Windows 64 bit on 8-core Mac Pro

[davidChief]

Vista x64

Is there any particular reason you wanted to use XP x64 instead of Vista x64?

I have just built three new Mac Pros (3.0Ghz, 4Gb RAM) with Vista x64. The installation went flawlessly. I used the drivers on the OS X restore disk and they all appear to be working beautifully.

I have been using one of the machines for a few weeks without any problems whatsoever.

I know Vista has had some bad press but the Apple drivers seem rock solid and the MS patches have improved things considerably. I would never go back to XP now...

 

[330toSRT8]

Is there any particular reason you wanted to use XP x64 instead of Vista x64?

I have just built three new Mac Pros (3.0Ghz, 4Gb RAM) with Vista x64. The installation went flawlessly. I used the drivers on the OS X restore disk and they all appear to be working beautifully.

I have been using one of the machines for a few weeks without any problems whatsoever.

I know Vista has had some bad press but the Apple drivers seem rock solid and the MS patches have improved things considerably. I would never go back to XP now...

XP is definitely faster, which could be important if you need every ounce of performance.

 

[dbam987]

Vista Basic and Home Premium?

Would Vista Basic and Home Premium (of the 64-bit variety) be able to see all the cores? Or is it just on the Business and Ultimate versions?

 

[DH Miller]

WIndows 64 bit

I just wrote a lengthy article for Electronic Musician on running Win on a Mac.
It should be online at www.emusician.com in a few weeks.

However, I tested Vista x64 under Boot Camp (among other configs.. XP only tested under Parallels, which has its own limits for RAM and procs, unlike Fusion, my choice). Why not go Vista at this point:

1. What is the bootcamp experience like (with regard to drivers, etc)?
Sweet - no problems. Got the new nVidia drivers from their site, my MOTU audio interface (Firewire) works fine - no issues.

2. Vista x64 sees all 8 cores and all 16 GB.

All,

First, I apologize for a repost, but I am unable to find what I need so far so I am turning to you guys for some assistance.

My lab wants to get a kick-ass desktop PC that can run Windows XP 64 bit edition and take advantage of as much RAM and processing power as possible for 3-D modeling. I don't have too much experience with WinXP 64 bit edition, but I am wondering if any mac pro owners out there that have an updated box w/8 cores and lots of RAM do have WinXP 64 bit edition can answer my questions:

1. What is the bootcamp experience like (with regard to drivers, etc)?
2. Can WinXP take advantage of all 8 processors?
3. Can WinXP take advantage of up to 16GB of RAM? (I think the answer is yes...)

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[DH Miller]

Windows 64

FYI: (MS site)
While all editions of Windows Vista can support multiple core CPUs, only Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise can support dual processors.

I assume the other versions would see quad cores in a single proc but not both procs...

Would Vista Basic and Home Premium (of the 64-bit variety) be able to see all the cores? Or is it just on the Business and Ultimate versions?

 

[Siron]

I'm having some troubles with a Boot Camp Vista Business 64-bit installation. I have four hard drives..
When I tried to use boot camp with the 1TB drive being an HFS+, Vista said it couldn't find a supported volume during the install.

I had the same problem as Vista doesn't like to install on anything other than the primary drive (although some here have had no problems). After putting the Vista disc in the drive, shutdown the machine and pull all drives except the one that you want to install on. That should fix the problem.