32 vs 64 Bit OS

[BlueBirdTS]

I've read a few guides outlining the basic differences between 32 and 64 bit OSes (specifically Windows), but I'm still not sure which version is worth getting. Do you personally think it's worth getting the 64-bit version of Vista over the 32-bit version in order to be able to utilize 4 GB of memory? What are the specific advantages of a 32-bit OS? Are the driver issues with 64-bit OSes really that bad?

 

[Denithor]

I'm running Vista 64 and have not had a single driver problem.

I have had more problems from the fact that it is *not* XP (I know how to do everything in XP, tonight I had problems figuring out how to share my printer in Vista ).

So far the only advantage I've seen over XP is that it does correctly recognize/use my 4GB of memory.

 

[jkresh]

Vista's 64bit drivers are good (and its easy to check to make sure drivers exist for all your current hardware), being able to use 4+gigs can be a big benefit in vista and most software works fine with it, though their are still a few programs that won't run (and no native 16bit programs will work).

Which version is worth getting depends on what software you run and how much ram you have. Also if you go retail you have access to both (only 1 at a time), so you could always use 32bit for now and in a year or so when there is more software that takes advantage of 64 you could move to it.

 

[Roguestar]

Never had any problems with drivers, been using Vista Ultimate x64 for 9 months now (because I got it hella hella cheap). It's nice and responsive and it's pretty enough to keep me happy .

Although if you don't use proper x64 applications and don't have >3GB RAM then you can stick with x86.

 

[OdiN]

Biggest issue that I've run into is finding a good sound card with good drivers for x64 vista. Sorry...Creative doesn't count.

 

[Artanis]

DDR2 memory prices being so low, it worth getting 4 or even 8GB RAM. Switching to a 64bit OS (XP x64 or to the slower Vista x64) sounds like a necessity if you want to get the full advantage of your memory, if you want to run 64bit appl. or if you want a easy way to use more than 2-3GB/application (even if it is 32 bit one).

 

[themisfit610]

Biggest issue that I've run into is finding a good sound card with good drivers for x64 vista. Sorry...Creative doesn't count.

QFT!!!!

Onboard sound has good drivers now, but onboard sound is less than ideal for those who really care about audio. Creative's drivers _suck_ in x64, and Vista in general.

Asus Xonar is supposedly good, but I'm not convinced. xp 32 FTW for awhile!

~Misfit

 

[BOLt]

Originally posted by: themisfit610

Biggest issue that I've run into is finding a good sound card with good drivers for x64 vista. Sorry...Creative doesn't count.

QFT!!!!

Onboard sound has good drivers now, but onboard sound is less than ideal for those who really care about audio. Creative's drivers _suck_ in x64, and Vista in general.

Asus Xonar is supposedly good, but I'm not convinced. xp 32 FTW for awhile!

~Misfit

i vouch creative's suckiness in the vista dept.

vista x64 is really nice (esp. ultimate), but xp is easy to deal with (primarily because everyone's so used to it). just make sure you get a good amount of ram for vista because mine idles at half a gig of usage just after booting.

 

[Liberator21]

Well I like my Vista 64 install, and honestly the creative drivers aren't that bad to me. My biggest gripe is I can't get Itunes to work with the x64, no matter what. If that's important to you it's something to consider. As the owner of both a Zune and a shuffle, I really want Itunes because working out and running are impossible with the Zune.

 

[themisfit610]

The Audigy2 ZS drivers are totally broken. The distortion is unbelievably bad, and switching between 2ch and 5.1ch modes while gaming _will_ hard lock your computer. Creative does not care and will not fix the drivers. It's awesome My old ALC850 Realtek chipset sounded better in Vista - honestly!

Switched back to XP and it sounds great. *shrug*

~MiSfit

 

[Sheninat0r]

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2...re_than_just_the_ram/1

 

[themisfit610]

Yeah yeah, that article is basically irrelevant.

Yes, most hardware works now on 64 bit operating systems. Yes you can use all your RAM. Yes you gain the ability to execute 64 bit applications. But what the author fails to recognize is that having hardware WORK does not necessarily mean it works WELL. This is particularly true of Creative's drivers. ATi and nVidia weren't much better, but have since improved a lot.

There are also very few 64 bit applications that your average user would need or want to use. Why do I want to run 64 bit internet explorer if there's no flash plugin for it?

See - aside from getting access to more RAM, there's no compelling reason to use a 64 bit operating system for the average user / gamer. I consider myself a pretty advanced user, particularly in the area of video encoding. I did see some performance enhancements in this department, but to gain this performance it was necessary to jump through several hoops - and it ended up breaking my workflow.

Show me one game that benefits from 64 bit. Crysis doesn't count, since it's too far ahead of its time to really be taken into consideration for ANYTHING. Far Cry? Who cares... Source? Sort of, not really. Those are the only ones I know of...

Photoshop (and other Adobe products) aren't 64 bit yet, and per Adobe engineers are more memory bandwidth than capacity limited anyway. I'm still scratching my head over that one to be perfectly honest.

That eliminates a big chunk of content creation stuff that could potentially be faster on 64 bit. What other system intensive stuff does the average user do, besides gaming, content creation, and media encoding?

I'm not sure, but I welcome input.

XP 32 bit FTW - IMHO. 64 bit is here to stay, but it's going to be a long, drawn out transition. We absolutely will need more than 2 gigs of ram per process and ~ 3.5 gigs for the whole system. Sooner than a lot of people think. But, it's not today.

~MiSfit

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: Liberator21
Well I like my Vista 64 install, and honestly the creative drivers aren't that bad to me. My biggest gripe is I can't get Itunes to work with the x64, no matter what. If that's important to you it's something to consider. As the owner of both a Zune and a shuffle, I really want Itunes because working out and running are impossible with the Zune.

iTunes works for me on Vista x64? *shrug*

 

[programmer]

My #1 reason to choose 64-bit Vista over 32-bit Vista

(short version) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_Patch_Protection
(long version) http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsv...2006/08/11/695993.aspx

 

[Cheex]

Originally posted by: programmer
My #1 reason to choose 64-bit Vista over 32-bit Vista

(short version) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_Patch_Protection
(long version) http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsv...2006/08/11/695993.aspx

Good information.
I think this reinforces my thoughts on moving to Vista x64.


Question:
Does this mean that Vista x64 is almost as 'safe' as Linux or a Mac?

 

[Roguestar]

It's safer than it was, but still there's 9098456780958704500 more hackers and script-kiddies that will target windows rather than unix or mac (unix) because everyone runs it, not just government and businesses but especially unprotected naieve users who are easily hooked up as zombies, as opposed to rich kids with macbooks writing in starbucks .

 

[themisfit610]

as opposed to rich kids with macbooks writing in starbucks .

ROFL! Definitely QFT.

That's a good point - malware is much less of an issue on x64. Still, it hasn't been an issue for me in years. It's all about safe browsing.

~MiSfit

 

[Cheex]

I agree with safe browsing. That is something I practice also.

So...
1) Safer than x86
2) Able to utilize more memory (invaluable)
3) Support is getting better and more widespread with apps and games
4) Bragging rights

That's about all I need to convince myself to go x64...

 

[Roguestar]

Indeed. Like misfit said, there aren't any huge reasons to jump to it now, it's not like discarding a 32-bit computing philosophy or upgrading all your hardware (thanks to EMT64 and AMD64) but it's great that we can ease into it at our own paces. If it wasn't for the fact that I got Vista Ultimate on the cheap, I'd probably still be using XP x86, but I'm glad that I've got options open (if for some reason I need to run some grid computing stuff ).