Getting a 64-bit operating system?

I was thinking about grabbing a 64-bit operating system, but thought I'd ask here first. My card supports directX 10, so I *could* get Vista if I so wished (I currently use Windows XP Home Edition, 32-bit).

First question is this: What are some of the main advantages (in a nutshell) of having a 64-bit operating system?

Second question would be, What do I need to do in order to make my computer compatible with a 64-bit operating system? Because if I only need a 64-bit processor then I've got it.

The main advantage that you'll see is that it removes the 4gig addressing cap, which will allow you to see all 4 (or more) gig of ram that you put into your PC.

And all you need is a 64bit processor and you should be good to go.

You just need to note that 16bit apps don't work at all in Vista x64. Which should be fine, but you've just got to be careful with the installers for some older programs, which are actually 16bit programs -- which means you won't be able to install those programs.

The main advantage that you'll see is that it removes the 4gig addressing cap, which will allow you to see all 4 (or more) gig of ram that you put into your PC.

And all you need is a 64bit processor and you should be good to go.

You just need to note that 16bit apps don't work at all in Vista x64. Which should be fine, but you've just got to be careful with the installers for some older programs, which are actually 16bit programs -- which means you won't be able to install those programs.

G013M

The reason I ask is because I may pick up Vista eventually so I might as well pick up the 64-bit version, eh?

[QUOTE="G013M"]

The main advantage that you'll see is that it removes the 4gig addressing cap, which will allow you to see all 4 (or more) gig of ram that you put into your PC.

And all you need is a 64bit processor and you should be good to go.

You just need to note that 16bit apps don't work at all in Vista x64. Which should be fine, but you've just got to be careful with the installers for some older programs, which are actually 16bit programs -- which means you won't be able to install those programs.

Ironfungus

The reason I ask is because I may pick up Vista eventually so I might as well pick up the 64-bit version, eh?

What I'd recommend is that unless you are planning on aquiring 4gig of ram (or shortly after you buy Vista), I'd just stick with the 32bit version.

I also forgot to mention that unless a new driver has been released, it's not very common that a product that was released before Vista (shortly before may be fine) to have x64 bit drivers. And you can't use 32 bit drivers in Vista x64. So I'd be mindful of that as well.

[QUOTE="Ironfungus"][QUOTE="G013M"]

The main advantage that you'll see is that it removes the 4gig addressing cap, which will allow you to see all 4 (or more) gig of ram that you put into your PC.

And all you need is a 64bit processor and you should be good to go.

You just need to note that 16bit apps don't work at all in Vista x64. Which should be fine, but you've just got to be careful with the installers for some older programs, which are actually 16bit programs -- which means you won't be able to install those programs.

G013M

The reason I ask is because I may pick up Vista eventually so I might as well pick up the 64-bit version, eh?

What I'd recommend is that unless you are planning on aquiring 4gig of ram (or shortly after you buy Vista), I'd just stick with the 32bit version.

I also forgot to mention that unless a new driver has been released, it's not very common that a product that was released before Vista (shortly before may be fine) to have x64 bit drivers. And you can't use 32 bit drivers in Vista x64. So I'd be mindful of that as well.

Yeah I really have no reason to get 2 more gigs of RAM, actually. Thanks for the replies anyhow :)

[QUOTE="Ironfungus"][QUOTE="G013M"]

The main advantage that you'll see is that it removes the 4gig addressing cap, which will allow you to see all 4 (or more) gig of ram that you put into your PC.

And all you need is a 64bit processor and you should be good to go.

You just need to note that 16bit apps don't work at all in Vista x64. Which should be fine, but you've just got to be careful with the installers for some older programs, which are actually 16bit programs -- which means you won't be able to install those programs.

G013M

The reason I ask is because I may pick up Vista eventually so I might as well pick up the 64-bit version, eh?

What I'd recommend is that unless you are planning on aquiring 4gig of ram (or shortly after you buy Vista), I'd just stick with the 32bit version.

I also forgot to mention that unless a new driver has been released, it's not very common that a product that was released before Vista (shortly before may be fine) to have x64 bit drivers. And you can't use 32 bit drivers in Vista x64. So I'd be mindful of that as well.

Will 4GB of RAM actually make a huge difference over 2GB of RAM? Or over 3GB of RAM? In my thread you said that 3-4GB was recommended for Vista because of the resources it swallows up. My CPU and GPU will be a Q6600 and an 8800GT 512MB, so would 2GB of RAM be a bottleneck for this kind of system?

Will 4GB of RAM actually make a huge difference over 2GB of RAM? Or over 3GB of RAM? In my thread you said that 3-4GB was recommended for Vista because of the resources it swallows up. My CPU and GPU will be a Q6600 and an 8800GT 512MB, so would 2GB of RAM be a bottleneck for this kind of system?

mjarantilla

Well if you look at it this way, the current sweet spot for ram on XP is around 2gig. Now Vista uses more ram then XP, so I'd recommend at least to get around 3 (or 4 if you're getting Vista x64) of ram.

