Windows 7: 64bit VS 32bit

I would guess the majority of people is this thread use 64-bit OS.

Me, Layback Bear, unifex, Keiichi25, RA (side by side). WHS and Greg, what r u guys running?



**EDIT** and Deacon...

I would suggest going to x64 because you aren't able to use all of your 4 GB of memory right now. Some of the apps you mentioned would benefit from the system having access to the rest of the memory. I maintain several systems with both platforms, and Windows 7 x64 has no more or less hassles than x86. You just need to have the drivers ready for the platform you plan to install, and that's it.

I use the x64 mostly to take advantage of the fact that I can use more than 4 gigs of RAM. When I was on XP, I would be running the following:

ESET Smart Security 4
Feedreader (RSS Feed Reading program)
Outlook 2003
SecureCRT
Logitech Software (G15 Keyboard drivers and software)
GoogleTalk
FireFox
Curse client (Basically for World of Warcraft)

Things start to slow down due to using higher mem programs like World of Warcraft or Planetside, which prompts more virtual memory swapping. Add to it the necessity to run Ventrilo or Teamspeak when playing those games with other people. Sometimes I want to run MediaMonkey (Media Player) to listen to music.

The consistent problem I have noticed is mostly with the larger mem using programs where there is significant transition times between switching or loading up. With larger memory pools, the virtual mem swapping isn't nearly as horrendous as before.

Now with regards to Deacon's statement, yes, you loose up to a gig worth of memory since the 32 bit architecture will not allow you to address the full 4 gigs, at the very most 3.5 gigs if you are lucky. But then again, if your memory demands aren't nearly as heavy, you don't really NEED to have x64.

And again, you can run most things in x64, but what I must disagree with Deacon is that if there are some x16 type programs you are trying to deal with, x64, from what I have read, will not let you run them. Although, technically, you shouldn't be running any x16 based programs anymore.

That shouldn't be considered a hassle. By now, it goes without saying that a person should run the Advisor to check their x64 compatibility. Given the apps listed, the OP shouldn't have any problems, but that's just common sense to make sure your apps are compatible before making the switch.

If a person happens to be running any 16-bit apps, you can easily virtualize XP to continue to use those apps.

If you're using 4gig of RAM (or less) with a 32-bit OS that's fine, anymore and I would suggest going to a 64-bit OS. However, there are things to consider, and the major thing to consider is your video cards.

Consider this Scenario....

Now imagine a crossfire/SLI setup with two 1gig video cards on a 32-bit system

Anyways there is a sticky in this very forum on 32 vs 64-bit comparision here - http://www.sevenforums.com/general-d...omparison.html

The only reason to totally lose that RAM is to accept Windows' assertion that it is 'Hardware Reserved' and somehow inaccessible. We all know this is no more true now than it was when Microsoft deliberately disabled PAE with XP-SP2.

Of course there are various kernel patches around that may or may not coerce Windows7 into using PAE (or more likely cause your machine not to boot), but there also exists a very simple way to put the 'Hardware Reserved' RAM to good use.

Install Gavotte's RRamDisk 1.0.4096.5 (latest) Possible source

Run ramdisk.exe and create a 'Fixed Media' type RamDisk. The size doesn't much matter as far as I can see since the next step causes it to resize to fill the available 'unusable' RAM, but 768M is a good guess for a 4G system. Mine was sized at 768M, but in PAE mode it grew to 990MB.

Merge the included ram4g.reg to tell RRamDisk to use PAE. The .reg file contains nothing more than a setting for the RRamDisk driver that isn't on the GUI - it does not attempt to alter Windows behaviour in any way. Reboot.

Volume label of RamDisk should now be 'RamDisk-PAE'.

Create as large as possible permanent pagefile on the RAM Disk. (Don't change any other pagefile settings) Reboot.

Done - The start of Virtual Memory is now on a RAM Disk since Windows will automatically prefer this pagefile as the fastest, least trafficked volume. It isn't as fast as having the memory accessible in the conventional way, but it's orders of magnitude faster than disk based virtual memory.

Note that memory stats in Task Manager, Resource Monitor or whatever will be no different than before. Windows simply ignores that memory while RRamDisk does not.

Usage and preference of the RamDisk pagefile can easily be verified using SysInternals Process Monitor.

I've been running 7-x86 like this since forever. Totally stable.

Caveat: Hibernation will not work since a huge chunk of virtual memory has no power-off persistence. 'Sleep' is perfectly fine.

Lemur, I have both. Two systems with 64bit and one with 32bit. I kind of like the 32bit better because i can run some of my pet programs that do not run on 64bit. But other than that I have no problems with 64bit.
Regarding performance advantages of 64bit I cannot provide conclusive opinions because my 3 systems are all different hardware. But they are all pretty fast - in part due to the SSDs.

Go with x64 as you won't have to install Windows 7 x64 later if you are planning to go beyond 4GB RAM

I like 32 bit better, but don't have any programs like video editing that benefit greatly from 64 bit.

Also have old hardware here which won't die and still runs fast so I stay loyal to it, and it likes 32 bit.

No hassles here using 64bit windows 7 on my laptop and one of my desktops. My i7 920 is running win 7 pro with 12gb of ram, oc'd to 3.8ghz and no issues. I'm not going back to a 32bit OS anymore.