Will Windows XP 32 bit or 64 bit make full use of an Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Mobil

[Guest]

Im having issues with audio sofware and hardwear and am considering obtaining WinXp to install on my new dell studio 15 laptop instead of Windows 7 64 bit poffesional . can anyone advice me, will i loose any performance? I know if my software is only single thread/ core enabled thats where the bottle neck will be but in general is it a stupid move to do this?
Windows XP emulation is no good for audio applications as it wont recognise audio hardwear i.e external sound cards.
Id like to run XP pro 32 bit as ive found it most stable for audio applications like cubase but could cope with 64 bit if the chip requires a 64 bit opperating system... ive not bought a new pc for 4 years so im still currently on a dual core chip and xp pro 32 bit and would love to stick with same os and software just on a much more powerfull system. im really confused by all the new options nad at the moment as far as i can see i have an £800 paperweight as far as music production goes

laptop spec

Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Mobile Processor
4 gigs of ram
7,200 rpm sata hard drive
current os: windows 7 proffesional 64 bit

Any help would be greatly appreciated, im tearing my hair out here )

Best wishes and thanks in advce

jay

 

[frozenlead]

You can run either Windows XP 32 or 64, but I don't recommend either. Stick with 7. 7 is much better at dealing with quad-core tasking and will also enable you to use all of your memory (unlike XP 32).

Cubase does support Windows 7:
http/www.steinberg.net/en/company/steinberg_news/detailansicht/archive/2009/12/11/article/updates-for-windows-7-and-os-x-106-support-962.html

Considering you've never used either Vista or 7 with your audio applications - and I have - I work with Sonar PE a lot - I can tell you that Vista and 7 are both stable bases for audio software. 7 is, of course, better, but Vista will also perform better than XP.

Stick with 7.

 

[WR2]

What about setting up a dual boot XP/Win7 option? Then you can compare how well each does with your software.
Stick with XP/32 if you do go ahead. You might find it harder to get driver support for XP/64 on newer hardware.

The EasyBCD program listed in this How-To article will let you set the Win7 or XP partition as first/default boot option.
-> How to dual boot Vista and XP (with Vista installed first) -- the step-by-step guide with screenshots
The instructions work fine for Win7/XP dual boot setups.
An option for disk partition besides the Gparted mentioned in the article is Easeus Partition Master Home Edition

I have XP/Vista/Win7/Ubuntu all loaded on the same laptop.

 

[lostandwandering]

What about setting up a dual boot XP/Win7 option? Then you can compare how well each does with your software.
Stick with XP/32 if you do go ahead. You might find it harder to get driver support for XP/64 on newer hardware.

I was going to suggest that as well. It's the best of both worlds. Plus, if you decide you don't like the way one of the OS' is working, you haven't wasted a ton of time reinstalling the other.