upgrading to windows 7 64bit help

[razer121]

Hey guys, im intent on running 64bit on my pc after using it on a mates at a lan this weekend but first i need to get as much information as i can so ive been scouting alot for drivers....it would seem there supported but ive read a few which state that 64bit drivers for nvidia are not to great? is this a myth? or really happening, i currently run a gtx260 so it would need to work due to the fact i game alot on the pc aswell. so heres a run down on what i run,

core i5 750
MSI P55-GD65
xms3 4gb memory
500gb hdd
750watt psu

i cannot think of anything else i need to add, so can i ask has anybody else run windows 7 64 bit on this motherboard? if you have i would like to know your experience with it?

and onto my gaming.....how well would it work?? i dont really tend to play many old games anymore, pretty much just new ones (ive got a laptop for the old games ) programs wise...the ones i can think of off hand are,

7z (compression program)
nero 10 (is it called this?)

i cannot think of many others lol so advice help?? thanks guys

[jim]

Don't worry about it.

All of the modern stuff (P55 obviously included) has been devised with 64 bit in mind. They're enthusiast products, and by and large, enthusiasts run 64 bit.

I ran Vista 64-bit from the off, and never had any problems at all - let alone 7 64-bit.

If nVidia 64-bit drivers were bad, and they aren't, then nobody would be buying nVidia cards - simple as that. People want to run 4GB systems these days, so companies have to provide decent 64 bit drivers.

[razer121]

see now that is what i wanted to hear there is a game i play mind, UTGOTY always play it at the local lan i attend, will this still run? or am i going to need to get a VM of some sort?

[jim]

Wouldn't have thought a VM would be an option, it's not really designed for graphics intensive stuff. I've just done a quick google and it appears that it used to work on Vista x64 though (googling vista is easier than googling 7)

[Paul Adams]

Hey guys, im intent on running 64bit on my pc after using it on a mates at a lan this weekend...

What's the motivation for this?
I only ask in case you are expecting a major increase in performance over x86, which you almost certainly will not.
There is no upgrade path between x86 and x64, it's a clean install - so I tend to save this for when Windows has to be installed from scratch (new system, new HDD, failed system disk, after infection).

...ive been scouting alot for drivers....it would seem there supported but ive read a few which state that 64bit drivers for nvidia are not to great? is this a myth? or really happening, i currently run a gtx260...

I've used Windows 7 x64 with 3 different nVidia cards without a single bugcheck caused by them (9800GTX, GTX260, GTX285) - on occasion the user-mode driver has reset the display when the driver stops responding, but I think that's down to overheating or using the 3D Vision system with certain games.
In terms of (3D) graphics-heavy games, among the ones I have played without any particular issues are: WoW, L4D2, Assasin's Creed 1 & 2, Mass Effect, BioShock 1 & 2; Just Cause 2.

...heres a run down on what i run,

core i5 750
MSI P55-GD65
xms3 4gb memory
500gb hdd
750watt psu

4GB is the point at which you don't really gain so much from moving from x86 to x64 - the 1GB of physical memory you gain is largely consumed by the fact that the data & code take up more space.

i cannot think of anything else i need to add, so can i ask has anybody else run windows 7 64 bit on this motherboard? if you have i would like to know your experience with it?

Not that particular motherboard, I tend to use Asus these days (easy BIOS updates from USB, plus failsafe BIOS so I can't brick them).

and onto my gaming.....how well would it work?? i dont really tend to play many old games anymore, pretty much just new ones (ive got a laptop for the old games ) programs wise...the ones i can think of off hand are,

7z (compression program)
nero 10 (is it called this?)

Sticking to newer games will definitely avoid many potential issues - the most obvious being 32-bit CD checking software protection drivers as it's impossible to load 32-bit drivers in the 64-bit kernel (and going really far back, most 16-bit installers will just flat out refuse to run, and all 16-bit programs will definitely not work).

7-zip has a native x64 version that I've never had a problem with.
Nero I've not used since I think verison 3.x - any CD/DVD/BD mastering I tend to do is just data backups direct from Windows or bootable ISOs using Magic ISO.

I've not played UT, but forget 3D gaming inside a VM, it will either not run at all, or very poorly.

[jim]

Whoa, good point!

Are you running Windows 7 x86?

[razer121]

x86 im going to assume is the 32bit if thats the case then yes, but recently just bought a new 500gb hdd so debating ont he upgrade path....its just my mates system (with 4gb ram) runs pretty smooth compared to mine and he is on a socket 775....not fair mine is suppposed to be the uber responsive one lol. i just think that 64bit is the future isnt it? i dont think many programs i use are restricted so i should be ok right?? i have a spare 250gb hdd i can install a second 32bit on if i do need it anyhow if i go 64bit would 6gb memory help me at all?

