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"64bit processors"

Do 64bit processors, such as Athlon 64 3400+, need a 64bit OS, such as Windows XP 64bit edition?
Or is 64bit edition OS the colour or something?

Please help me.

Erm, probably slightly, though that's more likely to be due to a higher low level cache - 1MB on the XP3200 64-bit.

The real difference in speed will come with XP 64-bit though.

So if i was to buy the Athlon 64 whatever version, and use winXP Pro, would it be faster then an Athlon Xp?

Although they don't need it, they should in theory run faster on it. In reality, it depends how stable the OS is. The experimental version of Windows XP-64 bit is nowhere near as fast as XP Pro on my machine. Lack of drivers, 32-bit emulation, and it still being experimental are all reasons for this.

64bit processors do not need a 64bit OS to operate.

Do 64bit processors, such as Athlon 64 3400+, need a 64bit OS, such as Windows XP 64bit edition?
Or is 64bit edition OS the colour or something?

Please help me.