Windows Operating Systems

[Mish]

Hi all

I will shortly be upgrading to a Q6600 processor. My operating system is Windows XP Home.

Is this a suitable OS to get the best out of my processor ?

If not which do you recommend ?

Thanks in advance

[smirobth]

Hi all

I will shortly be upgrading to a Q6600 processor. My operating system is Windows XP Home.

Is this a suitable OS to get the best out of my processor ?

If not which do you recommend ?

Thanks in advance

XP Home should work for you, since even though your CPU is 4-cores, it is only one physical CPU. If you had more than one physical CPU you would need XP professional.

[Michael Sherwin]

If you want to run 64 bit software then you will need to get a 64 bit operating system. I bought Vista 32 bit off of the shelf and then went to the Microsoft site to order the 64 bit version for $9.95 plus tax. It just arrived today, however I have not installed it yet. Some people are having trouble running their old programs under Vista, but I thought that I will give it a try anyway.

Edit: I assume that the Q6600 is a 64 bit processor.

[Mish]

Yes it is a 64 bit processor.

When I see, for instance, Rybka 2.3.2 32 bit or 2.3.2 64 bit does the bit refer to the processor or operating system ?

i.e would I need XP Pro 64 to run 2.3.2 64 bit ?

[Jacob]

Yes, you need a 64-bit operating system for the 64-bit program, and for the CPU to take advantage of the 64-bit instructions/registers.

[Mish]

Would you recommend XP Pro 64 as opposed to Vista for computer chess activities ?

What elo difference should I see between the 32 and 64 bit Rybka 2.3.2 engines running on XP home or XP Pro 64 ?

[Jacob]

I think I remember reading about Rybka running 70% faster in 64-bit mode, and a doubling in speed is worth something like +/- 40 elo, someone else could give you better figures.

I tried Vista, and simply don't like it. I think XP is good, or you could consider downloading a 64-bit Linux OS for free (such as Fedora or Ubuntu) and use the Intel compiler (also free).

[gerold]

Would you recommend XP Pro 64 as opposed to Vista for computer chess activities ?

What elo difference should I see between the 32 and 64 bit Rybka 2.3.2 engines running on XP home or XP Pro 64 ?

About +50. You could go with xp pro 64.

More info.on Rybka at.

http://www.rybkachess.com.

[smirobth]

Yes it is a 64 bit processor.

When I see, for instance, Rybka 2.3.2 32 bit or 2.3.2 64 bit does the bit refer to the processor or operating system ?

i.e would I need XP Pro 64 to run 2.3.2 64 bit ?

Yes, you would need either XP Pro 64 or Vista 64-bit to run Rybka 64 bit. I have tried both XP Pro 64 and Vista 64 bit. I liked XP better than Vista.

[Spock]

I run both XP X64 and Vista X64 here. I have to say I prefer XP as well. Only caveat, is that driver support for XP X64 is pretty bad, so if you're connecting printers, scanners, cameras etc macke sure there are both drivers for them AND that the supplied software works under XP X64.