64-bit Compatibility?

[Sailor Taurus]

HEY YA'LL! For x-mas i'm gonna be getting a new PC (and possibly a new monitor). We're gonna be building it ourselves, and we want to make sure that it's up to modern standards (considering i'm wanting to go into graphics design).

Things we're considering include Core 2 Duo processor, nVidia 8600 graphics card, 64-bit, Vista, etc etc etc...

But recently Chris has been reading up on 64-bit and how apparently it's not compatible with everything.

That's why i'm asking numerous forums that I go to this question:
How compatible is 64-bit with programs and games?

For example, some of the programs I use include Poser 7, Vue 5, Adobe Photoshop, Daz Studio, Silo, eMule, among others. I've heard that 64-bit will help to get most of these programs running and doing calculations alot faster and thus, in the case of some of my 3D apps, render faster. But how compatible are these programs with 64-bit? Will it be a simple question of updating them, or will they become unuseable full stop?

Fake Edit: One thing i'm mentioning exclusively here, is RPG Maker XP. Will that still work on 64-bit?

And what about games? Both old and new? Dungeon Keeper, Black and White, Tomb Raider Legends, Half Life 2...will these all still work? I've heard somewhere about certain drivers for 64-bit being hard to find.

I just want to make sure that when/if I get 64-bit, i'll actually be able to use my PC.

 

[King Moogle]

Honestly, 64-bit is compatible with virtually nothing. My RA has it, and can't run over half of the applications he wishes he could. Tell you the truth, I would either research every program you would want to use to see if it is compatible, or shy away from it altogether. I haven't spoken with anyone yet who has made the switch and feels they made the right decision.

Just my 2 cents, though.

 

[arev]

RPG Maker XP will work on 64-bit system. I'm using such system for over 9 months now (first WinXP Pro x64, now Vista Home Premium x64) and it works just fine. Both these systems are backward compatible with 32bit applications and are capable of running them without any problems. Thing is, do you really need 64-bit system? It's only needed if you have more than 3GBs of RAM memory. If you're planning on buying more than it's the only good choice. However, don't expect any boost of these calculations :> I've compared the performance of 32 and 64 bit systems with 3dsmax and Cinebench rendering, and they're quite the same. The main advantage shows up when you get to work with massive, and I mean it, amounts of data. There, where 32-bit systems hang up, 64-bit systems are capable of further calculations, but they're not really faster.

There

 

[Venetia]

I've heard 64 bit systems are necessary to run DirectX 10?

 

[arev]

No. Vista is necessary, either 32 ro 64 bit. Win XP, even x64 won't run DX10.

 

[holloway]

64bit is awful. Even on compatible apps, eg: HL2 64bit, you rarely even see a performance increase. I switched over to it and had to switch back as it even has issues with iTunes .

 

[$t3v0]

Well ... £40 down the drain. I fucking hate you guys D: