Is it worth upgrading to Vista Ultimate 64bit(I am a gamer)?

[the_stiffmeister]

As the title suggests. I am looking at building a new high end machine, prob quad core Intel, 8800 GTX Ultra based (not SLI) but is it worth buying an extra 2GB RAM (corsair - dominator) and buying Vista Ultimate 64 bit? Games I play are BF2, BF2142, C&C tiberian wars, Oblivion. Am I likely to get better performance running Vista ultimate 64 bit with 4GB RAM or XP pro with 2GB RAM?

 

[pkellmey]

Currently, compatibility is the only reason not to go 64 bit. Depending on your apps/games depends on your performance. Some older games (32 bit) may possibly even run a little slower or not at all on 64. 64 allows for more than 4 gig, however, currently few people actually require more than 2 gig for most games/apps. However, to future protect, 64 bit with 4 gig or more is a safer path. Decisions, decisions...

 

[Guest]

I'll be going with Vista 64-bit for my upcoming build. It's definately not as good as XP for gaming (currently) but I'm going to take the compatibility issues and decrease in performance in exchange for future DX10 compatibility and the ability to use more RAM. It is a tough decision, though!

 

[mooney101]

I'd personally go 32bit right now and later transition to 64-bit. I would love to jump on the 64-bit band wagon but I'd say it will be some time before software companies and game companies really start putting the stuff out their that take advantage of it. For now you'll probably save some problems buy sticking with 32-bit.

 

[_Morphine_]

They expect people to buy new hardware for the OS that touts no more legacy support, yet they still made a 32-bit version... Id rather know its going to hurt all up front and then let the healing begin.

I dont claim to be on top of the dynamics of the hardware/software industry, but from a regular consumers point of view: since they were going to force the general public to upgrade anyway, why not force 64-bit at the same time. It would have forced the driver support as well as increase the likelyhood of 64-bit apps sooner than later...

If there is some glaring mistake in my logic please enlighten me. I think I know where the migraine came from

I guess you sell more units the slower you progress. Incentive has become our biggest obstacle to true performance gains.

-M

 

[mooney101]

They expect people to buy new hardware for the OS that touts no more legacy support, yet they still made a 32-bit version... Id rather know its going to hurt all up front and then let the healing begin.

I dont claim to be on top of the dynamics of the hardware/software industry, but from a regular consumers point of view: since they were going to force the general public to upgrade anyway, why not force 64-bit at the same time. It would have forced the driver support as well as increase the likelyhood of 64-bit apps sooner than later...

If there is some glaring mistake in my logic please enlighten me. I think I know where the migraine came from

I guess you sell more units the slower you progress. Incentive has become our biggest obstacle to true performance gains.

-M

I agree on that they should of just made it 64-bit. It would of forced the issue. But I guess they have to think of the general public who has no idea what 64-bit means to them. Atleast their next version of windows will be 64-bit period no 32-bit versions after Vista.

 

[Guest]

I read that it was only their server line that was going to be only 64 bit.

 

[kcrush]

If you have your xp dvd, install xp for that system and hold off until december for the service pack. I have a quad core system with 4gb of ram with vista 64 ultimate and vista sucks the life out of games. Plus there are enough random quirks in vista that make it usuable but a pain to game in. Especially when a random update still has the ability to make the video drivers unstable.

 

[emp]

Currently, compatibility is the only reason not to go 64 bit. Depending on your apps/games depends on your performance. Some older games (32 bit) may possibly even run a little slower or not at all on 64. 64 allows for more than 4 gig, however, currently few people actually require more than 2 gig for most games/apps. However, to future protect, 64 bit with 4 gig or more is a safer path. Decisions, decisions...

Tell me what compatibility issues do you speak of? I'm currently running on Vista 64 Ultimate and have yet to find any of the so called "64-bit compatibility issues" or "Vista Quirks" (This was only after fully updating my vista though). Unless any of you have actually used a 64-bit OS, please don't talk about what you don't know. (My oldest piece of software that I still keep and use is probably Far Cry)

About gaming performance, I used to think the same way about vista, but a week ago I decided to benchmark CoH and GRAW2 under XP and then install Vista 64 ultimate with newest forceware beta drivers 162.22 (Which are now WHQL) and to my surprise they perform on par with XP's Forceware beta 162.18 (Now gone WHQL), there's really no reason to stay in XP if you need a new OS. Actually I gained about 2 or 3 FPS on GRAW2 (Nothing noticeable, but still there was no performance hit).

And one quick note, upcoming Crysis title is not only said by the devs to take advantage of a multi-core CPU, BUT take special advantage from running in a 64-Bit environment over a 32-bit one, so I'm pretty much staying with Vista 64 unless I can find myself a copy of XP 64 and prove somehow that it's worth going back (Doesn't seem to be anymore). But one thing is certain, I am NOT going back to 32-bit (XP or Vista).

