Are my games taking advantage of 64bit?

[Jdjay]

I have a question which I will try and say the best I can as it even confuses me.

I'm running w7 64bit on an aurora r4, I have 2 drives, one for OS and the other purely for games, mainly FSX.

My question is, beens I'm putting games on the second drive is it taking advantage of windws 7 64bit or not. As on the main drive you obviously have 2 program files, one for 32 bit and one for 64 bit.

For example the latest hitman game says

Minimum requirement

Windows 7

Recommended system

Windows 7 64bit

So if I buy hitman and put it on my games drive, will it still take advantage of 64bit

I hope that makes sense

 

[oreo27]

The drive has nothing to do with it. If you are running a 64 bit OS, the applications, no matter where they are stored will be run in the same OS.

If said games take advantage of it being 64 bit is a whole other story and is game dependent. For instance. I need a Large Address Aware patch for Fallout New Vegas to take advantage of 4GB of RAM.

 

[Jdjay]

Thank you for your reply, so from what your saying, if I install for example, hitman, because of what the makers say, even though there is just a normal installation process, the game will automatically take advantage of the fact I'm running 64bit so there for have more RAM for it to take advantage of

 

[oreo27]

Yes, any application may take advantage of the RAM over 4GB if you are using a 64bit OS.

 

[Wishmaster]

If the executable is 32 bit, which most games are, then it runs as a 32bit application with 32bit limitations. One of the biggest limitation will be a 2GB limit (per application) of RAM. In regards to games, for the large majority this is plenty anyway.

If it is a 64bit application, it runs as such with all the benefits.

The Program Files and Program Files (x86) are more to keep things organized in regards to what is a native 32 or 64bit program.

As mentioned, almost all games are 32bit, and run as such. There are exceptions, but the large majority 32bit.

A 64bit OS will run 32 or 64bit apps and programs. It all depends on how that program is coded as to which way it runs it.

 

[AstaLaVista]

Far Cry and Crysis are games that I remember had the option to either install as a 32 bit or 64 bit game... that's about it though.

 

[sygnus21]

There are some games that take advantage of a 6-bit OS by providing a 64-bit exe as in the example Asta gave, though with Far Cry (the first one), you'll need to install the AMD 64-bit patch.

That said, and as a side note, whatever you do, DO NOT modify, or deleted either of the Program Files folders as you could hose your system. For some reason, a lot of people think they don't need both folders and delete one. This in turn screws up their whole system and they wind up reinstalling Windows! - http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-...rvice-pack-1-install-failure.html#post2203367

On a 64-bit OS like Windows, it runs a WoW 64 (Windows 32-bit on Windows 64-bit) subsystem, which allows 32-bit apps to run on a 64-bit OS, which is also the reason it needs both the Program Files, and Program Files x86 folders. Messing with or deleting those will hose your system.

And even though you can install games and programs, where you want, I wouldn’t brute force a 32-bit app into the 64-bit Programs File folder, or vice versa.

Hope this helps.

 

[AstaLaVista]

That said, and as a side note, whatever you do, DO NOT modify, or deleted either of the Program Files folders as you could hose your system..

Yeah... where the hell where you with this jewel of information a few years ago... got a few T-Shirts from doing so for testing purposes of course

 

[sygnus21]

That said, and as a side note, whatever you do, DO NOT modify, or deleted either of the Program Files folders as you could hose your system..

Yeah... where the hell where you with this jewel of information a few years ago... got a few T-Shirts from doing so for testing purposes of course

LOL. That tid bit has been all over both this, and Vista forums since Windows 64 (64-bit OS) went mainstream. Seems a lot of folks think that because they have two Program Files folders they can delete one. They don't realize Windows 64 needs both

 

[AstaLaVista]

Thick headed and all, first time I installed Vista 64 I found myself dumbfounded by the fact that I had done something wrong when I saw two different Program Files and up to this day, I leave google for last thinking I am the only one on this earth with the problem so, BAM... deleted the (x86) because I had the 64 so why I would need a 32 side of things right?