2009-06-09, 11:46 AM
I am getting close to buying a new computer which will be used for GBPPVR recording as well as general desktop applications. My preferences would be to stay with a 32-bit version of Windows but the computer makers seem to be only offering Vista in 64-bit versions. I would stick with a 32 bit version of XP except Microsoft has signalled the end of its support. For most programs, that would not be an issue but with Windows we have seen that new patches for security issues are issued regularly. I am afraid that starting with a new XP computer now would quickly leave me vulnerable during the expected lifetime of this computer (at least 4 years).
I would also like to avoid Vista and go straight to Windows 7 so I know that this means waiting until at least the Fall to buy the computer unless I can get one with a free upgrade to Windows7 once it is available. As far as I can tell, unlike Vista which had many driver compatibility problems when it came out, Windows 7 doesn't/won't be having the same level of incompatibilities.
I am interested in a Core 2 duo (that's the best version I can figure from the information about the multi-core processors). Although I don't expect to have software that is written to multitask the individual program, I am hoping that this will let two separate processes run simultaneously (such as comskip processing a program once it has been recorded while I am running a desktop application such as a compiler without them seriously impacting each other or XMLTV running and not locking up the whole computer while it runs - which currently happens in XP where it uses 100% cpu until it finishes).
It seems that when a multi-core processor is included, the computer makers automatically include 64-bit Windows since the processor can support 64-bit.
I know there are a bunch of threads touching on this subject and I have looked through them but most of the information seems several months old (an eternity when we are dealing with a migration from 32-bit to 64-bit computing) and I thought a new thread could be used to assemble all the current knowledge about this topic.
Most of the negative comments about 64-bit windows seem to be about device drivers so I assume that buying a new computer with the OS installed should cover the basic video and other hardware issues. The only other hardware it will be interfacing with will be my router, DSL modem and capture cards. I will be installing several Hauppauge capture cards (a 1600 and either a 150, 350, or both depending on how many PCI slots I can get. If I can only get two PCI slots I will use the 1600 and a 500 to get a total of 3 NTSC and 1 QAM channel for recording) for a combination of capturing NTSC analog signals and QAM channels.
A couple questions to get started:
I would also like to avoid Vista and go straight to Windows 7 so I know that this means waiting until at least the Fall to buy the computer unless I can get one with a free upgrade to Windows7 once it is available. As far as I can tell, unlike Vista which had many driver compatibility problems when it came out, Windows 7 doesn't/won't be having the same level of incompatibilities.
I am interested in a Core 2 duo (that's the best version I can figure from the information about the multi-core processors). Although I don't expect to have software that is written to multitask the individual program, I am hoping that this will let two separate processes run simultaneously (such as comskip processing a program once it has been recorded while I am running a desktop application such as a compiler without them seriously impacting each other or XMLTV running and not locking up the whole computer while it runs - which currently happens in XP where it uses 100% cpu until it finishes).
It seems that when a multi-core processor is included, the computer makers automatically include 64-bit Windows since the processor can support 64-bit.
I know there are a bunch of threads touching on this subject and I have looked through them but most of the information seems several months old (an eternity when we are dealing with a migration from 32-bit to 64-bit computing) and I thought a new thread could be used to assemble all the current knowledge about this topic.
Most of the negative comments about 64-bit windows seem to be about device drivers so I assume that buying a new computer with the OS installed should cover the basic video and other hardware issues. The only other hardware it will be interfacing with will be my router, DSL modem and capture cards. I will be installing several Hauppauge capture cards (a 1600 and either a 150, 350, or both depending on how many PCI slots I can get. If I can only get two PCI slots I will use the 1600 and a 500 to get a total of 3 NTSC and 1 QAM channel for recording) for a combination of capturing NTSC analog signals and QAM channels.
A couple questions to get started:
- I have seen some comments about some software won't run in 64-bit Windows. Are these situations only due to problems with hardware drivers or are there other issues about 32 bit programs running in the 64-bit environment?
- Is GBPVR compatible with Vista-64?
- Which Hauppauge cards are supported by GBPVR in 64-bit environment?
- How much problem will software decoders be?
- Are there known issues in supporting MediaMVP and Popcornhour A100 units?