HP Computer

[SD1300]

Hey gang
I'm looking at buying a HP desktop. One of the options is Vista Home 32 bit or 64 bit.
Which should I opt for and why.
I intend to load it up with memory and the fastest processor I can get since I only buy a desktop every 5-6 years.
Thanks
Mark

 

[omslaw]

Depends on what you want to do with it. 64-bit will support more memory. However, some applications may not run correctly or at all under 64-bit OS.

Start Here and look to see if you find any red flags. Also, check the websites for the apps you want to run. See if they have any issues with 64-bit Vista...

 

[Glyn]

The wife just picked up a 64 bit HP laptop. That sucker is much faster than my 32 bit with a comparable chip and a little less memory.

The 64 bit OS still needs to be tweaked a little bit, but if you have the patience to deal with it it could be the way to go.

 

[TA_GunSurgeon]

If your gonna buy an HP you should buy the Blackbird this computer is sick check it out here HP with VoodooDNA It's also extremley expensive$$$

 

[outtahand]

Honestly, since HP merged with compaq, the quality of HP branded personal computers has plummeted. Anyone have any better knowledge on this quality issue than me?

 

[Texas_Heat]

i know its not one of the choices but tell them you want XP pro, if they cant, look for someone that will.. i can tell you just to keep up with service i run vista ultamate and can give you 10 issues that a everyday user will have. but if you just need that brand/laptop 32bit is fine.

 

[outtahand]

The wife just picked up a 64 bit HP laptop. That sucker is much faster than my 32 bit with a comparable chip and a little less memory.

The 64 bit OS still needs to be tweaked a little bit, but if you have the patience to deal with it it could be the way to go.

I have trouble seeing the benefit of a 64 bit machine unless you have 64 bit addressable sw... and how can you say a 32 bit with a comparable chip - that is the chip? isn't it? A word is a word is a word, unless the code knows to glom them together... Somebody please 'splain me this?

As for speed, no machine can ultimately be faster than the bus speed.
Processor speed is useful if you're... ok, if you're playing video games online.
Nevermind.

 

[Mr Bogus]

Honestly, since HP merged with compaq, the quality of HP branded personal computers has plummeted. Anyone have any better knowledge on this quality issue than me?

I was a warranty tech and I agree,, HP sort of went down hill with that merger..

I am now running IBM Lenovo boxes on my refresh jobs. I also run quite a bit of Dell stuff but frankly, they are basically an el cheapo workstation solution.

The Lenovo stuff (so far) seems to have pretty good bang for the buck.

On ultra high end home stuff? I still build my own for the most part.. For $1500 you can build a pretty solid game system..

 

[outtahand]

I was a warranty tech and I agree,, HP sort of went down hill with that merger..

I am now running IBM Lenovo boxes on my refresh jobs. I also run quite a bit of Dell stuff but frankly, they are basically an el cheapo workstation solution.

The Lenovo stuff (so far) seems to have pretty good bang for the buck.

On ultra high end home stuff? I still build my own for the most part.. For $1500 you can build a pretty solid game system..

I've only bought one computer new. I ain't sayin' how much I paid, but it was a Mac with a 20" Apple monitor back in 1997, loaded with photoshop, quark, illustrator, premiere, framemaker, etc.
What I do most stuff on is a second hand shuttle xp. It's got I/O ports out the wazoo - I could almost run a tv/sound studio off of it. Plus, I really like the small form factor. I've got maya, flash, etc, etc on this thing.

Plus, I've got two other boxes running xp, and two macs - one powerpc proc, one g5 proc. I still say, have at least one of each. They are completely different tools. I mean, to say you have to pick, is like saying you have to pick metric or standard wrenches. Sometimes you need one, sometimes you need the other.

 

[Mr Bogus]

I probably have 8 or 10 Shuttle SFF boxes running currently... only problem is that expansion slots are pretty valuable.. Have not yet done the "Mac" thing yet.. suppose I should start playing with one some day..

 

[captain]

I have trouble seeing the benefit of a 64 bit machine unless you have 64 bit addressable sw... and how can you say a 32 bit with a comparable chip - that is the chip? isn't it? A word is a word is a word, unless the code knows to glom them together... Somebody please 'splain me this?

As for speed, no machine can ultimately be faster than the bus speed.
Processor speed is useful if you're... ok, if you're playing video games online.
Nevermind.

The response of the OS and just your base image will respond faster. If you have 64bit applications then you will definately see a great improvement in most cases. If you run 32 bit apps on a 64 bit ssytem then the performance will actually be degraded beacuse the 64 bit has to emulate. Trust me on this one we ran weeks of benchmarks on this at the office. At the end of the day I do my best to sway people away from Vista, I have all of the versions and we have tested the different versions in different scenarios. While there are some neat functions in Vista it was just a PITA to deal with. To get the nag messages to go away you have to give up some security.. Why couldnt they have just done it with some options.

The dell precision laptops are some high end performing machines so make sure you check them out....

cap

 

[outtahand]

If you have 64bit applications then you will definately see a great improvement in most cases.

If I read you right, if you have already invested in 32 bit aps, to see the speed gain you'd basically have to buy all new software?

 

[Mr Bogus]

We purchase all systems with 32 bit XP Professional... Like Doug, vista has been a bit of a headache on all approaches... I do not recall feeling this lousy about an OS since WindowsME came out... Hope the successor is as good as XP has been..

 

[captain]

If I read you right, if you have already invested in 32 bit aps, to see the speed gain you'd basically have to buy all new software?

That is correct, actually when you run 32 bit apps on a 64 bit OS then the 64bit system has to emulate the 32bit environment which in turn is actually slower than if you ran the app on a 32 bit system to start with.

You will see a speed improvement in general windows functions but not necessarily in the applications.

XP Pro is still the king of the desktop, if you dont need more than 3.5 gig of ram and you arent running 64 bit apps I would stick with 32 bit XP pro.

 

[Professor]

I agree here! I've got a couple of quad core XP64 boxes running 64 bit apps and they are fantastic on the comparable boxes running XP32 and 32 bit app (maya and solidworks) But running the 32 bit version of solidworks takes a hit on the 64 bit box. One guy loves his 64 bit box (the power user in those two apps) the other wants me to load the 32 bit OS back on his. He doesn't use the two 64 bit apps much but was insistant on getting 64 bit loaded


I'm not looking forward to our Vista rollout. At least they kepp putting it off.

 

[Texas_Heat]

Yes the 64 will load the OS faster but my computer is usually already running and I don’t have any 64bit program so its only going to run 32bit anyway, its hard to even tell a difference when im running 2 duel core optron275’s with 8gig DDR.. I would stay with 32bit unless you have a program that needs it..