Windows 98SE and 64 bit Processors?

[Dave-H]

This may sound like a silly thing to want to do, but bear with me!

I have a Supermicro dual Zeon server motherboard, which I bought five years ago.

It has 2.4 GHz processors at present, and 1GB of RAM.

As it has always been my policy (since my first PC in 1993!) to do a hardware update review every five years, it's now time for me to look at update options.

I run dual boot Windows 98SE with all the official and many of the unofficial patches, and Windows 2000 SP4.

I want to keep that configuration.

The mobo was never certified for Windows 98 by the manufacturers, but it has always worked fine with all the necessary Intel chipset drivers.

I've now decided not to actually replace the motherboard, but just to upgrade it as far as I can.

It will take faster processors and obviously more RAM.

I want to fit the fastest processors that the mobo will handle with its latest BIOS, and upgrade the RAM to at least 2GB.

My basic question is, can I fit 64 bit processors and still run Windows 98SE OK?

My research on this has proved inconclusive, so I'm asking the experts on here!

I well realise that I will gain no advantage at present by using 64 bit processors, but I'm thinking of a bit of future-proofing.

It would allow me to upgrade to a 64 bit OS in the future without having to upgrade the hardware again.

I assume that Windows 2000 will be happy, but will Windows 98SE still run?

I realise that I will probably have to further tweak Windows 98 to use 2GB of RAM too, but I know that is possible.

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers, Dave.

[aqcww]

you mean 64bit cpu?

i have to say that now the cpus are almost 64bit

so 64bit isn't problem.2core also isn't a probem.

[sp193]

Before anything else, you cannot fit a 64-bit CPU into a mainboard supporting only 32-bit CPUs.

Well, I'm no real expert on this, but I had read from somewhere else on this forum that Win9x is unable to use more than 1 CPU core. This means that you can run win9x on a duel/quart core CPU, but it would just be wasteful. I am not very sure whether win98 would run well on a 64-bit CPU, but I think that it should not have any real problem, but win98 would just not take advantage of the 64-bit system(Unless the 64-bit is too fast for win98). Also, do beware that few new mainboards have official drivers that are meant to work with win9x.

Sure, very new computers are mostly 64-bit, but I still see more new 32-bit computers than 64-bit computers out there in 2008.

However, althought it's possible to tweak Win98 to use >1GB RAM, please do note that it doesn't always work well with every computer, hence your mileage may very.

Edited November 2, 2008 by sp193

[Chozo4]

As long as the CPU you intend to use is backward compatible with 32-bit applications (meaning is has x86-64 extentions), there should be no problems. From personal experience, it runs fine for example on an AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (SanDiego-Core).

[the xt guy]

32 bit operating systems (Win 98, ME, 2K and XP) all run fine on a 64 bit CPU. Computers sold over the last 2-3 years all have 64 bit CPU's now.

I'm running 98SE on a 64 bit CPU (Pentium 4 3.6 ghz.) and it runs with no problems. In fact, I tried running 98SE with hyperthreading enabled, and then disabled in the MB BIOS. Seems to make no difference in how 98 runs. (Of course, I know that 98 can't use hyperthreading.)

The potential for problems occur with a 64 bit operating system (Windows XP and Vista in their 64 bit editions). Some 32 bit software, but not all, will run on a 64 bit OS. This is probably the main reason 64 bit XP and Vista are such poor sellers.

The short answer then is: 64 bit hardware OK. 64 bit software: Problems.

Edited November 2, 2008 by the xt guy

[alexanrs]

Win98 will be perfectly happy with a 64-bit processor (x86-64), since these are backwards compatible. You just won't take advantage of it, but then again, nor will 2000, XP (32-bits) and Vista (32-bits). Btw, 64-bit Windows editions are poor sellers not only because of software incompatibilities (since excluding 16-bit software these are minor), but also because hardware problems. I myself had to buy a new webcam because my old one (which was perfectly fine) didn't have drivers for 64-bit Vista... and my BT878-based TV tuner was another epic battle...

[Dave-H]

Thanks everyone!

Sounds like I'll be OK going for 64bit processors as long as my motherboard supports them.

I'm pretty sure that it does, but I'll have to check on that!