Buying a Dell with Vista

I am just about ready to buy new Dell desktop but have seen a few comments on
their chat room about issues with the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.

First, does Vista Premium actually come in a 64 bit version? If so, how will
I know that is what Dell is installing?

Second - I am looking at an Intel Quad Core processor (6600). Will this be
compatible with Vista Premium?

Thanks for your help!

Home Premium comes in 64bit Version.
You have to ask for 64bit version, as 32bit version is their default sale
version.
When you get it, click on Start>Right-click Computer>Properties>Vista
Version, CPU, RAM info.
--
Mick Murphy - Qld - Australia


"Paula Sinclair" wrote:

> I am just about ready to buy new Dell desktop but have seen a few comments on
> their chat room about issues with the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.
>
> First, does Vista Premium actually come in a 64 bit version? If so, how will
> I know that is what Dell is installing?
>
> Second - I am looking at an Intel Quad Core processor (6600). Will this be
> compatible with Vista Premium?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>

Yes, Home Premium can be 64 Bit. I believe that Dell installs the 32 bit
version by default, unless you ask otherwise. The Quad Core CPU is
compatible and is very good with Vista.

--

Dustin Harper

http://www.vistarip.com | Vista Resource & Information Page


"Paula Sinclair" <Paula > wrote in message
news:915F792B-1D01-448A-A096-...
>I am just about ready to buy new Dell desktop but have seen a few comments
>on
> their chat room about issues with the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.
>
> First, does Vista Premium actually come in a 64 bit version? If so, how
> will
> I know that is what Dell is installing?
>
> Second - I am looking at an Intel Quad Core processor (6600). Will this be
> compatible with Vista Premium?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>

"Paula Sinclair" <Paula > wrote in message
news:915F792B-1D01-448A-A096-...
>I am just about ready to buy new Dell desktop but have seen a few comments
>on
> their chat room about issues with the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.
>
> First, does Vista Premium actually come in a 64 bit version? If so, how
> will
> I know that is what Dell is installing?
>
> Second - I am looking at an Intel Quad Core processor (6600). Will this be
> compatible with Vista Premium?

The Q6600 is perfectly fine with Vista 64 - that's what I am using right
now. Unless you have an old parallel port scanner or something that might
not have a 64 bit driver, there is no reason to not use Vista 64. All 32
bit applications will run just fine, and recent hardware will have a 64 bit
driver. Generally, if there is an official, signed 32 bit driver there
will be a 64 bit driver. Even my 10 year old HP Laserjet 4+ has a 64 bit
driver.

There is no reason to get a quad core system that can handle 8 GB of RAM and
then cripple it with a 32 bit version of Vista.

Vista Home Premium comes in an X64 version. The system I write this on is
using it.

It also has a Q6600 CPU. (All 4 cores are reported in Device Manager.)

Dell certainly sells workstation machines ("Precision" series) with Vista
X64 installed, but the ones that I saw on their web page offer Business or
Ultimate. I don't know whether they sell any configurations with Home
Premium X64. You may not want a Precision series machine; they are
relatively expensive.

There may be little point in getting a 64 bit version of Vista unless you
intend to use 4 GB of RAM or more. (I have never seen a 32 bit desktop
version of Windows report more than 3.25 GB, due to addressing limitations.)
I can't name any significant 64 bit applications. (I don't do finite element
modeling, or other serious memory-hungry work.) On the plus side, regular 32
bit applications seem to run well under Vista X64. Before going to Vista, I
waited until the promised Vista X64 drivers were available for my
peripherals.

I suggest that you contact Dell directly.

I obtained the 64 bit installation CD from Microsoft for free, with $10 S&H.
I qualified for it using an upgrade version of Home Premium.

(I regret having not spent the extra money on a full version. The
limitations Microsoft engineered into the Upgrade version are much more
restrictive than they were under XP.)


Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

"Paula Sinclair" <Paula > wrote in message
news:915F792B-1D01-448A-A096-...
>I am just about ready to buy new Dell desktop but have seen a few comments
>on
> their chat room about issues with the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.
>
> First, does Vista Premium actually come in a 64 bit version? If so, how
> will
> I know that is what Dell is installing?
>
> Second - I am looking at an Intel Quad Core processor (6600). Will this be
> compatible with Vista Premium?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>

Just wanted to say thanks to the four gentlemen who answered my questions so
quickly and thoroughly. I appreciate your brain cells!!

"Paula Sinclair" wrote:

> I am just about ready to buy new Dell desktop but have seen a few comments on
> their chat room about issues with the 32 and 64 bit versions of Vista.
>
> First, does Vista Premium actually come in a 64 bit version? If so, how will
> I know that is what Dell is installing?
>
> Second - I am looking at an Intel Quad Core processor (6600). Will this be
> compatible with Vista Premium?
>
> Thanks for your help!
>