Thread: windows 7 32 or 64 bit?

It's time for me to do an OS upgrade.
What version would be suggested? x86 or x64.
I have understood x86 would support more Ram memory?

I have placed this in the wrong section. My bad.. Would an admin be so kind to move it or should I delete it and restart it in the right section?

Originally Posted by nehpets

I have placed this in the wrong section. My bad.. Would an admin be so kind to move it or should I delete it and restart it in the right section?

Go to the IRC page (a link is up top) and ask a mod to move it.

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To answer your question, 64bit offers some marginal performance gain when using 64bit applications and has some extra security features that should make it a lot harder for certain types of hacks called buffer overflows. Like you mentioned, 32bit is also limited to accessing 3.5gb of RAM, so if you have more than that you have another reason to go 64bit.

The only reason I can think of to not to go to 64bit is compatibility. Some drivers (especially for network devices) are kind of flaky for 64bit, and some programs like anti-virus are just as flaky. To check for potential problems, Google your device model numbers and try to see if there are any problems for it.

if you are going to be using windows 7.. then you can go in for 64 bit. norton,mcafee and eset have 64 bit antivirus and all win 7 offers perfect back compatibility for 32 bit drivers and applications. what it does not seem to support is old DOS based 8 bit apps (in my personal experience)

If you have 4+GB of RAM, then you should go for Windows 7 x64 because it supports that much RAM. If not, x86 will be fine.

go with the 64bit, it can see all the memory you have and it processes much faster. Its performance is solid and best of all, you can load 32 bit apps on a 64bit OS whereas the opposite is not true.

okay thanks! I have done the conversion an it looks neat!

64bit will be faster for any programs which support it, and it will also support more memory. The one thing which hasn't been addressed in this thread is the downside of x64 - many different drivers, especially for the more advanced hardware (specific raid cards, etc), do not have driver support for anything but x86. For common home use it will not be a problem, but if you plan on doing anything non-mainstream I would definitely check to make sure there are 64bit drivers out first.

amm . it's not easy to decide whitc kind you are going to choos , for me , i use x86 sence ever , and i have never faced any problem with it , & if your device is fast with a good proccecer , i think it wont be very deffrent between the tow kinds , i would reccomand the x86 , but its your call ,,,
Thanks a lot ,,

Best Wishes ,,,,