new build...what OS

[jsteel77]

Hey all,
I am going to be building a new computer, mainly for using CS3, perhaps some games later on, some video editing and just general internet/email stuff.
I'm not too sure what OS to install with it... xp 32 or 64 bit, or vista 32 or 64 bit...I know Ive heard some bad stuff about vista in the past, so Im a little hesitant to intall it.
Any advice/suggestions on which OS seems to be the best fit for me right now?

[SkedAddled]

Given my own brief yet horrible experience with Vista, I'd recommend XP or your favorite flavor of Linux. Can't comment on 32-bit vs. 64-bit, as I've only used 32-bit flavors.

[BottomBracket]

I would go for Vista 64 bit, as it will be the most 'future-proof' as of now, as well as allowing you to use more than 4 GB of RAM. Much of the bad rap that Vista got was when it first came out they were installed on machines that could not handle it. Computers nowadays are quite powerful and quite able to run Vista well.

I am interested in your build, would you like to share it?

[jsteel77]

Thanks for the info,

for my build, I am having my coworkers son doing it, so we are just starting to sort out some of the things I need/ want

For sure though, I am going with a quad core q6600, 4 GB RAM, 2 Hard drives(not sure of the sizes yet..perhaps 250 and 500), a gigabyte p35 motherboard--not sure exactly yet on that though...and still trying to look at and decide on a video card. He's going to be sending me some different ideas on cases, psu, etc within the next couple of days I think.
I was thinking the same about vista 64 bit, as I am worried xp will not have much support later on....

[neil_g]

if its new hardware then vista shouldnt be an issue. a LOT of vistas original issues were down to hardware compatibility due to 3rd party drivers.

go 64bit too if you ever plan on having 4gb or more of memory.

[Moppie]

Deffinitly run Vista, but it sounds like 32bit will be all you need.

At the moment there are performance gains to be had by using a 64bit OS and more than 4GB of ram, but if your not going to work the machine hard enough to need that extra performance, there is no point in having it.

Unless your working with very large video files, or processing lots of large TIff files then I wouldn't bother with a 64bit OS.

[Motley]

Vista x64 bit for sure. He already said he was going with 4GB of RAM.

[Desertraptor]

Running Vista 32 SP1 on Intel 8200 with 4gb
CS3 has not missed a beat. In fact the machine has run flawlessly since I built it.
That coming from a long time AMD user

Go 64bit if you can manage to find all the correct drivers. I think there is still some way to go before Vista64 is as good as it should be. Not enough 64bit support still IMO

[Motley]

With 32 bit, you're only gonna see 3.2GB of RAM. Thats why you need 64 bit, so you can sell all your RAM 4GB+.

[0(ʹͦˋ¿ˊͦˋ)0]

Vista 64-bit + Vista 32 or XP
If I were you I'll ask him to build me a dual boot system.
That's what I did. I've been playing with this the last week. I have to tell you that Vista 64 + 8Gb helps a lot. But I'm only use it for my photo stuff. If you try to run every 32 bit application you may get a beautiful blue screen. Just install the ones that are 64-bit and the 32-bit that work with the emulator.
For the other stuff(32-bit) use Vista 32.

[jsteel77]

Vista 64-bit + Vista 32 or XP
If I were you I'll ask him to build me a dual boot system.
That's what I did. I've been playing with this the last week. I have to tell you that Vista 64 + 8Gb helps a lot. But I'm only use it for my photo stuff. If you try to run every 32 bit application you may get a beautiful blue screen. Just install the ones that are 64-bit and the 32-bit that work with the emulator.
For the other stuff(32-bit) use Vista 32.

Thanks! I'll have to look into a dual boot system more closely, as I'm not too familiar with that.

[Guapo]

Vista 64-bit + Vista 32 or XP
If I were you I'll ask him to build me a dual boot system.
That's what I did. I've been playing with this the last week. I have to tell you that Vista 64 + 8Gb helps a lot. But I'm only use it for my photo stuff. If you try to run every 32 bit application you may get a beautiful blue screen. Just install the ones that are 64-bit and the 32-bit that work with the emulator.
For the other stuff(32-bit) use Vista 32.

I recently went to Vista64 w/8GB Ram on my Quad core, and it has run very smoothly. The only hiccup was having to update the motherboard's LAN driver from the manufacturer. It did the retouchartist's speed test in 26 seconds, and I don't have overwhelmingly fast HD's or video card.

I too had a less than stellar experience when Vista originally came out, and was a bit apprehensive about going back to Vista, but I have been very pleasantly surprised at how far it's come. I have had zero issues with any 32 bit software.

Not only is CS3 running smoothly, but Lightroom2 is running faster than ever, as it is 64 Bit capable already. I believe CS4 is supposed to be 64 bit as well.

I am very pleased with my setup. I don't see going back to XP anymore. And this is coming from an XP holdout.

[Aleem]

go with the asus p5n e sli 32

[SkedAddled]

Much of the bad rap that Vista got was when it first came out they were installed on machines that could not handle it.
While I largely agree with this assessment, I should clarify that my negative experience stems from the updates. My system far exceeds the minimum requirements, and even scored in the high-nines for whatever that 'experience' rating is.

The problem was that a large number of updates were allowed to download and install, only to go through the same aggravating process at each subsequent startup. No less than a dozen cold boots later, I finally had to give up. It's still installed and available on my system, but I haven't even considered booting into it in over four months.

I came to find that this was a somewhat common occurrence, though I never did find any definite similarities between systems when such info was provided, so YMMV.

[ekie]

if you're building a new pc, chances are majority (or all) of your components should have 64-bit drivers unless you still have some legacy hardware youre planning to use. I would go with Vista 64-bit.

Ive been using it for a few months now and its working better than when I had 32bit version. im running quad-core 2.4 (oc to 3ghz) with 6gb RAM. I usuallly have lightroom and photoshop open at same time and it runs beautifully.