how will this set up run sl?

i gotta buy something soon...my current pc is way too slow

saw this at best buy

acer pc with amd athlon 64x2 dual core processor 5000+
4 gb memory expandable to 8 gb
320 gb hard drive
nvidia geforce 8200
vista home premium 64 bit

price is 459.99 for tower...i have a monitor already

how well will this run sl?

I only have two hesitations on that system. The first (most important) is Vista 64. The 64 bit operating systems have more than their fair share of driver issues.......especially video drivers. And second, that 8200 card. It will probably work acceptably, but it is an almost two year old card. The 8600 is about the same age but it's quite a bit better card.........I would think you could swap that for no cost. Ask anyway.

isnt most new stuff 64 bit now?

My processor is 64 bit..........and yes almost every processor made today is 64 bit capable. But I'm talking about your operating system........Vista 64. Windows is pushing 64 bit right now............probably for "Windows 7" coming out in 2010. But there are very few programs on the market that are 64 bit. By a very large majority software is 32 bit (SL being one of those). A 64 bit OS can run 32 bit programs just fine........but the drivers are the issue. If you have a 64 bit operating system, you MUST have a 64 bit driver to work correctly. As of now, the market is not there for hardware manufacturers to put a lot of effort in 64 bit driver developement. And consequently issues arise. That is all I was cautioning about.

Many people have had few, if any, problems with Vista 64........but many have had huge issues. Including having to revert back to 32 bit. I, personnally, am waiting for 64 bit to catch on more than it is now before I spend the money on a 64 bit OS.

Take what I say for what it is.....just a cautionary comment.

i emailed acer to see if a nvidia geforce 8800 gt graphics card would be ok in that pc im looking at.

One of Microsoft's requirements for WHQL certification (to be able to use the Windows logo on a product) is that both 32 and 64 bit drivers are available.

The only reason I would buy a new PC with 32-bit Vista on it now is if I had some old hardware I couldn't part with that didn't work with Vista x64.

At least half of the new desktop PCs I see in stores now come with Vista x64 pre-installed. The market for x64 compatible hardware is here now. Anyone not writing x64 drivers for their hardware is cutting their own throat.

cutting their own throat writing drivers thats just now on machines for an os that slated for death next year

do you work for sega?

anyone who isnt a grabass for buzzwords would wait for windows 7 before dedicating any serious effort to 64 bit drivers

99% of what you see is quick n dirty ports, to stem the tide of MS pushing them until this version of windows ME is just a bad memory

so what do i buy then? everything ive looked at has 64 bit vista on it?

The 8200 is a miserable video solution that is built into the motherboard. It will not run SL worth poop if at all. SL doesn't support it or any card under the 8500 in the 8000 series. To give an example, the 8400 has worse performance than a Ti-4200 video card from 2001. The 8800 GT or even better the 8800GTX will run SL the way it should be run. The Acer computer will have a really poor power supply that may not run an 8800GT or GTX. I'd look around Tiger Direct and get a gamer rig that had some of the same specs but a better video card.

This is a seriously better option for not much more money:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4138011&CatId=114

You will be able to run SL with all the graphics settings turned up and still get reasonable frame rates. It has the 9800 and a power supply big enough to run it plus it comes with Win XP.

That should help refute claims of any lack of demand for Vista x64 compatible hardware.

There was merit to the driver issue when Vista was first released. Not just the 64-bit drivers, 32 bit support sucked, too. Vista x64 is a mainstream OS now, and is getting third party driver support. Vista isn't going away anytime soon, either.

No, Vista is going away soon.........the first part of 2010, in fact (unless Microsoft delays it's planned launch). And I did mention that MS is pushing 64 bit really hard lately.......partly in preparation of it's planned new operatiing system (code named Windows 7) but also to attempt to compete more agressively with Apple. All that does not mean the graphics folks (or any other hardware manufacturer) are rushing to "please" Microsoft. As of today.......the market for 64 bit programs is small. The graphics people know that and are not going to put any more effort into developing compatable software until there is a market..........not the promise a market. I'm sure sometime next year, well before Windows 7 hits the market, the drivers will be available......but not now, not next week, not next month, not even before the end of the year. And when those drivers come out there will be lots of bugs to squash.......the evidence is the reported problems right here on this forum about issues with Vista 64 (even XP Pro 64). If you want to jump to the 64 bit systems now, go ahead......but you are ignoring the fact that the potential problems are huge.

As I said earlier, eventually the problems get resolved........but often that is after a very frustrating (for some) search for the solution. Vista (yes Vista 32) had that hurdle to leap too..........it took about a year to get it ironed out. It will be the same with Vista 64 only more so simply because the architecture is quite different. Microsoft is trying to avoid some of the problems it had with Vista (and who can blame them?) by introducing (or I should say pushing it......64 bit OS's have been around for a while now) it's 64 bit OS well ahead of the time when it's brand new operating system is launched. Be a beta tester if you like.........I was merely pointing out that there are potential headaches ahead to the OP.

What hardware doesn't have Vista x64 drivers now?

Vista x64 is not a new OS, it's been around just as long as 32-bit Vista. It went through the driver hurdles at the same time 32-bit Vista did. If a piece of hardware has 32-bit Vista drivers, it probably has x64 drivers, too. Drivers are not the problem today they were for Vista (both versions) in early 2007.

Almost all the driver complaints relative to SL I see are about ATI's crappy OpenGL support, and that's not an x64 issue.

Speaking of graphics applications, Adobe Lightroom is a 64-bit application, as is Adobe CS4 that's being released next week. Retail stores are full of computers running Vista x64 now. It's no longer a niche product.

Six months ago, I'd have agreed with you completely, and probably have passed on any version of Vista. The situation has changed significantly with the release of SP1, improved driver availability, and very inexpensive memory. It's time to reassess x64 and give it serious consideration.

I have no idea of which hardware manufacturers don't have 64 bit drivers. But I do know that 64 bit platforms are giving driver makers headaches.......a lot of bugs to be ironed out yet.

And, I jumped on ME when it came out. I couldn't wait for the "newest and bestest" to supersede Win 98SE. Big mistake!!! So when XP got on the market I waited......for about a year. I decided I was not going to pay Microsoft good money to be one of their beta testers again. I did the same thing with Vista........after all that crap that put Vista in the tank as a bad OS (on par with ME). Strange how well both those not jumping on the "newest and bestest" has worked for me. BTW, Vista is not so bad after all......in fact I think it's great and much better than XP.

So, all y'all x64 users go at it........it needs those bugs found and fixed before I'll give Microsoft my money.

And again, I am only offering an opinion........advising the OP to be cautious about jumping head first into any 64 bit OS.

The x64 OS's have been out for about a year and a half now.........but only within the last couple months has the push been on. That push is from Microsoft. If you have a 64 bit capable CPU (and most, if not all, new computers are) then you have a choice......32 or 64. Go with what you want.......be you should know what you are getting into first. I'm staying away from that platform until it's issues are fixed. I'm ready when that happens.......sometime early 2010.