Should I use 32bit windows 8 or 64bit windows 8?

[yoda313]

I finally bought a new (new to me) computer on ebay. I got a core2quad q6600 dell 2.4ghz desktop. I also bought windows 8 pro separately.

I have the 64bit and 32bit discs coming. Which I should I install?


I'm not going to be gaming on this computer. Its just going to be for surfing and video watching and encoding. So I need enough ram to be stable and functional but not a 'killer' pc.


I also just bought 2gb of ram since it only comes with .5gb and win8 32bit needs a minimum of a 1gig.


I've never used a 64bit os. I know you'd need all 64bit os codecs and the like.


I think I've asked or read about it before but the only true reason for using 64bit os is to max the ram right?


If you don't need tons of ram is 32bit ok?


Reason I ask is if its going to be a hassle to reinstall and reactivate it if I decide to go from 32bit to 64bit I'd rather go 64bit the first time.


Also I'll have 2.5 gb initially. Is this ok for win8 32bit for video encoding and hd viewing? (I'll have a hd card that handles h264 on its own, not cuda encoding though just playback).


Should I start with 64bit and also buy another 2gb?


fyi its ddr2 sd ram and the screen shot they provided from the bios said it wasn't linked ram or whatever that phrase is for enhanced multisticks - but it does have 4 ram slots (dimm).


Thanks.


(fyi it was 50.00 plus shipping for the computer without a harddrive and 48.00 for windows 8 pro on a separate auction. I have a harddrive I'll be using for the os drive).

Edit - also would it be worth looking into one of those touchpads they have to emulate a touch screen? They are expensive though at least the ones I've seen at bestbuy, do they have cheap knockoffs??


Or would I most likely be staying in the desktop environment for doing video work and surfing and stay away from the "formerly known as" metro gui?

Edit - another thing - How large is the blue update to get the suedo start button? Is that a couple of gigs or is it a smaller patch? Shouldn't take me long to download it on my speed though, but the if update is a long drawn out process I want to plan for it after I get the computer going.


Also I should have it this coming Friday hopefully.

[usually_quiet]

You should run the Windows 8 compatibility test with your new system first before installing either 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 8. ...but unless you install at least 4GB of RAM, there is no point in installing a 64-bit OS.

You can use Classic Shell (free) to add the start button and menu, or Start 8, or something else I can't remember. I often use a Windows 8 laptop with a built-in touchpad, and it is tricky to work that way. A mouse may suit you better.

[yoda313]

You should run the Windows 8 compatibility test with your new system first before installing either 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 8. ...but unless you install at least 4GB of RAM, there is no point in installing a 64-bit OS.

How could I do that test without an os on it? Can you put it on a flash drive or something? Its going to be blank when I get it.


Anyway would 4gb make 8 run more smoothly then 2.5? Or do you not notice it?


Like I said I won't be doing much that will be graphically intensive like photo editing or nle stuff.


But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have the option to do it.

Edit - I should be ok though according these specs for 32bit or 64bit - from windows.com:


Windows 8 system requirements






If you want to run Windows 8 on your PC, here's what it takes:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2 (more info)
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

[johns0]

Buy 6 more gigs of ram and go with win8 64,you don't need to download 64bit codecs,only thing is 64bit drivers.You can install from a flash drive as long as your mb support usb mounting.

[yoda313]

Buy 6 more gigs of ram and go with win8 64,you don't need to download 64bit codecs,only thing is 64bit drivers.

Will that give it more zip?


I guess I was wrong about the codecs than.


So 8gigs total for win 8 will make it hum along at the right speed than? This is just for hd video and encoding though, I don't need it for gaming or other graphical workhorses.

Thanks.

[usually_quiet]

How could I do that test without an os on it? Can you put it on a flash drive or something? Its going to be blank when I get it.

I missed that you have no other OS for the new system. If you don't have anything else to use instead, you may as well install Windows 8 and find out if it works that way.

Anyway would 4gb make 8 run more smoothly then 2.5? Or do you not notice it?



Like I said I won't be doing much that will be graphically intensive like photo editing or nle stuff.


But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have the option to do it.

I honestly do not notice any difference between my desktop with 4GB of RAM plus Windows 8 Pro Pack 32-bit and the laptop with 8GB of RAM plus Windows 8 64-bits, but I don't do much on the laptop that would benefit from more RAM.

[yoda313]

I honestly do not notice any difference between my desktop with 4GB of RAM plus Windows 8 Pro Pack 32-bit and the laptop with 8GB of RAM plus Windows 8 64-bits, but I don't do much on the laptop that would benefit from more RAM.

Thanks.


I won't be getting the computer for a few days so I have time to think about it.


