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I currently received a 64 bit operating system for the computer class i am taking, but my computer will only run on 32 bit system. Can someone give me some suggestions on what mother board, ram, processor and heat sync upgrade kits are available? This is for windows 7 professional.
thanks,
ilk8tnaty
We would need your current specifications and budget before giving any suggestions.
What are you looking for? Do you want an entire now PC? And what are your requirements?
I recommend the i7-950. It's quite affordable and performs really good. But there are a lot of variations on this. AMD CPUs will do for gaming only, but Intel CPUs are recommend for photoshopping and video-editing, and also do games very well. If you're going with an AMD CPU, and you wanna overlock it, try to get a ''Black Edition''. These things have an unlocked mutiplier, and that will help you to get a stable overclock.
I recommend 6GB of RAM. RAM is getting quite cheap these days. And an x64 OS really appreciates the 6GB of RAM. The system will run very smooth if you have a good set of RAM. You can always add more if needed.
If you're really into gaming on computers, pick a very good graphics card (5850, 6870 or better). You won't get good performance in newer games with cheaper cards. Don't pick NVIDIA at the moment, because these things use a lot of power! If you can afford a Power Supply with higher Wattage, you could pick an NVIDIA, but I recommend ATI right now.
And pick a motherboard that suits your components. Whatever motherboard you're gonna get, try to pick an Asus or MSI-board. Don't pick ASRock, because complaints keep coming up about these things! If you wanna overclock your Intel CPU, all 1366 socket boards are fine. These things can overlock like a beast. The newer 1155 socket works like a charm for overlclocking as well; these babies overclock themself if needed. If you're going with AM3 (AMD), and you wanna overclock, pick a board with the 890GX or 890FX chipset. The 890FX boards aren't exactly cheap though.
I hope this helps a bit. I don't know what you're gonna do with it, but if you're gonna buy new stuff, definitely pick newer hardware. Your PC will last you quite a lot longer if you do so.
I currently have a dell inspiron 530, upgraded to max. It has a socket am2 (940), amd athlon (tm) processor 2650e 1.61 GHz, dell inc, ory206 mobo, Nvidia GeForce 6600, 3.25 GB of RAM.
Is there anything else you would need?
thanks,
ilk8tnaty
You don't really have 3.25GB or RAM. That's what just about every 32-bit OS says; you probably have 4 or more. So at least you have enough RAM for a 64-bit OS.
I'm not too familiar with the CPU you mentioned, but is it a dual-core? I assume it is, seeing the other components.
But a 1.6GHz dual-core, 4GB of RAM (or more) is enough to run a 64-bit OS.
The graphics card doesn't make any difference when you're talking about 32-bit or 64-bit, so that'll be good enough as well.
So, yes this PC will be able to run a 64-bit OS. However, with this set-up, you will not take full beneift of the 64-bit capatibilities.
If you want to take full benefit of the 64-bit platform, I recommend you get another PC. But using a 64-bit OS on this PC will improve the performance as well.
I do actually have 3.25 gb of ram, i have 3x1 gb sticks and 1x256 stick. Its all i had at the time and i believe it will not run a full 4 gb anyway. I believe it is a dual core but not for sure. I have tried to boot the 64 bit os and it states system is not able to run it. I would like to get a quad core 64 bit system to run the 64 bit os but dont want to spend a fortune. Maybe just upgrading the cpu, mobo, heat sink, and ram if need be.
thanks,
ilk8tnaty
How's it even possible that you use 3x1GB and 1x256MB? Most motherboards would alarm you and refuse to boot.
Anyway, if you don't wanna spend a fortune, but you just want to get a smooth running 64-bit PC, I recommend the following:
- AMD Phenom II X4 840 (4x3200GHz, 4x512KB L2 Cache) - forget about aftermarket-heatshrinks; the one you'll get with the CPU will do if you're not gonna overclock)
- 4GB (2x2GB) or 6GB (2x2GB and 2x1GB) of RAM, 1333MHz DDR3 - make sure the timings are identical if you decide to do 6GB
- ATI Radeon HD5670 (1GB, 128bit) - you could keep your current card as well
- ASUS M4A77TD Motherboard (or something similar, doesn't really matter)
- Pick your own HDD - don't pick an SSD-drive if you don't wanna spend a fortune
thank you very much. Who would you suggest going through for purchase? TigerDirect?
That should do. You can also try NewEgg. We have a site in The Netherlands called ALTERNATE. That's where I usually get my stuff from, but that probably isn't going to serve you, lol. Unless you live in The Netherlands or nearby of course! ;)
But if you can't find the exact components I named here, remember that you can always pick something similar. It doesn't have to be the exact same product, but in the same range. :)
Honestly the only real reason to run a 64 bit OS as an average user is to utilize 4GB of RAM or more. If you don't have 4GB+ there is no point. And even though 64 bit support has improved massively over the recent years you'll still find yourself running a lot of 32 bit programs.