Windows 7 Ultimate, x32 or x64bit?

123ms · 15 Jul 2012

I just bought some cheap computer and it has Windows Starter installed on it, and now i want to buy Windows 7 Ultimate but i dont know what edition should i buy, 32 or 64bit.

You should know that i am not some advanced user, i am married man, father, its enough for me using comp on my work, so :) I use it to watch some movies occasionally, and to play World of Tanks

, and its much easier to play on desktop than on laptop, thats the reason i bought it, but i made mistake, it graphic card is crap. In that shop they told me that is enough for WoT,

So i bought this

cpu Intel® Celeron® G460 1.8GHz

graphic card nVidia gt210

memory 4GB DDR3-1333 Kingston

HD WD 500GB HDD SATAII

And now what to install on it? In that shop they told me that its better to buy x64 because it has 4gb ddr, but i am asking you is it right? And if i buy x64 would that low graphic card be a problem? I already have much less fps in World of Tanks than on my laptop. I would probably buy some better graphic card in a couple of months, but until then... would it do the same with x32 and x64, or what? Is it cpu any good, please help?

Thanks in advance for your answers and i want to apologize for this long post, and for my bad english, its not my first language... Thanks once again

bassfisher6522 · 15 Jul 2012

Go with the 64 bit OS.

solarmystic · 15 Jul 2012

Hello 123ms, and welcome to the forums!

The people at your shop were correct, If you want all of that 4GB of RAM to be accessible by your system, you need a 64bit version of Windows.

On the other hand, Windows 7 Ultimate seems like an overkill option for your system and your purposes.

You'd be better off with 64bit Windows 7 Home Premium which is much cheaper and would suit your purposes better.

The graphics card you have (Geforce gt 210) would have no bearing on how well Windows 7 runs; it's fully Aero compatible and sufficient enough to run the Aero interface comfortably. Your 64 bit Windows 7 system would support any future graphic card upgrades the same as a 32 bit system.

Your CPU is rather underpowered but does fine with basic tasks like word processing, watching videos and listening to music.

Some very light gaming is also possible, but i recommend that you upgrade it to at least an i3 processor that is compatible with your motherboard, like this one:-

Intel® Core

Here are the CPU specs from Intel's website for the Celeron processor.

Intel® Celeron® Processor G460 (1.5M Cache, 1.80 GHz)

strollin · 15 Jul 2012

For that computer, I would probably stick with 32-bit but you will be limited to using only 3.3G or so of your 4G. Going with 64-bit would allow the OS to use the full 4G but it won't make much of a difference in reality.

A better question would be, why spend money for Win 7 Ultimate when Win 7 Home Premium will do everything you need for less money? It's true that Ultimate has more features but most users (especially someone who states that they are not an advanced user) don't need and won't even use those additional features. For instance, do you have the need to join a domain? Do you need XP mode? Do you need to encrypt your data? Do you need to switch between different languages? If you don't need these features then why spend the money on Ultimate?

123ms · 15 Jul 2012

Thank you for your answers, to be honest i didnt expect to be so quick. Well reason i chose Ultimate is price, i already have discount in this shop, do some business before, so difference is some 26euros between Ultimate and Premium, and for other buyers its some 140euros difference. Professional is some 10euros cheaper than Ultimate, and this discount is not for always, if you know what i mean....

solarmystic · 15 Jul 2012

123ms said:

Thank you for your answers, to be honest i didnt expect to be so quick. Well reason i chose Ultimate is price, i already have discount in this shop, do some business before, so difference is some 26euros between Ultimate and Premium, and for other buyers its some 140euros difference. Professional is some 10euros cheaper than Ultimate, and this discount is not for always, if you know what i mean....

In that case, go for Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and enjoy the most fully featured edition of Windows 7 ever made.

123ms · 15 Jul 2012

Thanks for your answers and your time guys... I ll go with Ultimate solarmystic. Thanks once again

gregrocker · 15 Jul 2012

I would use 32 bit on 4gb RAM since some will be apportioned to hardware, as seen in Resource Monitor>Memory tab.

Whichever you try you can change it whenever you please.

Did you look at the features to see if you'd ever even use the few extra expensive features in Ultimate or Pro? Compare Windows 7 Editions - Windows 7 Forums

Layback Bear · 15 Jul 2012

I would go 64 bit not because you need it today but because you will need it later. The computer is going 64 bit.

pbcopter · 15 Jul 2012

If you are buying the retail version of Windows 7, it should come with both 32 and 64 bit disks.
Either one but not both can be used with the same key