Thread: 32bit vs 64bit windows os.

I am about to do a clean install of windows 7 on my desktop,i am running a gaming desktop not a laptop. I am wanting some feed back from people using 64bit. I am in 2 minds about 64bit so have you guys had much experience with it. I have all the right set up for 64bit including 4gb of ram,core 2 duo cpu,8800gt video card and plenty of storage. I know there was a lot of compatibility issues with 64bit but i believe most of them have been taken care of and all drivers are good now. I use my PC for many different things so i am trying to figure out if 64bit is worth it or just to stick to 32bit.
Any help from you guys would be very beneficial to me so please post if you are using 64bit,how long have you used it for?, any driver issues?. Whats your thoughts about 64bit compared to 32bit?, Have you noticed a better running system going with 64bit?.

Thanks T-P.

If you're talking about performance with the specs you have x64 will be slightly better considering it can actually utilize all of your memory.

x64 is my default OS, but you're right there's a good chunk of compatability issues if you're talking about anything retro.

In my experience it's not totally unworkable, but it does take more gymnastics to get working. That being said, it sounds like you're over the x64 threshold (4gb RAM + whatever else you've got on your videocard) that it's in your best interest to make sure you're x64 bit as x86's limitations mean you can't address the memory you have.

I've used Windows vista, server 2008/R2, and 7 64 bit and ubuntu 64bit for more than 2 years now. All have not given any issues within the past year. At first there were some problems with drivers but things are sorted out with all of the main programs I've used.

Personally I see no difference as far as speed goes or compatibility. If you are using software from XP times you may have trouble finding drivers for it, but 9/10 you can hack the 32bit drivers in and it'll work fine.

64bit just allows more floating point numbers creating precision. That's really where you get this "speed" from since 32bit isn't using software to create precision. It's hardware that's doing it.

Overall, I don't have objections. Games play fine. torrents are fine, software and programming are fine. Change now, cause you'll ask yourself this question when windows makes 128bit (pretty soon).

Thanks for your comments guys! I am kind of steering towards 64bit,i cant see how it can hurt much as they have really been working on driver issues etc but i will let some more people post. As for 128bit,well that's a whole new can of worms. I can't even start to imagine what hardware we will need to run that lol.

T-P.

well i dont think its worth going with the 64bit since it will only be a bit faster, but you will encounter more problems, not really worth it is it? but meeh, if you like that sorta stuff then go for it, but it just dont seem worth it to me mate :P good luck anyways

I used vista 32bit before switching to windows 7 64bit, no problems here, at this point i think its safe to say most devices are 64bit friendly. I have been looking around at my local electronic stores lately and most if not all newer computer models ship with windows 7 64bit.

Originally Posted by PIKMIKY

well i dont think its worth going with the 64bit since it will only be a bit faster, but you will encounter more problems, not really worth it is it? but meeh, if you like that sorta stuff then go for it, but it just dont seem worth it to me mate :P good luck anyways

im afraid i have to disagree, x64 has been around for a long time now and even pc manufacturers such as dell have started removing 32bit OS's from their midrange models - studio 15 etc and going with 64bit !!

the speed gain can sometimes be minimal with x64, but in certain scenarios such as some types of scientific simulations (maybe a little in gaming) 64bit will be significantly faster than 32bit.

u can never have too much speed! also since x64 has been around for so long now, there are VERY FEW driver issues! and with the new "updated" windows update for windows 7, the chances of u not being able to find ur proper driver is almost non-existent! i predict that ur windows 7 64bit upgrade will therefore go FLAWLESSLY....and if there does happen to be a problem in windows 7 drivers, im sure google will have the answer.

now dont get me wrong, i understand the risks involved in using 64bit OS's ...but those problems now only really exist if u r using a old/ legacy OS such as windows XP. I can imagine it being hell trying to find drivers for windows XP 64bit.....but this is NOT the case with windows 7

hope this helps u

happy upgrading :)

[QUOTE=Xalos;

now dont get me wrong, i understand the risks involved in using 64bit OS's ...but those problems now only really exist if u r using a old/ legacy OS such as windows XP. I can imagine it being hell trying to find drivers for windows XP 64bit.....but this is NOT the case with windows 7

hope this helps u

happy upgrading :)[/QUOTE]
I have to agree. Microsoft have been working really hard on the 64bit issues,i cant honestly see there been many problems at all with windows 7 64bit. I would have never even thought of going 64bit 2 or 3 years ago with all the compatibility problems but they do seem to be on their game now. Then there was good old vista lol that was and is just total and utter crap. If Microsoft continue with windows 7,8 and 9(128bit) i think the future of computers will be very attractive.

Definitely go with 64 bit. That way your 4 gigs of RAM is actually all used. 32 bit systems just don't have the addressing capability to handle more than 4.2 billion addresses (2^32 ~= 4.2 billion). A lot of these addresses are also internally reserved by the OS. On my older XP system, this left me with only 2.5 billion left for the RAM, meaning it used 2.5 GBs RAM even though I had 4GB installed. Windows 7 is a little better, but I've heard you only end up with maybe 3.2 GBs.

Honestly, I've been using 64 bit for a year and I haven't had a single compatibility issue. 64 bit isn't that new anymore, and most everything updated within like the last 3 years is 64 bit compatible. The performance boost from 3.2 to 4 gigs may not be huge, but it'll prolly be noticeable. So hey, why not go for it?