Note: I tested those games at Max settings under a 1280x1024 resolution (GRAW2 had to be set on medium Textures on both XP and Vista)

My system:
-E6400 @ Stock
-8800GTS 320MB @ Stock
-2 Gigs of ram

 

[4delta]

i have to say, i bought my whole rig in the uk and said to myself i'll go for 64-bit ultimate cause i got 4 gig ram.....it will show performance....to my dissapointment.....it didnt.my rig has got the following:

c2d E6600 @ Stock
Asus P5B dlx WiFi/AP
Freezer 7 Pro
2x2GB Patriot DDR800mhz
BFG 8800GTX OC2
850W Enermax Galaxy
Creative X-fi XtremeMusic
400GB Seagate
Antec 900

i build the whole pc with no probs, altough i whould NOT reccomend the Antec 900 if you buy the 8800GTX. the space for cabling is terrible...to get to my point, i installed windows vista 64-bit and tried to install all my driver discs which i got with the mobo, SC, GFX etc. strating with the mobo disc. windows couldnt even open the splash screen and kept on giving me errors. the same went for all the other discs.i had to download the drivers i needed at work on xp.

whats interessting is, i downloaded the latest SC drivers for 64-bit vista and then installed the 32-bit drivers on a different pc running xp, and the sound quality is much better in xp...in vista i play FEAR with 3-digit FPS and then after 10-15min the FPS falls to 35 and stays there.(usually happens after a checkpoint save)......this never happend in xp, on the same rig......wtf????

vista 64-bit cant detect my mobo....this is my biggest problem i have at the moment.....if it cant detect my mobo, i cant install chipset drivers, lan drivers etc. which affects my performance....

can someone give me some advice to overcome this problem?

THANKS

 

[spuddyt]

I personally don't see the point of ultimate vista as compared to home premium other than a few very minor things (like card games woot)

 

[htwingnut]

I recently built a new gaming PC and installed Vista 64-bit because I wanted 4GB of RAM. While it was basically straightforward, it became too annoying. I just can't get used to the whole change in interface. I can't get to anything quickly, and can't find what I need to. So I ended up going with Windows XP Pro 32-bit and limiting memory to 2GB for now. I have Vista for the upcoming DirectX 10 games like BioShock and Crysis.

 

[Hatman]

4Delta

I had this problem, vista when it installs has a few delicate files taht it installs, and if something goes wrong with one of them it mucks it all up, I had the same problems btu I simply uninstalled it and re-installed.

Now, its brilliant, In the 6+ months I have used it I have never had a driver problem, I never get issues with anything wanting to randomly shut down, its all very stable and secure.

Simply, uninstall your vista version, then format your whole drive and install it properly.

And for htwingnut, you can turn the windows aero stuff off and put the same style that windows XP uses, so theres no change in desktop layout or control panel or anything, so im not quite sure what your problem is.

I have Vista Home Premium 64bit btw.

 

[Gleedo]

I have just built a new gaming pc, spec below:

Intel Quad Core Q6600
4x1gb Corsair MSX2 RAM
BFG 680i SLI Socket 775 mobo
Dual BFG nVidia 8800 GTX gpu's
500gb SATA Western Digital HDD
Sony DVD
etc etc...

I also purchased a Vista Ultimate 64-bit OEM and have still not been able to get Vista Installed....BSOD's all over the place during setup.

Currently now running xp pro sp2 but that of course wont see 4gb of RAM, only 2.75. I'm bloody sick of trying to get Vista installed

 

[dsharp9000]

pkelleymey gave some good advice. There are a lot of compatibility issues; however,the question is how much do you want to spend to have good gaming computer (as this seems your objective) based on future speculation on dx-10 which still has yet to brought to the market place 64 bit is the future of dx-10; but even then the specification as well as dx-10 cards might change before dx-10 really is brought to market. My thinking as a gamer would be to stick with xp for now and then jump to vista when there is a real difference as xp allows me to invest more money later while getting same performance at lessor cost. Its all a matter of what you can afford as the hardware you buy now maybe considered "low performance" once real dx - 10 hits the market.

 

[yakyb]

in vista i play FEAR with 3-digit FPS and then after 10-15min the FPS falls to 35 and stays there.(usually happens after a checkpoint save)......this never happend in xp, on the same rig......wtf????

this was a known issue and is usually fixed with an alt-tab but i beleive the latest drivers have fixed the issue!

 

[Wispi]

I believe it is a little early to go to Vista 64-bit. I am running it right now, but switching back to 32-bit this weekend. Why? The Creative Labs X-Fi sound card driver and the nVidia 8800 video driver are problematic at best.

 

[Wispi]

Tell me what compatibility issues do you speak of? I'm currently running on Vista 64 Ultimate and have yet to find any of the so called "64-bit compatibility issues" or "Vista Quirks" (This was only after fully updating my vista though). Unless any of you have actually used a 64-bit OS, please don't talk about what you don't know. (My oldest piece of software that I still keep and use is probably Far Cry)

About gaming performance, I used to think the same way about vista, but a week ago I decided to benchmark CoH and GRAW2 under XP and then install Vista 64 ultimate with newest forceware beta drivers 162.22 (Which are now WHQL) and to my surprise they perform on par with XP's Forceware beta 162.18 (Now gone WHQL), there's really no reason to stay in XP if you need a new OS. Actually I gained about 2 or 3 FPS on GRAW2 (Nothing noticeable, but still there was no performance hit).

And one quick note, upcoming Crysis title is not only said by the devs to take advantage of a multi-core CPU, BUT take special advantage from running in a 64-Bit environment over a 32-bit one, so I'm pretty much staying with Vista 64 unless I can find myself a copy of XP 64 and prove somehow that it's worth going back (Doesn't seem to be anymore). But one thing is certain, I am NOT going back to 32-bit (XP or Vista).

Note: I tested those games at Max settings under a 1280x1024 resolution (GRAW2 had to be set on medium Textures on both XP and Vista)

My system:
-E6400 @ Stock
-8800GTS 320MB @ Stock
-2 Gigs of ram

I wonder if my issues with the X-Fi driver and 162.22 driver would go away if I went from 4G RAM to 2G RAM. I was about to switch back to 32-bit Vista from 64-bit Vista because of the problems with these two drivers. I can get the sound driver to work (enable, disable, warm boot, cold boot, again and again until it works), but the 15-20 crashes last night due to the video driver is beyond annoying).