It is time to jump to x64?

[alexender00]

Hi, I'm currently writing form Win7 x64. Everything is going fine (except a few quircks and stuff I dislike/not used to).

My question is more of a general one. As the topis said, I'm asking myself whether it is time for the switch to X64 as a mainstream, massive gamer that I am. I do know my way around a computer quite well and I do know of to troubleshoot most problems (and how to find solutions to what I don't know without harrasing forumites).

The thing is I'm using in my everyday work Vista Home Preminum. When I bought my computer (about a year ago), I told myself that I would switch to x64 on the next major iteration of windows which is now here (admitidly in a beta form). If I do make the change, I intend to boost my RAM from 2GB to 6 or even 8GB, but betond that I don't expect to change much.

So Again, your thougts, is it time to make the switch to x64?

 

[brendano257]

Well...First I would look at if you like Win7 before you buy it, but if you software/hardware supports it there isn't a reason not to, because there are benefits like being able to use 8Gigs of ram, or a *full* 4GB.

 

[Scarchunk]

There's very little reason not to go x64. Now that drivers are mainstream, there is no disadvantage to 64-bit, only benefits.

 

[50bmg]

I was using win xp sp2 32bit. I have 4G RAM and 2 512M vid cards. So i was losing about 1.5G of RAM due to 32bit.

Now i am running Win 7 64 bit. I have all 4G of RAM and 1G of vid. Plus Win 7 is helping by sharing 1.7G of RAM with video if i need it. I have RAM 2 slots left. I can get the exact patriot 2.0v pc6400 for ~$30. I may do it.

I am seeing a 10-20FPS pick up in COD5, Farcry2, Left4dead.

Win 7 64 has so many more tools and is much easier to use. It boots quicker, runs smoother. IMHO.

I am sold on 64bit. When win 7 comes out, i WILL be buying Window 7 Ultimate. I won't get vista 64.

Edit: I did read friday night will finding a Win7 download site, that Vista 64 drivers will work with 7. So you immediately have a base of usable drivers for win 7 64.

 

[eklipz330]

so are there any quirks of windows 7? [sorry if im sorta hijacking your thread]

can i replace my current xp x64 with win 7 without any real problems? or are there some serious problems with the beta right now?

 

[50bmg]

I have had 2 very small issues after 2 days of gaming and stressing it out.

1. the Gigabyte-realtek LAN drivers would not install. But that is ok. Win 7 used its own drivers and i have had no problems with packetloss or connections. This is the only driver that would not install.

2. 2 times i had a slight stutter in COD5. Really not a problem. This might, just might, be related to the forementioned LAN driver.

All i am doing is gaming, web surfing, home picture editing and management. I have not done any video editing, rendering or FEA(Finite Element Analysis). Those might be a bit more demanding.

 

[Scarchunk]

The Win7 Beta runs great, but its just that, a beta. It has a timebomb that expires in August. IMO Vista 64 SP1 runs just as good and it's out now. I don't recommend running a beta as your main OS. Run a virtual machine or dual-boot if you want to play around with 7.

 

[50bmg]

I agree its a beta. It doesnt have all the bloated crap Microsoft will add to it for retail

I am sure retail will not be this quick. It may be more stable, but the junk they add will slow it down.

I have win xp 32 now on my main machine. I doesnt make since for someone like me to go with vista. I will skip vist and go directly with win7. I may wait until sp1, but i will go straight to win 7 64.

 

[Scarchunk]

Xp is a great OS and I run it on most pcs, but if your wanting to go 64-bit right now, Vista is your best option. XP 64 was never fully developed to its potential.

As for the beta running faster, I ran XP and Vista betas and the final RTM was faster/smoother/more polished than the beta in both cases.

 

[Nik_I]

im also running 7 x64 and i'm liking it so far. and yeah, i think it is time that x64 becomes the standard. all modern hardware supports it and most hardware vendors are making x64 drivers. so really now it's just up to MS and the OEM's to make it the standard. I know dell is already doing that with some of their pc's. they've been selling some inspiron desktops with 6GB of ram. and they were smart enough to put vista 64 on it.

 

[Scotteq]

Hmmm.. Jeff - Perhaps you could explain why my security suite goes berserk and tells me it blocked a malicious attack when I clicked on your link...

Or not.


Either way - Reported.

 

[cjl]

Really? Mine had no problem with the site that was linked, but I'm on Win7 right now, as well as FF 3.1 beta (with Adblock and Noscript), so that doesn't mean that nothing was there.