You'd probably find that you'd run fine on your system, but if you find the cash, I'd go up to 3 gig.

[QUOTE="G013M"][QUOTE="Ironfungus"][QUOTE="G013M"]

The main advantage that you'll see is that it removes the 4gig addressing cap, which will allow you to see all 4 (or more) gig of ram that you put into your PC.

And all you need is a 64bit processor and you should be good to go.

You just need to note that 16bit apps don't work at all in Vista x64. Which should be fine, but you've just got to be careful with the installers for some older programs, which are actually 16bit programs -- which means you won't be able to install those programs.

mjarantilla

The reason I ask is because I may pick up Vista eventually so I might as well pick up the 64-bit version, eh?

What I'd recommend is that unless you are planning on aquiring 4gig of ram (or shortly after you buy Vista), I'd just stick with the 32bit version.

I also forgot to mention that unless a new driver has been released, it's not very common that a product that was released before Vista (shortly before may be fine) to have x64 bit drivers. And you can't use 32 bit drivers in Vista x64. So I'd be mindful of that as well.

Will 4GB of RAM actually make a huge difference over 2GB of RAM? Or over 3GB of RAM? In my thread you said that 3-4GB was recommended for Vista because of the resources it swallows up. My CPU and GPU will be a Q6600 and an 8800GT 512MB, so would 2GB of RAM be a bottleneck for this kind of system?

I read on the Microsoft's website that anytime Microsoft certifies drivers for Vista 32 they require drivers for Vista 64 too.visceron

Previously though there wasn't really a need for them to expend the effort to develop 64bit drivers, you could see that with the sketchy driver support for XP 64bit.

Of course nowdays you'll see a Vista 64bit driver alongside a Vista 32bit driver the majority of the time, for the reason that you've said in your post.

A few things to consider when talking about 64-bit Windows:

- even though new drivers come in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors and you'll have no problems finding drivers for common hardware like video cards and such, that is not the case for all your legacy hardware (printers, scanners, usb devices like mp3 players etc). Moreover, 64-bit drivers are less mature then 32-bit drivers (slower performance, more bugs). In case no Vista driver exists, you can try XP drivers on 32-bit Vista but you cannot use XP drivers on 64-bit Vista.

- system software like anti-virus, defragmenting utilities, firewall's etc need a specific versions for vista 64. There aren't that many available

- 2GB is the sweet spot for both XP and Vista. I have yet to see a game that runs better with more than 2 GB. Moreover, as long as programs are 32-bit , you won't be able to take advantage of 4 GB and beyond , even with a 64-bit OS.

- 2GB is the sweet spot for both XP and Vista. I have yet to see a game that runs better with more than 2 GB. Moreover, as long as programs are 32-bit , you won't be able to take advantage of 4 GB and beyond , even with a 64-bit OS.

Gog

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6166198/p-6.html

And they were playing in XP and not vista.

A few things to consider when talking about 64-bit Windows:

- even though new drivers come in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors and you'll have no problems finding drivers for common hardware like video cards and such, that is not the case for all your legacy hardware (printers, scanners, usb devices like mp3 players etc). Moreover, 64-bit drivers are less mature then 32-bit drivers (slower performance, more bugs). In case no Vista driver exists, you can try XP drivers on 32-bit Vista but you cannot use XP drivers on 64-bit Vista.

- system software like anti-virus, defragmenting utilities, firewall's etc need a specific versions for vista 64. There aren't that many available

- 2GB is the sweet spot for both XP and Vista. I have yet to see a game that runs better with more than 2 GB. Moreover, as long as programs are 32-bit , you won't be able to take advantage of 4 GB and beyond , even with a 64-bit OS.

Gog

Two gigs it is, then. For now, at least. Is 64-bit Vista even recommended at this stage?

How many PC's do you see being sold with 64-bit Windows installed by default ? None, unless you explicitly ask for it.Gog

So I guess that's a no to recommending 64-bit Vista? :P

[quote="Gog"] How many PC's do you see being sold with 64-bit Windows installed by default ? None, unless you explicitly ask for it.mjarantilla

So I guess that's a no to recommending 64-bit Vista? :P

I would recomend any gamer running vista to run dual boot with XP.So much better performance in crysis is worth it and basically better performance in every game.

[QUOTE="mjarantilla"]

[quote="Gog"] How many PC's do you see being sold with 64-bit Windows installed by default ? None, unless you explicitly ask for it.Thinker_145

So I guess that's a no to recommending 64-bit Vista? :P

I would recomend any gamer running vista to run dual boot with XP.So much better performance in crysis is worth it and basically better performance in every game.

Mrrmmm, seems like an unnecessary complication, and this is the first time I'll be building my own PC. :? Either way, I can stand a small performance penalty for the sake of greater simplicity and user friendliness.

