To 64 or not to 64 - that is the question

64 bit desktop OSs are getting easier to adopt. Here a great benchmark (and results), comparing XP, Vista, Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008, 32 and 64 bits.

Here's a summary of the summary :)

CPU:
All 64-bit OS dominates with the exception of Prime Numbers and SSE.
Best-Worst: 2008, Vista, XP

Cool, as expected.

Memory:
64-bit performance better
Best-Worst 64: XP, Vista SP1, 2008, Vista
Best-Worst 32: Vista, Vista SP1, 2008, XP

XP 64 rocks, as expected. Now here's another expected result:

Disk:

[...]
XP and Server 2008 both showed even, but noticeable faster results vs Vista.

And finally, here are the results:

Overall:
64-bit is improving and shows a better overall average performance. The 3D graphics are dependent upon the drivers released and I have seen consistently improving performance with nVidia's drivers. The 64-bit performance has exceeded in this benchmark which surprised me. The push for Vista has finally exceeded XP's performance, but SP1 has been a step back for gaming in vista. I've also noticed this in 3dMark tests I have run.

Oops for Vista SP1...

So my Windows Server 2008 64 bits for my laptop doesn't seem like a bad option after all. XP64, today's fastest option,  is probably not an option for the future. Probably time to test drive a Vista 64 bits...

Thanks for the tip, Rasteiro :)