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    XP mode under which Sandy Bridge & dual or quad?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Takosan, Mar 30, 2011.

  1. Takosan

    Takosan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Greetings!

    I've been searching the web and can't find up-to-date info on which Intel chips, especially the various Sandy Bridge varieties (also dual core or quad), can support the 'XP mode' under Win7 ... can someone point me in the right direction?

    I'm thinking quad > dual but at least in some posts regarding the 1st gen ix-Core their seems to be incompatibility due to the chipset a certain cpu used :confused:

    Rob
     
    Takosan, Mar 30, 2011
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  2. zhaden

    zhaden Notebook Consultant

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    All Sandy Bridge processors support VT-x, the tech required for hardware supported virtualization (XP mode = good to go), except for the i3.

    VT-d, which would allow you to utilize more bus bandwidth for video/PCIe I/O (virtualized), is only available on some models (edit: those models being the non-K derivatives of the high-end i5's/i7's).

    Click here. The last chart in this article has this info.
     
    zhaden, Mar 30, 2011
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  3. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    When first introduced, VT was required for the XP mode integrated into Win7. You could always run Virtual PC but that required a separate WinXP license. In March of last year, Microsoft updated XP mode to no longer require VT. But as you said, it runs much better WITH it.

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Mar 30, 2011
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  4. Takosan

    Takosan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thank you all for the quick response on XP mode!

    @zhaden: Thank you for the link - that is a great reference.

    Rob
     
    Takosan, Mar 30, 2011
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  5. Takosan

    Takosan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Also some more refs I came by ... in case it helps someone looking for info:

    towards the bottom for SB mobile i5: List of Intel Core i5 microprocessors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    article at Aandtech that compliments @zhaden's input on desktop SB: Intel?s Sandy Bridge i7-2820QM: Upheaval in the Mobile Landscape - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

    again, towards the bottom for SB mobile i7: List of Intel Core i7 microprocessors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    I'm glad to learn that all SB mobile variants have a footnote of supporting VT-x & VT-d; the desktop counter part seems to be a little more complicated.

    Rob
     
    Takosan, Mar 30, 2011
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  6. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    On the other paw, using a processor with both PAE and hardware virtualization will make things run more smoothly.
     
    newsposter, Mar 30, 2011
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  7. ScuderiaConchiglia

    ScuderiaConchiglia NBR Vaio Team Curmudgeon

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    Does anyone, end user or device driver author, even use PAE? My understanding is it is really not in play for Windows users. If you need more than 4 GB, just stick with a 64 bit OS.

    Physical Address Extension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Gary
     
    ScuderiaConchiglia, Mar 31, 2011
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  8. Takosan

    Takosan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Greetings!

    One more gut check as I saw a pretty good deal on a XPS 17 with i7-2630QM. This is from the 'Dell home' division so they don't offer factory config of the 'XP mode' but I believe I can just configure the 'XP mode' after the fact, correct? No advantage, whatsoever, to find similar deals through 'Dell SB' just so they can factory-configure XP mode, correct?

    Thank you.
    Rob
     
    Takosan, Apr 1, 2011
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  9. Takosan

    Takosan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thank you for the confirm Indrek. Have a great weekend! Rob
     
    Takosan, Apr 1, 2011
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