[jim]

You might as well use x64 rather than x86, that's what I'm getting at. Then you can use more than 3.2GB of RAM (or whatever equates to in your system, around that though) and if programs have specific x64 versions - such as 7zip, then you should see performance improvements.

Generally though, it won't make much difference. A fresh install of Windows will speed up the PC usually though. As for 6GB, I doubt it would make a tremendous difference somehow... 4GB is more than adequate as things stand.

So anyway, what I'm saying is:

Don't rush out to swap from x86 to x64, it won't make the difference you're looking for.

But, if you're thinking of doing a fresh Windows install on a new disk, then definitely go for the x64 version because there's no good reason to stick with x86.

[Paul Adams]

Generally though, it won't make much difference. A fresh install of Windows will speed up the PC usually though. As for 6GB, I doubt it would make a tremendous difference somehow... 4GB is more than adequate as things stand.

So anyway, what I'm saying is:

Don't rush out to swap from x86 to x64, it won't make the difference you're looking for.

But, if you're thinking of doing a fresh Windows install on a new disk, then definitely go for the x64 version because there's no good reason to stick with x86.

This.
Bear in mind that most, if not all, of the games you run will actually be 32-bit and not "large address aware" anyway, so are limited to a 2GB virtual memory address space - extra memory (virtual or physical) will not make a blind bit of difference to this game's performance so long as other processes are not contending for it.

Windows will happily use the extra RAM for its system (file) cache, and if Superfetch is left enabled (recommended on non-SSD systems) then you might get some improvement in app/game launch times after some time if your usage pattern is predticable.

In theory some operations (typically disk to RAM) can increase in performance because of the amount of data being moved per tick, but due to the tendency of such operations to be random this is often not measurable.

Native 64-bit processes ought to be able to demonstrate a performance boost if memory and/or disk intensive in their nature, but if they are just doing calculations then on the same CPU it's not likely there will be much difference.

A lot of the time people observe performance differences because they want (or expect) to, or they are comparing apples and oranges (different hardware, usage scenarios, background processes running, etc.).

[razer121]

well, i dont really need the extra speed increase in games and such, its more so in windows i wanted to see the increase, load times on programs although are ok could do with an increase, im not really getting a straight answer, you all seem to have mixed views! im stuck so would upgrading to 8gb of ram make a difference if i upgraded? (in windows that is)

[Paul Adams]

...im not really getting a straight answer, you all seem to have mixed views! im stuck so would upgrading to 8gb of ram make a difference if i upgraded? (in windows that is)

The 2 of us that have responded have said the same thing, so I'm not sure where you get "mixed views" from.
Short version: No, you will almost certainly not see a significant performance increase in moving from Windows 7 x86 to x64, whether you have 4GB, 6GB or 8GB of RAM on the same hardware.

[jim]

well, i dont really need the extra speed increase in games and such, its more so in windows i wanted to see the increase, load times on programs although are ok could do with an increase, im not really getting a straight answer, you all seem to have mixed views! im stuck so would upgrading to 8gb of ram make a difference if i upgraded? (in windows that is)

Bottom line, you won't see an increase in speed with 64 bit. Anywhere. Maybe a very small one in a particular piece of software that is 64-bit optimised. But it won't change your world.

As for the the RAM, 4GB is enough for Windows. Unless you're running a server, or some very specific software (like some people who load 4GB of audio files into RAM for music production) you will not benefit from more than 4GB. I have 8GB in this machine, and never use more than 4GB.

If you'd said to me "I'm building a new computer, shall I install 32 bit or 64 bit?" I would say, no benefit to 32 bit, install 64 bit. But if you said to me "I'm thinking about wiping my whole PC to move to 64-bit, shall I bother?" I would say no. Wait until you have to reinstall for another reason, like it's getting clogged with old programs, and then do the swap.

[razer121]

.....its a new hdd and ive yet to install windows on the pc (old hdd is coming out and being replaced)

[handscombmp]

i'm running win 7 64bit on that mobo and it's fine.

As for nvidia driver. I haven't heard that before and when i had my 8800gt they ran fine so i don't think you'll have a problem.

[jim]

.....its a new hdd and ive yet to install windows on the pc (old hdd is coming out and being replaced)

There you go then, install x64 version - just don't expect too much of it and it'll be fine