prices, but there's one sticking point I'm still not quite decided on; do I want a nice, fast, 32-bit Athlon, or a shiny new 64-bit Athlon?

I've read that, at present, there is not much speed advantage for the Athlon 64. Is this likely to change when XP64 is released? Are games and so forth likely to have special routines that allow them to take advantage of the extra processing power?

Also, for the Linux gurus, how do the AMD64 distributions compare to the regular x86 variety? Can they run all x86 software without any problems? I need to use Linux for Uni work (specifically, Matlab and LaTeX), and I want to make sure it'll all work okay.

In short, should I go for 64-bit, or not? I want your opinions! Thanks in advance,

Tristan

Defiant · 03-05-2004, 22:59

I think it will be along time before we see dedicated 64bit games coming out. In fact by the time dedicated 64bit games do come out you will be thinking about upgrading your cpu again anyway

**Paul** · 03-05-2004, 23:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tristan

In short, should I go for 64-bit, or not? I want your opinions! Thanks in advance,

In short - not.

Tristan · 03-05-2004, 23:20

Any particular reasons?

**Paul** · 03-05-2004, 23:32

IMO there simply isn't enough 64 bit stuff about (like operating systems

) to make it worth it. If you buy one now, then virtually everything you run on it will be 32 bit - and by the time it's 64 bit capabilities are well supported, you will probably be replacing it again anyway. It's your choice of course, but I would stick with 32 bit for now.

jamesclarke555 · 03-05-2004, 23:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pem

IMO there simply isn't enough 64 bit stuff about (like operating systems

) to make it worth it. If you buy one now, then virtually everything you run on it will be 32 bit - and by the time it's 64 bit capabilities are well supported, you will probably be replacing it again anyway. It's your choice of course, but I would stick with 32 bit for now.

Yeah, but the limited FSB on the 32-bit Athlon's suck. I say if you want 32-bit go for a P4 with 800MHz FSB and HT, if you want 32/64-bit go for A-64 (preferably the FX-51 or 53).