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Dual operating systems 32- and 64-bit. Need advice on possible XP memory issues

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cranioscopical:
I also know, from personal experience, that it is possible for us to contact that Xorgoblath mother ship
-40hz (July 28, 2008, 03:24 PM)
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Thanks to you I now know that essentially the same equipment lets me contact what you seem to call Earth (a Midzyinthyan crystal chip, a Golloidinan armpit flute, and three custard creams).  And a lovely sight it is, from up here on the bridge!

f0dder:
If I'm working I'll typically have a bunch of hefty files open in CS3, flipping them between Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat
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Too bad that Adobe claims that 64bit doesn't bring a lot of advantages - which means that their 32bit apps can only access ~2gig (or is it ~3gig? Dunno if they're linked with large-address-space-aware flag). Obviously the real reason is that they have a messy and not-so-64bit-clean codebase, but it's easier singing the consumers a "naw, 64bit is irrelevant" lullaby :)

as well as several MS-Office components and WordPerfect (both GUI and [gasp!] DOS versions, and some custom-written stuff that has to run (or think it's running) under DOS.
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Danger will robison! - 64bit/long mode doesn't support 16bit code. This means that 64bit windows versions can't run DOS and win3.x programs. You'll need dosbox or some other emulator.

Anyway, from your needs - I guess you don't need games? Could be feasible to go for a fanless GPU after all, just make sure you choose something pretty low-end. I definitely miss the quiet from my passively cooled GF7600, this 8800GT is a monster.

And as for reducing disk access, turn off your pagefile. It's feasible on 2gig (on XP anyway), perfectly doable on 4gig, and a no-brainer on 8gig. There will still be periodic disk access though, the registry gets updated enough to warrant this, even on idle.

SCSI, ho humm. Never owned a controller or a disc, and I dunno if it even means anything today. SCSI and SATA seem to be merging, anyway (not just features like command-queing, but literally. But not matter which technology you'll end up using, run at least a MIRROR of anything important :)

Thanks to you I now know that essentially the same equipment lets me contact what you seem to call Earth (a Midzyinthyan crystal chip, a Golloidinan armpit flute, and three custard creams).  And a lovely sight it is, from up here on the bridge!
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Pft, we all know that all it takes is a candelabra and a yellow and a blue crystal.

40hz:
Up until the machine that I'm about to replace I've had all-SCSI systems which I've found rather more solid when it comes to multi-tasking, and when adding hardware devices.
-cranioscopical (July 28, 2008, 09:10 PM)
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IMHO Less of an issue these days with what's going on with SATA, but still better for video work or complex music apps despite some of the counterclaims. Build quality also seems to be better on SCSI than SATA overall.
(How else to justify the price differential right? ;))

I also know, from personal experience, that it is possible for us to contact that Xorgoblath mother ship
-40hz (July 28, 2008, 03:24 PM)
--- End quote ---
Thanks to you I now know that essentially the same equipment lets me contact what you seem to call Earth (a Midzyinthyan crystal chip, a Golloidinan armpit flute, and three custard creams).  And a lovely sight it is, from up here on the bridge!
-cranioscopical (July 28, 2008, 09:23 PM)
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So that was you I saw up there! Nice tuxedo you were wearing too. ;D

cranioscopical:
Anyway, from your needs - I guess you don't need games? Could be feasible to go for a fanless GPU after all, just make sure you choose something pretty low-end. I definitely miss the quiet from my passively cooled GF7600, this 8800GT is a monster.
-f0dder (July 28, 2008, 09:24 PM)
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I'm a bit concerned about heat in a small (mid-tower) case, and anxious to control noise.  So, one of these cards seems a good compromise.
Neither is remarkably 'hot' in performance terms but each has 'cool' running temperatures and so is relatively quiet, too.
BFG 8800GT OCX or
BFG 9600GT OCX
Some data here

I've been known to play a game or two.  Why, in god mode and with a range of cheat sheets, sometimes I can even reach the second level.  That maze of twisty little passages is tough, though!

f0dder:
FORGET anything about 8800 cards and passive cooling. 9x00 cards are supposedly a lot better while stilling having close-to-8800 performance, but I have no personal experience with those. I'd recommend going a loooot lower-end, probably doing to 8300 or similar. But it's been a while since I looked at that market segment, so I dunno how low you need to go before passive cooling is feasible. 8800 definitely isn't' though. I'm not joking when I say I believe I could fry bacon on it.

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