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unreal
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Win7 64bit with dual core cpu

Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:56 pm

I am currently running Vista with intel core 2 extreme X6800 (dual core) cpu. I am ready to upgrade to Win7 home premium or ultimate. I read everywhere that I need a 64bit compatible cpu. Here is my question, is my cpu considered 64bit compatible to run Win7?
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Re: Win7 64bit with dual core cpu

Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:59 pm

Specs on your Core 2 Extreme

The short answer is yes.
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DrkSide
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Re: Win7 64bit with dual core cpu

Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:02 pm

Short answer = Yes, Long answer = yes. I believe than anything from around the Pentium 4 Prescott era circa ~2004 has the ability to run 64-bit
 
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Re: Win7 64bit with dual core cpu

Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:09 pm

I don't know where you read that you *needed* a 64 bit CPU to run Windows 7 in any flavor - you can install it as 32 bit or 64 bit with the same key.
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just brew it!
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Re: Win7 64bit with dual core cpu

Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:05 pm

Your CPU is 64-bit capable. You don't *need* 64-bit to run Windows 7, but if your CPU is 64-bit capable you might as well install the 64-bit flavor since it will enable you to use more than 4 GB of RAM effectively.

@DrkSide - Many of the Prescott P4s did not support 64-bit. For a while, Intel was intentionally disabling this feature on some models to artificially segment their product line.

(Edited - I originally posted that there were Core 2s without 64-bit, but I now believe this was incorrect. There were definitely 32-bit only Prescotts, I had one at work until just a couple of years ago.)
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FakeAlGore
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Re: Win7 64bit with dual core cpu

Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:13 am

just brew it! wrote:
(Edited - I originally posted that there were Core 2s without 64-bit, but I now believe this was incorrect. There were definitely 32-bit only Prescotts, I had one at work until just a couple of years ago.)


You're probably thinking about the Intel Core Solo and Core Duo (Yonah) processors. They were 32-bit only and based on the older P6 microarchitecture introduced with the Pentium Pro. The Core microarchitecture, introduced with the Core 2 series of processors, are all 64-bit capable.

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