I just finished all the stuffing around getting Windows installed twice, since i knew full well that x64 Edition wont run alot of the items i use alot, i installed x86 Pro as well.

I will only really use x64 for when i play games (as in proper PC games) cause when im doing that, i dont use any of the other programs anyway, but x64 will run alot of games far better, and in some games it also allows extra content.

So after 2 days of working on this, ive got it all up and running the way i want it.

I was using a ThermalTake Xaser 3 case that ive had for a couple years (since the days i used to run an AMD Athlon XP 3200 Barton that was overclocked to a rediculous speed) cause this case alowed me to fit alot of fans and kept the whole computer running nice and cool, but when the temps rose abit, the roar of the fans got to be abit loud.

So ive switched over to an Antec Super Lanboy case, gone from 11 case fans down to 2, and considerably less fan noise.

I spent a fair few hours pulling all the gear out of the Tt case and putting it into the Antec, and after i was all done, i went to fire it up and it was a no go, the power supply has had the dick, after quite a few years of faithful service and 24hr/7 day a week continual running it has decided now that its done its duty (its an Antec TruPower 480w). Its all still in good shape, it just has alot of trouble turning on, once its on, its fine. I replaced it with a new Antec NeoPower 550.

So the rig is all up and running now, re-partitioned the Raid set to give it 3 sections (1 each for the 2 operating systems and 1 for the commonly installed programs)

XP Pro x86 edition still runs exactly the same as it did before, and is the default operating system (loads first if no selection is made) and XP x64 edition runs when its selected on boot up, programs that are able to take advantage of it go alot better.

Well that's my saturday and sunday all used up, what did the rest of you all do?

I got windows vista...never heard of the X thingys.

This is XP Pro Johnny, it comes in 2 flavours, one is x86, and other is x64. x86 is the 32 bit operating system, and x64 is the 64 bit operating system to take advantage of the 64 bit cpus.

Oh, I thought I knew a bit about computers but the more I talk with you the more I understand that I dont

11 fans? I am surprised the damn thing didn't hover.

I work with a great guy named Bob. He is an older fellow, but a brilliant computer scientist and great analyst. Back in the day (30+ years ago) he worked in the defense industry. A friend of his worked on the hardware/software of the HUD used in the F16 jet fighter. The computer that ran the HUD was about the size of a large microwave oven, and simply packed with cards. During testing, they would cool it with liquid nitrogen... the computer was so overclocked that the air coming out was still hot enough to dry your hair with.

I like the dual boot concept. I was concerned you would be handicapped with x64, because it requires special versions of many things... and many companies don't make 64 bit versions of their apps, either.

Red - the x64 was a precursor to Vista... I am not a huge fan of Vista, pretty, yes, but slow as hell.

Yep, dual boot was my plan all along, cause i didnt want to be stuck and not able to do alot of little things i can do in x86 Windows.

11 fans wouldve made it hover if it wasnt so heavy!!
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Youll be right Johnny, you know im always happy to help out mate, so if you ever have a question, ask me and if i can help you, i will

Ahhhh, thanks Bogus and Case for the insight

anytime, Red!

Dual boot rocks for situations like this. Do the games run significantly faster?

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Depends on the game, and depends what you mean by faster. The wont run any faster then they are meant to, in some cases some games have extra things that are not able to be achieved with the x86 32 bit operating instruction set.