64bit or 32bit

RoGuE · Post by **RoGuE** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:11 am

hey SPCR,

I find myself in the market for an extremely discounted license of Windows 7 pro (as I am a full time student). My computer specs are listed below. FYI i use my computer for gaming, dabbling with video editing and encoding, and daily use like websurfing, email checking etc.

My question is, should I buy the 64-bit OS? All my gear and periphs are at most a year old, so drivers wouldn't be an issue. I guess my question is, does it make sense to up it to a 64 bit OS to sort of "future proof" my rig for a little longer.

I realize I would have to buy 2 more gigs of ram, but ram is dirt cheap, and I consider myself an end-user. Ultimately, I'm asking this question from a performance stand point. I sure as hell don't want my computer getting any slower when doing stuff like surfing the web.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:41 am

While I can't list its advantages of the top of my head (except being able to use more than 3GB of RAM and being a bit more secure) I say go 64-bit. It'll use a little more RAM and the Windows install will be bigger (having both 32 and 64-bit files) but it's just better (not to mention it's the future). Go for it.

Here it is:
http://www.w7forums.com/windows-7-64-bi ... -t484.html

Too much emphasis on the cons though, not really that big of a deal!

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:54 am

You shouldn't *have* to buy more memory. 2GB is the minimum according to the MS pages.

I've been using 64-bit Vista now for several years, driver support was half-decent to begin with and is now on a par with 32-bit as far as I can tell. There've been one or two issues I've had with the signed-drivers requirement but that was mostly open-source software, etc.

Suffice it to say I'm sticking with 64-bit for W7!

RoGuE · Post by **RoGuE** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:08 am

yeah..it seems like 64 bit is the future, so if I can predict that now, why would I bother going with the "past" technology of 32-bit OS.

I agree...it makes sense to upgrade.

Nutball, I think I will try running with 2 gb and see where it gets me. I read somewhere that u need 4gb to really take advantage of the 64-bit-ness of the operating system, but I could be wrong.

Riffer · Post by **Riffer** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:58 pm

As long as your applications will work and you can get drivers, go for it.

I would do it myself, but I don't want to upgrade my Microsoft Office 2000.

swivelguy2 · Post by **swivelguy2** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:47 pm

RoGuE wrote:I realize I would have to buy 2 more gigs of ram

You really don't have to. Go with 64-bit in case you want to, down the road. If Windows 8 turns out to be another Vista -- or worse, another ME -- you may have this Win 7 license for the better part of a decade.

RoGuE · Post by **RoGuE** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 6:47 pm

swivelguy2 wrote:
RoGuE wrote:I realize I would have to buy 2 more gigs of ram
You really don't have to. Go with 64-bit in case you want to, down the road. If Windows 8 turns out to be another Vista -- or worse, another ME -- you may have this Win 7 license for the better part of a decade.

good thinking swivel, thanks for the input. And i'm glad to hear people say I wont need more than 2gb (least not if I dont want it). Thats refreshing to hear because a lot of noobs think more ram always = more speed. (even when you're not swapping yet).

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:35 am

If you're sure the drivers will be stable and you don't use your PC as a HTPC, then 64-bit is fine.

I recommend against 64bit for HTPCs, since the codecs are either different or nonexistent for many formats. It's a much bigger headache than it should be, but most codec and media software companies focus on 32-bit compatibility first and 64-bit is an afterthought.

kittle · Post by **kittle** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:11 pm

Another subject to look at is how many older apps do you have that you cant live without?

I run xp 64-bit on my desktop and vista x64 on my laptop. overall there are no problems - but every once in a while I try to run one of my really old programs and find it doesnt work.
any older 16-bit windows app or dos app wont run in vista x64 or xp 64-bit (and probably win7 too).

If thats not an issue - Id say go for the 64bit os. it will help to somewhat future proof your setup, and give you virtually unlimited ram upgrade ability.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:16 pm

kittle wrote:any older 16-bit windows app or dos app wont run in vista x64 or xp 64-bit (and probably win7 too).

He's going to buy Windows 7 Pro so that's not an issue. He can always run it under XP Mode.

RBBOT · Post by **RBBOT** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:53 pm

32-bit is a dying breed. Microsoft have already dropped support for it in their server products and server operating systems. I wouldn't be surprised if Windows 8 (or whatever they decide to call it) is 64-bit only too.

kittle: Download a virtualisation product, such as Microsoft Virtual PC from the Microsoft website and you can run your old programs under any older OS you like.

RedAE102 · Post by **RedAE102** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:41 pm

It's worth mentioning that students can get a full license for Office 2007 Ultimate as part of their Ultimate Steal promotion. It's how I got my Office 2007, as well as my Vista Ultimate Upgrade license. Office will run you $60, and currently Vista runs $65. The latter is hardly worth it now with Microsoft's $30 Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional license for students, but I just thought I'd mention the Office one to you. Alternatively, Office 2007 Home and Student, which is licensed for multiple PCs, often drops around the $60-70 mark at Amazon.com if you prefer that.

That said, I use x64 Vista or 7 on all my newer computers, save for my old laptop which is now my mom's. The only reason I have 32-bit Vista on that is that the BIOS is not properly written for x64 Vista or 7, and the sound never works after resuming from sleep on x64. On my desktop, I wouldn't use anything else.

RoGuE · Post by **RoGuE** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:10 pm

Thanks for the info. I was aware of the Office 2007 deal, but thanks for mentioning it.

I am now 100% set on the 64-bit OS. I couldn't pass up teh 30$ win 7 pro license.

SebRad · Post by **SebRad** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:48 pm

I've been lightly using / playing with Win7 64bit on E6600 + 2GB + Nvidia 7050 and it runs just fine. At one point was running on 1GB and that was clearly much slower just to boot and surf the Internet. 2GB probably fine for quite a bit of use even under 64bit Windows. I'm running Vista 64bit on my main PC with very few problems. As mentioned unsigned drivers are a problem for some monitor/control apps eg ATITool. Speedfan has signed driver as I think does Rivatuner.
Also no 16bit support so my need Virtual PC (or equivalent) for something old things, bearing in mind MS Virtual PC only runs S3 Trio graphics. (ie no 3D hardware acceleration) I've used DOSBox for running old DOS games pretty successfully and it will work on 64bit Windows. I guess no reason why it wouldn't run other DOS apps if someone wanted but I think it's primarily aimed at VOGONS

(Very Old Games On New Systems)
I would go 64bit as Vista has done a lot of the ground work to get most modern things to work fine with it.
Regards, Seb

64bit or 32bit

64bit or 32bit

Re: 64bit or 32bit

Re: 64bit or 32bit