32bit vs 64bit Vista

[keef247]

64bit ftw...
I've been using it on my 2.4ghz penryn C2D 3GB Ram 8600M GT dell inspiron and I've used it from anything ranging from streaming media to the ps3/360/naughty xbox to gaming and burning and video editing along with photoshop and used alot of homebrew apps for some things and i can't say I've found one thing that wouldn't play ball... it seems very stable with SP1... I previously had a dodgy dell vostro with a 2.2C2D and 4gb ram and when it wasn't overheating and trying to explode it also ran 64 fine so its pretty versityle imho...

[dangel]

64 is better, but based on what's been said i'll leave my VMC on 32bit as I can quite believe there are issues on such a specific system. I run 64 on everything else tho.

[lancia]

I run 64bit (have 4gigs of ram) and don't have any problems, however a friend of mine has had some trouble playing some older games e.g. won't let him install but even those we managed to fix for him by patches/google searches. I wouldn't mind but one of the games was a recent one. Shocking really. Like i said though x64 is the way to go..

[20girls]

I don't know if I am being a little dense here, but I'm going to be building a HTPC in the next two weeks and was going to put 4gb of ram in it. I know 32bit OS cant actually use 4gb, but is it worth actually spending the money on vista 64bit? (I have a 32 bit licence copy already).

Also if I do go 64bit will all normal software work on it or do I need specific 64bit software. Are there any advantages to 64bit?

Cheers!

use 2008, 32 will support the 4GB

since so many software crashed on 64bit

[Will404]

use 2008, 32 will support the 4GB

since so many software crashed on 64bit

It supports it, but will not utalise it, as some things are given the space before RAM. If you know how to let 4Gb ram work on 32bit tell me please

Look:

[dangel]

use 2008, 32 will support the 4GB

since so many software crashed on 64bit

32Bit referes to the size of the ADDRESSING available on the system - this has to be shared between all hardware (not just RAM). You need 32bits worth of addressing alone for 4GB of RAM and so you need 64bit addressing to use all of the RAM plus the rest of your hardware. 32bit systems simply subtract the addressing needed for other hardware (so the system is still usable).

No software has 'crashed out' on my 64bit system. Ever.

[jallsey]

I've been using 64bit Vista since release. I now have drivers for even my oldest hardware and the only game I can't get to work is MGS2.

64bit is the way to go every time.

Also even with an OEM serial you can switch from 32bit to the 64bit version if you can borrow the 64bit disk and reinstall it, I have done it.