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32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

juliasdream
Grafter
Posts: 260
Registered: ‎09-06-2007

32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

I just bought a new computer.
Its a Medion Akoya P7700D 2.6mhz quad processor with 4gb RAM
I have the choice of using 32 or 64bit Windows Vista Home Premium
I would like to know the advantages/disadvantages of each
Could anyone please advise to help me make a choice?
Thanks
15 REPLIES 15
Oldjim
Resting Legend
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Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

From my experience the 64 bit works fine however the only reason for selecting the 64 bit is the capability of accessing more memory.
The limit on a 32 bit system is effectively just under 4GB however this includes the memory in all the peripherals such as sound card, graphics card, etc.
With the tendency for graphics cards to have up to 1GB of RAM this will severely limit the memory available for use.
As you have 4GB of RAM I would go 64 bit assuming you have a separate graphics card with it's own memory. If you had 3GB and a 512MB graphics card it wouldn't matter.
One thing to note (and I don't know the reason) SP2 on Vista 64 bit was much larger than the 32 bit option.
scootie
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Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

yep this is what you get on  32 bit
i am not pc gamer so dosent bother me
Oldjim
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Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

and this is what I get on Windows 7 64bit (with 512MB on the graphics card)
Denzil
Grafter
Posts: 1,733
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

Just check before you go for 64 bit that drivers are available for all your hardware, as 32 bit drivers don't work. Most common peripherals will have 64 bit drivers now, but don't count on it.
mal0z
Grafter
Posts: 3,486
Registered: ‎02-10-2008

Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

Will all software work on 64 bit ? - I seem to recall stories that some programs had problems ?
Oldjim
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Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

I haven't hit a problem yet - it seems if it works with Vista it works in 32 bit or 64 bit mode.
Note that very few programs use 64 bit. There are two main program folders in 64 bit Vista - Program Files and Program Files (x86) the latter being the 32 bit versions
mal0z
Grafter
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Registered: ‎02-10-2008

Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

Thanks Jim
Does Vista used the 64 bit for itself and video etc - and puts it into higher memory addresses and puts applications into the lower 4G  ?
Oldjim
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Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

It's a lot more complicated than that and I don't really understand it.
However this may help http://www.winvistatips.com/32-bit-and-64-bit-vista-ram-limit-t283833.html
This may give a bit more explanation http://news.softpedia.com/news/32-bit-Windows-Vista-vs-64-bit-Windows-Vista-64312.shtml
Denzil
Grafter
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Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

Few applications will want to use more than a couple of GBs - they tend to be high end CAD, video processing and such like. Likewise multicore processors - most applications won't use them all. I am using Vista 64 at work with an AMD quad core CPU and 8GB RAM. That is mainly to use Solidworks, which is a fairly high end CAD package which can use lots of memory and make use of multiple cores. Other than that I run a mixture of 32 bit and 64 bit applications. Generally if you need to use an application that will really benefit from 64 bit and multicore then you will probably know about it!
Oldjim
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Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

Like 64 bit versions of games - Crysis and Crysis Warhead for example
and also Photoshop really benefits using the extra RAM as a scratch disk
juliasdream
Grafter
Posts: 260
Registered: ‎09-06-2007

Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback
I decided tro stick with 32-bit after all
Mainly to avoid complications and I hardly ever play games
My son likes to but thats another story
I have to restrict him anyway otherwise hell take me way above my bandwidth allowance
scootie
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Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

you may want to cover your sons eyes if its not bandwidth usage the reason you dont want your sons eyes glued to a t.v playing games  Smiley
gaming is one of the least bandwidth intensive types of traffic around.
when i was on bbyw3 the only thing i was happy to do with out checking my usage every couple of hours was XBOX gaming
SteveA
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Registered: ‎17-06-2007

Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

I think Vista Home Premium 32 bit is limited to a max of 3GB of RAM in total.
scootie
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Re: 32-bit or 64-bit Vista? which is best?

steveA check reply 2. thats on premium  Wink