Right now I'll have enough to run win 8 32bit comfortably. I think what I'll do is once I get the computer I'll start with 32bit. I just wont' load any programs that need licenses on it until i'm satisfied with everything. That way if I want to load the 64bit instead I won't have to reactivate anything besides windows itself.


But to Johns0's point I think I'll keep an eye out for ram deals the next few days. I have 4 slots to work with. I'll be starting with 2.5gbs and see how that goes.

Thanks everyone.

[jagabo]

If you want to run Windows 8 on your PC, here's what it takes:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2 (more info)
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Lol. Yes, you can boot Win8 with that configuration (and a lot of time). But you can't do much after that.

2.5 GB of DRAM is marginal. Get more if you can. Almost everything I have runs in 64 bit Win7. I have a few old 16 bit programs that don't run (16 bit software won't run at all in 64 bit windows, you have to use a virtual machine). And there often aren't 64 bit drivers for old hardware. But otherwise you should be ok with 64 bit Win8. Oh, I have a few 32 bit Windows programs that don't run real smoothly, or are a little slow, under 64 bit windows (because 32 bit programs run in a partial VM under 64 bit Windows).

[yoda313]

Lol. Yes, you can boot Win8 with that configuration (and a lot of time). But you can't do much after that.

2.5 GB of DRAM is marginal. Get more if you can

So that is a true bare minimum than huh?


I'll definitely keep an eye on ram. At the very least I'll probably at least pick up another 2gb along the way.

[yoda313]

Ok I just bought a two pack of 2gb ddr2 pc5300 ram which matches the single 2gb that I bought earlier. So I'll have 6gb matching ram (though not that linked stuff).
I'm not sure what the installed ram on the machine is I just know its ddr2 sdram. So if I read all the ram stuff right the lowest speed rating is what they'll default too right?


So it will be better to take out the .5gb stick if its less than pc5300 and just go with the three 2gb sticks correct?

Then it will make sense to install 64bit win8 with 6gb of ram then I take it?

[jagabo]

How do you have 2.5 GB? Two 256 MB sticks and two 1 GB sticks? Then you probably cant add more memory without removing some of what you have.

I would try installing 64 bit Windows (you can run it for a month without activation) and see if you can live with 2.5 GB.

[yoda313]

How do you have 2.5 GB? Two 256 MB sticks and two 1 GB sticks? Then you probably cant add more memory without removing some of what you have.

I would try installing 64 bit Windows (you can run it for a month without activation) and see if you can live with 2.5 GB.

Check the update, I bumped, sorry.


I'll have 6gb total.


Its coming with a .5gb stick in it and I had bought 2gb initially, I just bought a 2 2gb stick pack so I'll have 6.5gb total.


Though if the .5gb that came with the computer will be lower than pc5300 (which is what all 3 are that I bought, at 667mhz) I should not use it correct?


I do have 4 dimm slots fyi.

[johns0]

Leave out the 512mb ram and go with 6gb and install win8 64,you might want to install classic shell after to bypass the crappy metro screen and have your regular desktop with start button.

[yoda313]

Leave out the 512mb ram and go with 6gb and install win8 64,you might want to install classic shell after to bypass the crappy metro screen and have your regular desktop with start button.

thanks.
is that shell available without the .1 blue update?

[johns0]

Yup,it's a free program,better than the payware stuff.

[Kerry56]

I actually prefer StartisBack over ClassicShell. StartisBack will cost a whopping $3 for a license that will cover two computers.

ClassicShell kept hanging a bit when opening the programs list, and I've had ZERO issues with StartisBack.

[johns0]

The newer classic shell fixed the hanging problem.

[hudsonf]

Leave out the 512mb ram and go with 6gb and install win8 64,you might want to install classic shell after to bypass the crappy metro screen and have your regular desktop with start button.

I totally agree with johns0. I'm using Classic Shell with Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 preview without any problems. I haven't tried StartisBack so I can't comment. The final release of Windows 8.1 is due around the 18th of October.

[jagabo]

With modern motherboards you always want to install memory in matched pairs (except for those motherboards with triple channel memory where you want 3 sticks). Installing single sticks cripples memory bandwidth.

[johns0]

With older systems it doesn't matter as long as there is no conflict since this a computer from a few years ago.

[jagabo]

It's been a very long time since dual channel memory wasn't standard. A socket 775 motherboard is certainly dual channel. Using single sticks is supported but memory bandwidth is cut in half.

[johns0]

Ya and performance is cut by about 5%,i'm running a single 8 gb ram and its about 5% slower as compared to when i had dual channel ram.Same goes for ddr2 and ddr.

[yoda313]

@jagabo and johns0 - the bios screen shot they provide shows that the memory is "single" mode. I assume that means it isn't dual channel memory than is that correct? (oh and below it it says none of the fields are changeable.

