Hardware to run a 64 bit OS???

Nope.

The standard stuff will do.  Just don't use anything exotic 'cause there probably won't be any drivers for those.

Keep it as bog standard as possible.

but i dont get to use any standard applications on it though... i mean i cannot run my personal programs and mail clients and all that? why is it 64 bit anyways? what makes it special?

Various.

Amount of data that can be pumped into it at any one time.

Amount of memory that can be addressed at any one time.  Old CPUs could address 32 bit memory or a maximum of 4 Gb.   A 64 bit CPU can address - well a lot more.

See here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64-bit

for further clarification.  Testing has shown that for certain apps a 64 bit CPU murders a 32 bit CPU.  Databases are probably the best example.

>> i cannot run my personal programs and mail clients and all that? <<  Are they 16-bit programs? If yes, than you will need something like "Virtual PC", that will let you run them in Emulation. As far as I know, 64-bit OS's will only drop back to 32-bit. And 8-bit DOS, is even more fun

>> why is it 64 bit anyways? what makes it special? <<  It's the next step in the process. It can handle more data, handle it faster, and is generally more powerful.

Hummmmm...  still typing too slow.    : /

LOOOOOOOOOOL and who's that "typing too slow" ?! hehehe thats funny!

on 64 bit you can reach double speed wo warming the processor.

For the record: there are currently 2 Windows 64 bit platforms.
1- Itanium Processor based: Full 64 bit. Cannot run 32 bit apps. Motherboard components/ memory is also 64 bit.  Exxxxxtrrrreeemly fast and expensive.
2- x64 processor bases (cheap): Mixed 64/32 bit. Motherboard components/memory is still mainly 32 bit. Processor can handle both 32 and 64 bit instructions. Can handle 64 or 32 bit Windows. When running x64 Windows version, only x64 Applications will benefit from the faster 64 bit processing. Legacy application perform at "normal" speed. This is the first big-scale introduction to the world of 64 bit computing, but it's not Heaven.

Are you going to let us guess what hardware you have presently?  It's difficult to say whether it will work when we don't know what you have.  You do need a 64-bit cpu (Athlon64 family or Intel with EMT64 extensions; Itaniums also, but they're expensive and I don't think they are being manufactured anymore) and a motherboard that supports it - all the other parts can be the same as for 32-bit systems.

New system shipments based on 32-bit x86 processors will be swept away, over time, by refreshed designs built around x86-64 processors.

now thats what i was asking about... thanks Redwulf__53 but why a 64 bit cannot run a 32 bit is still a mystery to me...

i dont have the hardware yet and i am planning to run it on a celeron p4 processor even... thas why i am asking those questions? is it viable or not? regular 512 mg DDrams and a scsi hard drive... thats all!

in other words a processor decodes its instructions.
they are strings of 0 and 1.
in 64 bit processors these strings can be accessed 64 bit once so double speed of a 32 bit processor.
A 64 bit processor has a different set of instructions, it has more bits available and it seems Itanium has give up 32 bit set. If it reads such a 32 set it donno what to do or does something else.

>> and who's that "typing too slow" <<   Me.
Dbrunton's second response was not there when I started my first. Happens alot around here.  : D

Glad you got the info you wanted.   : )

Thanks a lot Visual3DMaya that was informative... i understood some of what you typed on there but it was good... Thanks again!