Dual boot Windows XP or Windows 7 32 and 64 bit? \ VOGONS

Dual boot Windows XP or Windows 7 32 and 64 bit?

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First post, by debs3759

Posted on 2020-10-14, 23:58

debs3759 Offline

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I'm looking at buying a P965 based socket 775 board for benching early Prescott chips which have a 533 MHz FSB. I will be using a RevoDrive as my boot drive. Some CPUs don't have x64 support. I have a few questions:

For the OS I want to install, I will need a 32-bit and a 64-bit version of Windows, on separate partitions. Which of the following combinations makes most sense, given that the 32-bit OS will only be used for a small number of CPUs?

XP x86 + XP x64
XP x86 + 70x64
7-x86 + 7-x64

Will it be best to install the 32-bit OS first, or will the order not matter? Will it be easier with a free boot manager, and if so, can you recommend one which has clear and detailed info on how to use it?

I'm trying to be prepared before I receive the board, so I can get straight into the setting up.

I will be using more modern boards for benching chips with higher FSB, but will be using the x64 OS and an overclocked Q6600 SLACR in this board for benching earlier PCI-E GPUs.

See my graphics card database at www.gpuzoo.com
Constantly being worked on. Feel free to message me with any corrections or details of cards you would like me to research and add.

Reply 1 of 4, by Jorpho

Posted on 2020-10-15, 00:55

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I can't imagine why you would want to use XP x64 for anything. And I'm not sure what sort of benchmarking you're doing, but using Win 7 32-bit and 64-bit would probably make the most sense to keep things consistent. I wouldn't expect the order to matter in that case either.

Reply 2 of 4, by debs3759

Posted on 2020-10-15, 01:05

debs3759 Offline

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Only reason I would use XP64 is because I have a pre-activated copy, so wouldn't get pestered about having a dodgy copy. I don't have a pre-activated 7, and am unsure what happens if it's not registered and activated, now that there is no support available. Going to find out soon though 😀

See my graphics card database at www.gpuzoo.com
Constantly being worked on. Feel free to message me with any corrections or details of cards you would like me to research and add.

Reply 3 of 4, by chinny22

Posted on 2020-10-15, 08:42

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XP x64 was never mainstream so drivers wont be as optimised a the x32 variant
XP x32 and 7 x64 is the most interesting as that's the common versions used but agree for fair comparison should be done on the same OS.

I think the OS's are smart enough at this point that installation order matters, but would play it safe and do XP before 7, which order the x32/64 versions are installed definitely wont matter.

Both versions of Windows give you a 30 day grace period where they are fully functional have a nag screen that you haven't activated yet.
After the 30 days XP pretty much locks you out, Win7 on the other hand you'll just get a black desktop and no longer able to download certain updates, not really an issue if your just benchmarking

Reply 4 of 4, by debs3759

Posted on 2020-10-15, 14:34

debs3759 Offline

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chinny22 wrote on 2020-10-15, 08:42:
XP x64 was never mainstream so drivers wont be as optimised a the x32 variant XP x32 and 7 x64 is the most interesting as that's […]
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XP x64 was never mainstream so drivers wont be as optimised a the x32 variant
XP x32 and 7 x64 is the most interesting as that's the common versions used but agree for fair comparison should be done on the same OS.

I think the OS's are smart enough at this point that installation order matters, but would play it safe and do XP before 7, which order the x32/64 versions are installed definitely wont matter.

Both versions of Windows give you a 30 day grace period where they are fully functional have a nag screen that you haven't activated yet.
After the 30 days XP pretty much locks you out, Win7 on the other hand you'll just get a black desktop and no longer able to download certain updates, not really an issue if your just benchmarking

Thanks. It sounds like I should do XP32 (as I have a pre activated copy) and 7-64 in that case. A black desktop is no problem, as I don't use wallpaper anyway. Updates will all be done at the time of installation, so that's no problem either.

See my graphics card database at www.gpuzoo.com
Constantly being worked on. Feel free to message me with any corrections or details of cards you would like me to research and add.

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