It seems the only issue between using 32-bit Vista and 64-bit Vista is that 32-bit Vista doesn't allow you to fully utilize 4GB of RAM, but 32-bit Vista is a more reliable insofar as variety of choice of software/firmware/drdivers is concerned? Is the lack of choice of 64-bit drivers really that big of a problem?

[QUOTE="Thinker_145"][QUOTE="mjarantilla"]

[quote="Gog"] How many PC's do you see being sold with 64-bit Windows installed by default ? None, unless you explicitly ask for it.mjarantilla

So I guess that's a no to recommending 64-bit Vista? :P

I would recomend any gamer running vista to run dual boot with XP.So much better performance in crysis is worth it and basically better performance in every game.

Mrrmmm, seems like an unnecessary complication, and this is the first time I'll be building my own PC. :? Either way, I can stand a small performance penalty for the sake of greater simplicity and user friendliness.

It seems the only issue between using 32-bit Vista and 64-bit Vista is that 32-bit Vista doesn't allow you to fully utilize 4GB of RAM, but 32-bit Vista is a more reliable insofar as variety of choice of software/firmware/drdivers is concerned? Is the lack of choice of 64-bit drivers really that big of a problem?

And dual boot isnt as complicated as you think.Just keep XP as your main platform and just use vista for DX10 games excepting crysis.

get a 64bit operating system, we will be moving onto 64bit in the future so why not get it now. Also the driver support is fine for 64bit, I haven't had any problems. The only problem you will have is with old and I mean really old programs/printers etc, although that can happen with vista 32bit as well. filmography

Agreed.

I used to dual boot Vista and XP expecting tons of problems. I used XP so little, about 3 time in 6 months, that when I re-formatted due to new motherboard I just installed Vista.

While dual boot is not a huge hassle, I would not do it for just one program.

Also, I am running Vista 64bit Premium and have had no driver issues.

[QUOTE="filmography"]get a 64bit operating system, we will be moving onto 64bit in the future so why not get it now. Also the driver support is fine for 64bit, I haven't had any problems. The only problem you will have is with old and I mean really old programs/printers etc, although that can happen with vista 32bit as well. ch5richards

Agreed.

I used to dual boot Vista and XP expecting tons of problems. I used XP so little, about 3 time in 6 months, that when I re-formatted due to new motherboard I just installed Vista.

While dual boot is not a huge hassle, I would not do it for just one program.

Also, I am running Vista 64bit Premium and have had no driver issues.

[QUOTE="ch5richards"]

[QUOTE="filmography"]get a 64bit operating system, we will be moving onto 64bit in the future so why not get it now. Also the driver support is fine for 64bit, I haven't had any problems. The only problem you will have is with old and I mean really old programs/printers etc, although that can happen with vista 32bit as well. Thinker_145

Agreed.

I used to dual boot Vista and XP expecting tons of problems. I used XP so little, about 3 time in 6 months, that when I re-formatted due to new motherboard I just installed Vista.

While dual boot is not a huge hassle, I would not do it for just one program.

Also, I am running Vista 64bit Premium and have had no driver issues.

I did not instal Crysis on XP, I hardly play the game anyways. It runs just fine for me in Vista though.

Actually my XP rig with the 2900PRO has Crysis installed. It runs at 1280x1024 and it runs worse than the 8800GTX in Vista at 1680x1050. Not a good comparison but it's the best I got.

A huge performance difference between XP and Vista ? Like 5% really

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6182140/p-2.html

A huge performance difference between XP and Vista ? Like 5% really

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6182140/p-2.html

Gog

That infamous crysis bashing thread would have never been made if i would have bothered to play the game in XP then.It runs like a dream in XP with all high settings with some anti aliasing to boot and very high is also managable.

I actually looking at that never installed the game in XP for a long time.It must be said that the stutering was reduced considerably with the patch but still no match for the smooth performance of XP.

Maybe it has something to do with DX10.I never tried playing the game in DX9 in vista but some say it doesnt make much difference.

Well according to that link, the 5% performance gain playing Crysis on XP is only for all the game settings except for Very High Setting. The performance gain on this setting is of 20% in XP.... which is a really nice gain.

So if one has a really powerful SLI or crossfire machine who can decently play Crysis at Very High Settings on Vista, then why not switching to XP and enjoy this juicy 20% gain? (Of course, this is assuming that the required tweaking on XP files is done)

Well according to that link, the 5% performance gain playing Crysis on XP is only for all the game settings except for Very High Setting. The performance gain on this setting is of 20% in XP.... which is a really nice gain.

So if one has a really powerful SLI or crossfire machine who can decently play Crysis at Very High Settings on Vista, then why not switching to XP and enjoy this juicy 20% gain? (Of course, this is assuming that the required tweaking on XP files is done)

bandieramonte