Rate my hardware - should I upgrade to W7?

[DJS]

Hi guys, is my hardware compatible with Win7?:

- AMD Athlon64 x2 3800+ (overclocked @ 2.3 GHz) CPU
- DFI Infinity NF UltraII-M2 sktAM2 mobo
- 2Gb Mushkin PC-6400 DDR2 5-5-5-15 RAM
- Leadtek GeForce 8600GTS 256mb PCI-E vid card

I'm currently running XP home SP2 and I'm a heavy WoW player and I'm looking to add at least 2Gb of RAM and probably upgrade the vid card. I've read that XP home is limited to 32-bit operation so intalling an additional 2Gb RAM would be a waste.....

Basically, is my hardware 64bit capable?

 

[draceena]

Your setup looks fine to me, but the best way to be sure is hop over to Microsoft and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...90-7659-4bd9-9e51-2497c146af15&displayLang=en

Beyone that, check to see if there are 64 bit drivers for your Motherboard/Video Card at their respective manufacturers.

 

[DJS]

Hi draceena, thx for your reply.

Silly question: when a driver says "Win XP 64 bit...etc" that means it will be compatible with W7?

 

[draceena]

The absolute best would be for a driver to have a "Windows 7 64bit" listed on it but a 64bit XP driver can also work if that is the only 64 bit driver available. In that case, you will need to install the driver using the Compatibility Mode buit into Windows 7.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Hi DJS - Welcome to w7forums

Judging from your questions, I think you already know the 64-bit operating system requires 64-bit hardware drivers in order to work. I thought I would mention this as if you were in question.

AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core Processors

• Features & Benefits
  • AMD64 Technology
  • Ready for the 64-bit future

Read more here - AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core Processors

GeForce/ION Driver Release 191

• Operating System: Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows 7 64-bit
• GeForce 8 series: 8600 GS, 8600 GT, 8600 GTS

Read more here - GeForce/ION Driver Release 191