64 bit Win 7 on a HP G70 with 3GB Ram

[Fabio]

I have one of these laptops and not sure whether to go with the 32 bit or 64 bit of build 7100. i have actually already tried both, just to see which i would prefer, but having done so cant quite make up my mind which to go with.

i installed the 64 first because i thought i would end up going with the 32 (due to only having 3GB RAM) but the 64 seems to have been as good, if not actually better. there was even an issue with some program incompatibility with the 32 that wasn't there with 64 strangely.

Admittedly i only installed around half of my usual programs with the 64, but everything seemed fine. WEI score was considerably higher with the 64 bit, and the RAM score was 7.0 in the 64, and only 5.0 in the 32 bit, and the GFX score (gaming) was 5.5 in 64, and 5.1 in 32. i guess this is something to do with how the different architecture utilises RAM?

is it worth going back to the 64bit, now that i have most of my programs installed on the 32? or will i notice an issue with the lack of RAM when all my apps are installed etc? i dont have an issue with having to start all over from scratch tbh, and would be interested to hear of anyone running 64bit with under 4GB RAM.

laptop spec:

Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 @ 2.00GHz
3GB RAM
Nvidia 9200M GE

 

[Win7User512]

This will come down to preference since you have 3GB of RAM. 32-bit OS only supports ~3.5GB of RAM, so it will certainly utilize what you have. That said, If you plan to add more RAM, you'll need 64-bit OS to utilize more than 3.5GB of RAM.

64-bit Vista and 7 emulate 32-bit apps so you should be relatively fine in that area. For my application compatibility issues, I have used the "compatibility mode" option under the program's properties to change to XP SP2.

 

[Fabio]

the compatibility issue was with Norton IS 2009. it works without a glitch on 64 bit, but wont work at all in 32bit, even in compatibility mode. eventually settled for the kaspersky 'Techical Preview'

So its just a matter of preference then, and I could run 64 bit without issue on 3GB RAM?

 

[YupYup]

Some other things to consider Differences and Advantages Between 32-bit (x86) VS 64-bit (x64) Windows Vista » My Digital Life

 

[Win7User512]

Yeah, watch the drivers (manufacturers are really just starting to develop x64 versions for the consumer market). If all your devices are working under x64 then you should be good.

 

[Fabio]

cheers guys