Install Win 7 Ultimate x86 or x64 with 4GB RAM?

Hello. New to these forums, hoping I can get some good advice from you all! :)

I have a Dell M1710 laptop, with 4GB of RAM. Currently I'm using Windows XP, which sees 3.2GB of RAM. I have a choice of installing either the x86 or x64 version of Windows 7 Ultimate.

I'm trying to decide which to install based on the 4GB RAM hardware ceiling that I have (motherboard can only accept two 2gb SIMMs max).

Would I get better performance (less hard drive paging) with the X86 version using 3.2GB of RAM, or the x64 version using 4.0GB RAM? How much overhead does the x64 version of Ultimate have, vs. the x86 version? Is that overhead more than 0.8GB of RAM?

Thank you in advance for your time and advice, it is appreciated.

tw33k said:

If your capable of running 64 bit then I strongly advise it. You'll see far greater performance for sure.

Agreed, native 64bit will run smoother and more efficient so to speak on a 64bit processor, and you also mentioned about the 4gb of ram, definitely go 64bit. just make sure there is no drivers issues with your hardware on win7 x64, do a bit of research on your particular laptop model and see what others have to say about win7 64.

Thanks for the replies. The thing I'm thinking about though, is running out of RAM in x64 and having Win 7 swap to hard disk allot, which kills performance.

I had heard that x64 needs more default RAM than x86, and I'm trying to figure out if it needs more than 0.8GB RAM (over x86).

I realize that if I had lots of RAM x64 would definately be the way to go, but since I have a hard cap of 4GB, I don't think that x64 would be the way to go if it uses most of the 4GB just for itself (not leaving any RAM for applications, etc.).

Specifically, how much overhead in RAM usage does x64 have over x86?

Thanks.

Doesn't anyone know the overhead in RAM between x64 and x86?

I don't think that the RAM overhead is enough to lose the 800MB that you gained. I've switched to a 64-bit OS on my boxes with 4GB of RAM and I have been extremely happy with the performance and haven't run into any reasons to make me want to go back to 32-bit. My latest box has 8GB of RAM and I'm not moving back obviously on this box.

There is no answer to the question as posed. And the basis of the question is flawed.

There is really no starting point from which to address your concerns. There are volumes upon volumes of science to consider, which all illustrate that 64-bit processing is to 32-bit processing as flying is to driving.

You have to abandon your prior concepts regarding memory usage. After a minimum configuration is obtained for a particular system, to include potential application demand, free RAM is wasted RAM. Free RAM is not a goal to be pursued. A 64-bit system utilizes more RAM due to way it handles addressing. But when it handles it, it is substantially more efficient.

One area of FUD against 64-bit Windows is the backward compatibility support. Borderline nonsense - but you will need to understand more about the science than I am will attempt to illuminate here.

The world is moving forward to 64-bit processing not because it is somehow flawed - rather because the forward progression is what it is. An advance.

Antman said:

There is no answer to the question as posed. And the basis of the question is flawed.

There is really no starting point from which to address your concerns. There are volumes upon volumes of science to consider, which all illustrate that 64-bit processing is to 32-bit processing as flying is to driving.

You have to abandon your prior concepts regarding memory usage. After a minimum configuration is obtained for a particular system, to include potential application demand, free RAM is wasted RAM. Free RAM is not a goal to be pursued. A 64-bit system utilizes more RAM due to way it handles addressing. But when it handles it, it is substantially more efficient.

One area of FUD against 64-bit Windows is the backward compatibility support. Borderline nonsense - but you will need to understand more about the science than I am will attempt to illuminate here.

The world is moving forward to 64-bit processing not because it is somehow flawed - rather because the forward progression is what it is. An advance.

I'm not sure if I agree with you assumption that the basis for my question is flawed.

Unless I'm missing something, even Microsoft says you need 2GB minimum RAM for x64 and only 1GB minimum RAM for x86. That means, according to Microsoft, x64 uses (reserves?) 1GB more RAM than x86, right off the bat.

If an OS runs out of RAM (I don't care if its 'free' or previously 'reserved' by the OS for app usage), it starts to page out memory to the hard drive, and swaps back and forth, as apps are brought into the foreground and/or moved into the background. I'm assuming this is still the case with x64 OS; if not, then please let me know.

So, if you need 1GB RAM for x86 and 2GB RAM for x64, and if I have a hard cap of 4GB RAM total on the system I want to run Windows on, in theory I'd rather use x86 and have ~2.5GB of RAM left off for apps, vs. x64 and have allot less RAM left off for applications. If my hardcap max was > 4GB, then yeah, x64 all the way.

I'm trying to make an intelligent decision on how much free RAM I'll have left to run applications, after the OS is done starting up, before the OS starts to page memory to the hard drive. What's the 'sweet' spot in max ram capability where one would be better off using x86 vs x64?

If this question is a "flawed" one to ask, then why the minimum memory discrepancy stated by Microsoft?

For what its worth, I'm not trying to argue. Believe me, I WANT to move to x64, but I won't bother doing it on a PC that can't have enough RAM for the OS to run without performance hits from paging memory to the hard drive. That is what I'm trying to determine, and was hoping those who are knowledgeable here will know the 'overhead' that x64 Windows 7 has (vs. x86).

Thanks.

pparks1 said:

I don't think that the RAM overhead is enough to lose the 800MB that you gained. I've switched to a 64-bit OS on my boxes with 4GB of RAM and I have been extremely happy with the performance and haven't run into any reasons to make me want to go back to 32-bit. My latest box has 8GB of RAM and I'm not moving back obviously on this box.

Thanks for the reply. Have you noticed if you are seeing page memory paging to the hard drive since using Win 7 x64 than your previous x86 OS?

Wish I could use 8GB RAM, be sweet. Don't know why the M1710 has the 4GB max RAM cap, since its not a very old PC, but meh. /shrug