Will Windows 7 64-bit work fine on a machine with 1 GB of RAM?

[Lmeow]

I have an old Athlon 3200+ 2.2 GHz machine, running fine for past five years, very very soon to be sixth (tomorrow is its birthday, lol). It's got 1 GB of DDR RAM and a GeForce 6800. I want to install W 7 on it, but I can only find a 64-bit disc. I know MS says that the requirements are 2 GB for 64-bit, but I've heard of others managing to install 64-bit fine on 1 GB RAM machines. I'm only going to play a few FPS games with low requirements.

I know 32-bit would most likely run faster than 64-bit, but I just want to know will 64-bit run OK without too many problems, and will ReadyBoost help with this? I have several USB flash drives that would seem to qualify.

Thanks. I'm just going to leave this overnight.

 

[55Range]

Mm, its really not recommended to install X64 with only 1 gb ram.
It might cause slowdown issues, and as for ready boost its not that extraordinary, i wouldn't really count on that.

 

[uronacid]

I recommend against it as well. Windows 7 is designed to run off 2GB of RAM. Anything less than 2GB will result in significant slow down, as the OS itself takes up around 400-500MB depending on what settings you've configured. Applications like FPS can easily run up the 500MB mark. This will bring you dangerously close to 1GB, and your computer will begin to use virtual memory which will bring you down to crawling speeds... I wouldn't even recommend running 32-bit with anything less than 2GB. Especially if you're looking to play a few games. RAM is an inexpensive way to upgrade your computer. Do it.

 

[will14]

Get more RAM.
Stick with XP.
Or prepare for pain.
Or find a 32-bit disc.

Windows tends to low ball the recommended/necessary hardware for an OS which is what gave Vista so much hate. HP and Dell sold most of their computers at bare minimum specs, you'll hate windows 7 if you try to put it on there, it may run stable until you start launching programs but I wouldn't suggest it. If this computer is a toy you play with only for web browsing and playing movies/music it may work but be prepared for some possible pain.

This is one of the few situations where ready boost may help you as well.

 

[sminlal]

I installed 32-bit Windows 7 on a machine with only 768MB of memory. It installed and worked just fine, although I never tried to run anything heavy on it and I basically just used one application at a time.

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to install and use 64-bit Windows 7, but I'd consider it a "lets see how this works" system and I wouldn't expect to be able to run anything substantial on it.

 

[rwpritchett]

My father, against my better judgement, paid a local shop to upgrade his computer to Windows 7. They installed 64-bit.

Basic system specs:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ s939
GeForce 6800GT
2x512 DDR400
7200.10 160GB HDD

Anyways, I got to play with the system and it ran surprisingly well. I didn't pay attention to RAM usage or do anything really stressful like run a 3D game, but it ran pretty good. Not as snappy as XP, but not bad at all.

 

[amnotanoobie]

It would run well enough, netbooks get by with 1GB of ram. (What usually holds them back is the processor).

What kind of fps games are we talking about? For general use the system should work well enough.

 

[uronacid]

We all know Windows 7 will run with 1GB, but it's like breathing without a tic-tac.

 

[Lmeow]

Alright guys, thanks for the responses.

I think I will try anyway, I'm really only going to play light games like COD 6 and F.E.A.R. Combat.