Vista, OEM or Upgrade

[XJ.]

I've pretty much decided to get Vista Business 64. My only problem now is whether or not to get OEM (cheaper) or the Upgrade version (easier). I've already had to do two clean installs this year because of hardware problems, so I'm somewhat loathe doing another clean install and having to re-install all my apps and pull my data back over. Does the upgrade version have the same silly 'one PC' limits like the OEM does?

Thanks for any input!

[ATINUT]

With OEM it's effectly tied to the computer you install it on, and with OEM it's a full version not an upgrade and you must also with OEM specify when you get it that you want 64bit or 32bit. Also note that with 64bit you can not do an upgrade, it must be a fresh install, meaning you must reformat your boot drive, install Vista 64, and then install your compatible apps.

I have OEM Vista 64 Ultimate Edition, and found this out.

[XJ.]

Hmm, MS's Vista upgrade adviser suggested I upgrade to Vista Business 64 - guess they should put some fine print in there about it not really being an "upgrade" upgrade

[johnrr6]

This might be a help.....

Have heard some good things about it....

Laplink® Software - PCmover - Overview

[zapionics<alt>]

I hope you've checked out DDR prices before choosing a 64bit OS.
For instance a kit of 4GB PC12800 and latency in the 7's is around $900.00 AUD here.... ouch!

[johnrr6]

Originally Posted by zapionics<alt>

I hope you've checked out DDR prices before choosing a 64bit OS.
For instance a kit of 4GB PC12800 and latency in the 7's is around $900.00 AUD here.... ouch!

But the flip side is DDR2...

I've got 8 gigs of CAS 5 PC8500 stuff coming in that I paid less than $200 US for...

[zapionics<alt>]

Originally Posted by johnrr6

But the flip side is DDR2...

oh yeah, DDR2 is a bargain. I was talking about DDR3.

[XJ.]

I already have 4GiB of DDR2 1066 Cas 5. It was amazingly cheap - especially for a decent name brand like G.Skill. And that's part of the incentive for buying Vista 64, with 32b OSes I wind up flushing 1GiB down the drain.

[johnrr6]

I'm trying to build a "Bang for the Buck" system using an AMD 780G mobo and an 9850BE AMD Phenom processor

Will use Vista 64 Ultimate and those 8 gigs I have coming in.....I need the Media Center and some other things Ultimate gives....

The onboard graphics of the 780G are exceptional---best in the inustry right now----and they give you the ablity to add a $30 vid card in Crossfire....

The call it "Hybrid Crossfire"

The goal is to see how a "cheap" capable AMD system matches up with a similar but more expensive Intel system.....

My hunch is that even after overclocking----it will be very stable---cheaper----and slower...

How MUCH slower----aye----that's the question----and how MUCH cheaper----don't know yet....

[XJ.]

Good luck John! I suppose since you are getting the BE edition that you plan to overclock?

[johnrr6]

Originally Posted by XJ.

Good luck John! I suppose since you are getting the BE edition that you plan to overclock?

Yes---I plan to overclock it to whatever it will do on standard vcore----or a shade more.....

The unlocked Plus multipliers make it so easy to overclock....and you don't have to worry about changing FSB which then affects your RAM DDR.

You can just do the stock DDR 1066....which the PC8500 is supposed to do.

Now if you WANT to play with the FSB----sure---you can as well----but this looks just so easy.

You can also play with the Hyper Transport and overclock the IGP...

And then add the inexpensive 3450 PCIe Graphics card in Hybrid Crossfire.....matched with the IGP

And then overclock it as well....

And I called Asrock who swears their 5 phase mobo will handle a 125Watt 9850 BE (unlike some other 780G Boards which only support 95 Watt CPUs)

I haven't looked forward to a build as much in years

Probably since Oskar Wu's DFI NF4 Ultra board.....

That board had more BIOS options for overclocking than ANY board I've ever seen----kept me busy a solid year.....