Hi everyone,
I've recently bought a new Acer Aspire desktop PC which came preinstalled with Vista Home Premium 32bit but I have a Windows Server running at home which I use to manage my home network through a Windows Domain Controller, Vista Home Premium obviously won't allow me to connect to a Domain Controller, so I also purchased a retail upgrade of Vista Ultimate.

My question is this, is there a way to tell if my new Acer PC is capable of running the Vista Ultimate 64bit version. The reason I ask is because everything I've read since I bought my new PC indicates that the 64bit addition of Vista would be more appropriate for the tasks I perform regularly with my PC - Acer haven't been much use to be honest, I did email their support desk and the response I got was that they couldn't tell me if it's capable of running 64bit editions as it has not been tested with it.

From everything I've read about 64bit Windows so far, it seems to suggest that a PC running 3GB or less of RAM is more suited to 32bit while anything above that is more geared towards 64bit, my Acer PC came from new with 4GB RAM which leads to be think it may be capable of running the 64bit edition. Also as I understand it, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it depends almost entirely on the processor installed in the PC if it can run the 64bit version. My PC came with an AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core 2.2GHz Processor but I can't even find a matching model processor listed on AMD's website to know if it will run the 64bit version or not.

Can anyone suggest a way to check of my PC is capable of running the 64bit edition without physically attempting to install it from the DVD, are there any applications available for download or anything I can check through my current installation that might give me a clue?

I greatly appreciate any help, pointers or suggestions.



Many thanks
Wayne

Hi Wayne--

Load your 64 bit OS and enjoy.

AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core 2.2GHz Processor --that's the key.

You can run 64 bit XP, Vista, or Win 7 on that box and run it well. The processor is your key.

Roughly speaking and in anecdotal reports, 64 bit Vista or Windows 7 runs about 10% faster. This is of course dependent on a number of factors, not the least of which are your CPU architecture and the amount and quality/type of RAM ,and the quality of your hardware in general.

"From everything I've read about 64bit Windows so far, it seems to suggest that a PC running 3GB or less of RAM is more suited to 32bit while anything above that is more geared towards 64bit, my Acer PC came from new with 4GB RAM which leads to be think it may be capable of running the 64bit edition. Also as I understand it, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it depends almost entirely on the processor installed in the PC if it can run the 64bit version. My PC came with an AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core 2.2GHz Processor but I can't even find a matching model processor listed on AMD's website to know if it will run the 64bit version or not."

I would trash "everything you've read" that intimates a requirement for greater than 3 gb of RAM to run 64 bit Windows OS's be they XP, Vista, or Win 7 because it's pure nonsense.

Many people run 64 bit Windows OS's with less RAM than 3GB and it runs extreemely fast on duo core processor architecture in general.

It seems like you have nice specs on your box. Enjoy.

CH
"Wayne Smith" <waynesmith1971@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:E0EBC208-BAB2-4731-A368-7BF723EB1C62@xxxxxx
Hi everyone,
I've recently bought a new Acer Aspire desktop PC which came preinstalled with Vista Home Premium 32bit but I have a Windows Server running at home which I use to manage my home network through a Windows Domain Controller, Vista Home Premium obviously won't allow me to connect to a Domain Controller, so I also purchased a retail upgrade of Vista Ultimate.

My question is this, is there a way to tell if my new Acer PC is capable of running the Vista Ultimate 64bit version. The reason I ask is because everything I've read since I bought my new PC indicates that the 64bit addition of Vista would be more appropriate for the tasks I perform regularly with my PC - Acer haven't been much use to be honest, I did email their support desk and the response I got was that they couldn't tell me if it's capable of running 64bit editions as it has not been tested with it.

From everything I've read about 64bit Windows so far, it seems to suggest that a PC running 3GB or less of RAM is more suited to 32bit while anything above that is more geared towards 64bit, my Acer PC came from new with 4GB RAM which leads to be think it may be capable of running the 64bit edition. Also as I understand it, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it depends almost entirely on the processor installed in the PC if it can run the 64bit version. My PC came with an AMD Phenom 9550 Quad-Core 2.2GHz Processor but I can't even find a matching model processor listed on AMD's website to know if it will run the 64bit version or not.

Can anyone suggest a way to check of my PC is capable of running the 64bit edition without physically attempting to install it from the DVD, are there any applications available for download or anything I can check through my current installation that might give me a clue?

I greatly appreciate any help, pointers or suggestions.

Many thanks
Wayne

I strongly endorse Vista 64 for your machine, but make sure there are Vista 64 drivers for your peripherals. If so Vista 64 is a superior performer to Vista 32.
My humble advice: stay away from the Beta of Win 7, and even the shipping version, until Microsoft guarantees that Vista drivers will work with Win 7.
Win 7 is mostly Vista with a different GUI but the beta, at least the 64 bit, is simply not compatible with a wide variety of current Vista 64 drivers for common hardware.
My humble experience, which includes a swath of Canon, Epson, Dlink, Linksys, Spyder et al peripherals with very functional Vista 64 drivers finds that few run or install on the current public Win 7 beta. That is a fact, as compared to the froth you will read in Microsoft supported media, which also reported zilch about how utterly incompatible Vista would prove to be with existing XP hardware and software.