Unfortunately I don't have a motherboard model.

---------------------------------------------------------------

One other thing I bought a 1tb sata drive today for the computer. It will be my main drive but I will transplant another I'm using currently for all my encoding and downloading.

I have two questions on this. It says its sata 6gb/s but backward compatible to sata 3gb/s.

Is the oldest sata 3gb/s?

I'm not obsessed with having the top speed I just want to know what the "first" sata was and whether or not I'd need to get a sata pci card for it if its a different generation.

-----------------------

My other question is about partitioning.

I have a 500gb drive that I will transplant to this computer but I think I want to partition the 1tb harddrive I just bought that will become my c drive for the os.

Would it make sense to partition the new 1tb to say 80gb for the os and programs and leave the rest for encoding projects and storage?

Then I would essentially have three drives to play with, the first 80gb partition for the os and programs, the remainder of the 1tb and the 500gb transplant.

What do you think?

(by the way I have a couple of 2tb external drives so storage isn't really a problem for me )
------------

One last thing on partioning - is that done on the bios or directly from the win8 install setup screen?

I don't want to take out the new drive until my computer and os discs come. I want to do it in one shot.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

[johns0]

It's single channel memory and the sata drives are backwards compatible,win8 will partition the hdd for you,you don't need to partition your hdd since you have a couple others.

[DarrellS]

I would not partition the 1TB drive. I would either buy another small drive for the OS or if you have access to another computer, I would move the data from the 500GB drive to the 1TB drive and install the OS on the 500GB drive. You could partition the 500GB drive if you want and make one partition C:\ for the OS and one partition D:\ for storage and the 1TB drive E:\ for storage. I have two different Boot drives that I can interchange (I have a case with an external input on the top) and neither are partitioned. One is 160GB and one is 500GB. I also have four 1TB storage drives.

I have the Q6600 on a Gigabyte EP35-DS3L MB with 4GB of DDR2 1066 RAM running in dual channel mode. As Jagabo stated, this is the way to run memory on a 775 MB. If your memory is from two different manufactures or two different makes then put one set on 1 and 3 and the other set on 2 and 4.

I'm running 32bit XP Pro so more memory isn't an option but if I was going to upgrade to Windows 8, I would definitely install the 64bit version and install as much memory as I could afford. IMO, there is no reason to upgrade if you're only going to use the 32bit version.

Out of curiosity, why did you decide to buy a five year old PC instead of an I-5 or I-7? The Q6600 is a fine CPU, mine has served me well for a long time and is a good overclocker if needed but if I could afford to build a better PC with a modern CPU, I would.

Buy an after market CPU cooler. Either a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (an older one if you can find it since the new ones are a bitch to install. Don't know why they screwed up a good mounting design.) or a Corsair or Cooler Master liquid cooler. My bother's Dell burnt up a couple of months ago and I had to build him one with parts I had laying around and a few parts from Newegg. The 3.4GHz Pentium D was better than the P4 he had.

[fritzi93]

Would it make sense to partition the new 1tb to say 80gb for the os and programs and leave the rest for encoding projects and storage?

By preference, I'd use an SSD or a smallish hard drive for the OS (so long as it isn't old and slow).

But yeah, I've partitioned a big hard drive before into a small partition for the OS, and the second for capture, whatever. Captures can fragment pretty readily. Never had any problems, but don't do more than 2 partitions.

So is Win7 not available any more? I'd go with that if possible.

[TreeTops]

Win 7 is still available on BestBuy on line. But only OEM. I don't know the ramifications of installing a OEM version. Maybe Fritz can help there.

[fritzi93]

I've never used OEM, but SFAIK, the difference is you're tied to one computer and get no support. Not that I've ever used Microsoft support.

[johns0]

You can install win7 oem and when you get a better computer you can use it on that one as well,i been doing that with my win7 64 oem since it came out from an amd phenom 9850 to a amd phenom 11 to what i'm using now,a 2600k.

[usually_quiet]

Win 7 is still available on BestBuy on line. But only OEM. I don't know the ramifications of installing a OEM version. Maybe Fritz can help there.

Best Buy is not exactly the last place on Earth selling Windows 7 nor likely the least expensive source. If yoda313 finds he made a mistake by getting Windows 8, there are others (probably many others) still selling Windows 7 online at present. I know Newegg and B&H Photo Video have both retail and OEM licenses of most versions.


However, I think yoda313 will probably be OK with his bargain purchase OS. Windows 8 is not as horrible as some here make it out to be. Once a Start Button and Start Menu are returned to the Desktop via a third party program and file associations are changed, it is quite usable. There is no built-in video or DVD support with Windows Media Player, but most long-time videohelp.com members avoid anything Microsoft has ever created for video, and wouldn't miss these things.