Even drivers explicitly identified as 64bit are not guaranteed to work smoothly while they are still in beta. This was demonstrated during testing with the drivers for the onboard Broadcom Net Extreme 5751 Gigabit network controller on our test PCs.

The manufacturer’s US homepage does list a suitable 64bit driver, but installing it caused a system crash. In this case, it was not critical because RC1 already contains a version that works. There is light at the end of the tunnel however: both ATI and Nvidia, two of the largest graphics chip manufacturers, began to develop 64bit drivers at an early stage. Copies of 64bit optimised drivers in the Catalyst and Forceware series have been available for download from their websites for a few months. This is a sensible approach, especially as in the consumer market it is 3D games which stand to gain most from 64bit technology.

Thanks to the unified driver concept, the drivers can be used with all current and older cards based on ATI or Nvidia technology Despite their beta designation, the 64bit drivers supported all the usual features such as comprehensive quality settings and dual monitors.

For motherboards the basic drivers for current chipsets are already included in the operating system. Nvidia’s 64bit beta driver (6.25 beta) for the older Nforce, Nforce 2, 3 and Pro chipsets were available for download. The main drivers for Sis motherboards are already on the 64bit XP CD. In addition, 64bit Sata, Raid, audio and network drivers for some newer chips can be obtained via the Sis home page. The same goes for Via – take a look at the Via Arena page (www.viaarena.com).

Further 64bit drivers can be found on the websites of Creative (Soundblaster Live, Audigy, Audigy 2) and other major manufacturers. Table 3 gives an overview of available 64bit drivers from various manufacturers.