Windows XP Pro x64 & Clevo D900K

I can't believe no one has replied!
[*] What do you think of Win XP Pro x64?
I love it! Wouldn't use anything else.
[*] How was it to install? Easy? Hard? can a novice user do it?
It's easy unless you are a total clutz. A novice should have no problems whatsoever unless it's a first "raid 0 install" In that case, this guide will make it easy. http://www.planetamd64.com/index.php?showtopic=8636

[*] Do we lose any of our warranties/guarantees if we use XP Pro 64?
I'd have to say no since Sager has beta drivers posted on the website. They just won't guarantee everything will work in x64.
[*] Are there any issues in finding drivers for XP Pro 64?
Only TV cards and some games.
[*] If I can install Windows XP Home myself, will I have a problem using Windows XP Pro 64? Home doesn't support dual core processors period. Do not use it with any X2 CPU. Use XP Pro if you have to use a 32 bit OS.
[*] Are there any issues you experienced using XP Pro 64? Anything incompatible? No. It's the most reliable and stable OS I've ever used.
[*] After using XP Pro 64, would you go back to XP Home or XP Pro 32? Never in a million years.
[*] Would you recommend XP Pro 64 if the main use of the laptop is gaming?
I can't answer that. I'm not a gamer. For x64 gaming issues go here...
http://www.planetamd64.com/index.php?showforum=8
[*] How did XP Pro 64 perform with games? are there any games that it had issues with? See above link. [*] Any other comments about XP Pro 64?

If in doubt, Dual-boot XP Pro and X 64? Today's HDs have plenty of room and you can always use external drives for pix/movies or anthing that takes up space. Install x64 and never look back! The drivers you need to get started are on Sager's website. If you check around you will find many more current drivers from Via/Nvidia etc. Sager's will function and get you started. x64 is faster and far more stable. You'll love it!!!

For all your x64 needs... go here... and register.

http://www.planetamd64.com/

Confirm it´s nice to install, works stable, all drivers working except TVTuner.

But lots of programs do not work and there are not many 64bit native progs. New games are supported (playing Oblivion, FarCry, Riddick here), old ones.... could make problems. This is not the optimal system for a gamer.

I don´t switch just for lack of TVTuner driver, otherwise I would switch for sure...

Windows 64 bit VS Linux

If you are planning to use a 64 bit OS for scientific applications then I would not recommend using Windows 64 as it is not a true 64 bit OS.

1. It breaks some standards (I can be more detailed if you want);

2. Some people found out that if you work with 64 bit precision then some system dll's reduce the precision to 53 bit. I do not know if they have fixed this.

I would *at least* recommend a dual boot with a Linux distro which is fully 64 bit.
I guess the stuff above may affect also other applications, not only scientific ones.
Ciao

xylella

xylella: I would definitely like some more info on both of those. Links are especially welcome!

I'm into Math & Astronomy, and have noticed some differences when running Mathematica/Maple on WinXP64 vs Mathematica/Octave on Linux AMD64 that I've been beating my head against the wall about. I would love for them all to be explained by this.

I would think that most of these scientific tools would be providing their own 64bit libraries, but if they're being crippled by the OS, I would guess that wouldn't matter.


troymc

troy,
I report two pieces of discussions among the developers of R :

START **************************************

1. [...] MinGW will almost certainly follow the MS
idea that long's are 4 bytes even under Win64, unlike what every other
64-bit OS does. It will take a fair bit of time and someone with the
motivation to do so to sort out the consequences (which may not be
very great but even establishing that may be non-trivial).

2. Over on R-help, the old problem of floating point precision has come up
again (see my example below, where calling RSiteSearch can change the
results of the var() function).

The problem here is that on Windows many DLLs set the precision of the
fpu to 53 bit mantissas, whereas R normally uses 64 bit mantissas.
(Some Microsoft docs refer to these as 64 bit and 80 bit precision
respectively, because they count the sign and exponent bits too).

When R calls out to the system, if one of these DLLs gets control, it
may change the precision and not change it back. This can happen for
example in calls to display a file dialog or anything else where a DLL
can set a hook; it's very hard to predict.

I consider this to be very poor programming; DLLs shouldn't
unnecessarily change the operating environment of their caller.
However, it's something we've got to live with.

Currently R itself sets the FPU precision to 64 bit mantissas when it
starts and preserves it across dyn.load calls. I think we need to be
more aggressive about protecting the precision. Specifically, in any
case where we know we are directly calling an external function we
should protect the precision across the call.

[...]

Yet another problem is that Microsoft's .NET only supports 53 bit
precision, according to some documentation I've read.

END *************************************************

you can have a look at these threads for more info
http://tolstoy.newcastle.edu.au/R/devel/06/02/4259.html
http://tolstoy.newcastle.edu.au/R/devel/05/08/2093.html


hope this helps

ciao
xylella

Thanks! That info is much appreciated!

They need a ":drowning:" or ":inovermyhead:" or ":buriedwithwork:" smiley!


troymc

Margaret Lewis AMD's Director of commercial solutions strategy is quoted in the May issue of Computer Shopper saying that "New 64 bit programs may not reach the critical mass in the consumer market until 2007 or 2008.