In reply to a post by AlcatelGuy:

Im just wondering if I will have to painstakingly install 64bit versions of all my favourate apps if I decide to install it?

64bit versions of games
Adobe CS4,
drivers, etc. Is it going to be a compatibility nightmare?

Are most installers these days able to detect and install and appropriate version?

I have 2GB of memory but would like to have the room to get another 2gb someday

Thanks
Pete

You don't need 64 bit. It's not going to do anything for you. There are hardly any performance gains to be had with your configuration not exceeding 4GB - and even so, any gains after that may be offset by incompatibility issues. Unless you're running this box in a business environment for specific applications i.e. CAD etc - you don't really need it just yet.

Edited by deleted (Thu 26-Nov-09 18:40:17)

It's got 64-bit registers. It does operations on 64-bit words. What more do you want of a 64-bit processor?

Go for 32-bit now and you're only going to have the hassle of re-installing your OS in a year or so - and it's not a simple upgrade it's a re-install.

You might as well bite the bullet now. There are no disadvantages and as soon as you want to up your memory you'll reap the benefits. I've been running 64-bit Windows since XP and have never had any problems. It may be my imagination, but it seems to fly compared to 32-bit editions (mind I do have 4GB RAM, so making full use of that probably explains the difference). RAM is so cheap nowadays you might as well buy that other 2GB now.

Well I for 64bit in the end. I guess there are conflicting views here, but I might add another 2 gigs of ram in, and my graphic card already has an extra 512mb so although I would have prefered 32bit for compability, I think I'm probably fairly future proof now alteast.

However, some of the comments have made me think twice. Should I go back and load the 32bit version instead? Thoughts?

Alcatelguy

If all your hardware is working there's no downside to 64 bit, so don't worry about it. And when you come to add that extra 2 GB it'll just work - no reinstalls!

John.

Don't worry about other people's comments. Fact is many of them haven't even tried 64-bit Windows.

Have you had any compatability problems? If it works for you then why change to an inferior system?

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Well I for 64bit in the end. I guess there are conflicting views here, but I might add another 2 gigs of ram in, and my graphic card already has an extra 512mb so although I would have prefered 32bit for compability, I think I'm probably fairly future proof now alteast.

However, some of the comments have made me think twice. Should I go back and load the 32bit version instead? Thoughts?

Alcatelguy

Adobe will be bringing out more 64bit apps on cs5 and also office 2010 will be 64bit compatible and on depending on the 64bit apps you can receive 10% to 20% increase and some cases more ..

Only go to 32bit now if you have a compelling reason to do so ..

Ditto, I've not installed all my programs yet, that are on the XP machine, but Office 2K and others are running with no hitches so far!

In reply to a post by broadband66:

Ditto, I've not installed all my programs yet, that are on the XP machine, but Office 2K and others are running with no hitches so far!

win7 x64 has 32bit and 64bit compatibility .. so don't worry. its mostly drivers that cause problems

In reply to a post by PhilipD:

not my fault you have fallen for all the marketing hype.

What Sark and others have said. Did you actually read the Wikipedia article you linked to?

Those who have fallen for the marketing hype are those who have paid a fortune for an IA64/Itanium Window box (the "server" you refer to?) which has hardly any Windows applications and barely any Windows support, not least because they are incapable of natively running x86 code.

AMD64 systems, and their eventual Intel clones, don't have that problem - they run x86 code native, can run in x86-32 mode or AMD64 mode as required, and so existing software pretty much "just works", on the whole. Drivers will need specific 64bit versions though if running on a 64bit OS, and 32bit apps get few (no?) 64bit benefits even on a 64bit system.

The only time it makes sense to buy an Itanium is if the OS+apps you need only run on Itanium (HP-UX, VMS) or if for some unfathomable reason you need a Window box with a ridiculously large amount of physical memory. A lot more than 4GB.