Which processor do I have? and when to go 64bit?

Hi all, our family desktop computer forms the basis of our network, doing most of the work of a small server. It's kept kiddie (well teen) proof by only having office suites, browsers etc installed and deliberatly not as good as their laptops for gaming (the kids can do what they like to their laptops we just back them up once a week with norton for when they download another trojan!)

As you can imagine the specs of this pc aren't that important, as long as it's brisk and doesn't keep us waiting loading internet explorer or become unusable when norton runs, I'm happy, but I have started looking into future planning - how far it will upgrade in the future before we'll have to replace it.

I understand most of it apart from processors, I have it confirmed from dell that my motherboard can be upgraded to a intel Q6700 quadcore processor and 8GB of RAM... which will definately put quite a few years on the old box.

I wont be doing that for at least a year as costs will keep falling, but I was thinking; that processor is 64bit and i'd need a 64bit OS to utilise the ram, so is it worth moving to windows 7 64 now to make the switch easier, or stay at 32 bit and upgrade the whole shi-bang when windows 8 arrives?

Can my current processor support 64bit os? it says intel VIIV on the box, but windows 7 says my processor is intel core 2. I checked wikipedia and it says the sticker on the front refers to pentium D... any ideas?

many thanks in advance!

IMO, I would stay with 32bit, than when Windows 8 is out, have a look around for new box.

Thanks for the quick reply theog

A new box is always an option, and will be concidered, but as it is today i can upgrade the pc for around £150 and a new box with similar specs is nearer £500 so forward 18 months and I'd imagine upgrade cost will be around 100 with a new box still between 400 and 500. The cost of the OS isn't so much of an issue as we have a family pack of windows 7 so i can upgrade to 64 for free now and we'll most likely buy a similar product for windows 8.

Any ideas about which processor is in there, or how i find out? many thanks!

If you are considering a new computer I believe Microsoft will be offering a free upgrade to Windows 8, which is likely to be on the market early next year.

It's a matter of personal choice, and I'm more than happy with my 64-bit version of Windows 7, but if you're upgrading your computer I'd take theog's advice and stick with the 32-bit version as there'll be less conflicts with drivers and software.

From what I have found concerning the Dell dimention E520.
See the specs below.
http://support.dell.com/support/syst...m_en/specs.htm

Right click on Computer and select properties.
It will show you which processor is installed.