32bit vs 64bit - Why should I consider?

[StarsFan4Life]

Last week, I pre-ordered WIndows 7 Prosfessional. I have the RC1 64bit version installed right now and have more problems with it than I really should. Here is my build:


* Cooler Master Elite 330
* Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G motherboard
* AMD Phenom II Quad 940 Black Editon - Stock cooling
* 8GB G-Skill PC2-6400
* XFX Radeon 4870 1GB
* Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA II
* Onboard LAN/HD Audio
* Antec Earthwatts 650wt psu
* Logitech DiNovo Keyboard
* Logitech MX Revolution Mouse
* 2 X Yate Loon 120mm silent case fans
* 2 X Dell 23" S2309 W @ 1900 x 1080
* Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit and all updates
* DirectX 10 installed

Now, I realized that if I downgrade to 32bit, I lose 4gb of ram (which I would take out and put in another machine). However, my real question here is what would I benefit from in terms of performance if I went to 64bit for my final build when Windows 7 comes out?

I current do gaming and HD video editing with Sony Vegas Pro 9.0. Is there a real need for me to go 64bit?

 

[GaryJohnson]

64bit doesn't have any performance advantage over 32bit apart from the fact that you can use more RAM which can lead to better performance.

The only other real reason to go 64bit is for future software compatability. For example in 5 years from now Vegas Pro 14.0 might be 64bit only.

So weigh those reasons against whatever "problems" you're currently having with 64bit. Which... btw, what are the problems you having with 64bit? You shouldn't be having problems.

 

[jdjbuffalo]

Other than maybe a driver or two everything should be rock solid. What kinds of problems are you having? Does it have more to do with the Sony Vegas software than anything else?

Have you tried the 32bit version of Win 7 RC1? Does it resolve your issues?
Have you tried the 64bit version of Vista SP1? Does it work?

64bit is worthwhile for people who need the enhancements and you will see more games heading to 64bit in the next few years. I wouldn't limit yourself to 32bit, especially with a new/recent build. I use Windows Vista 64bit everyday (I will be upgrading to Win 7 x64 RTM once it gets posted on Technet) and I am constantly using more than 4GB (you will only have a little more than 3GB in 32bit).

 

[coolVariable]

I also found Vista 64bit RC to be horribly unstable and had only problems with it.
In general I found the beta version to be much more stable than the RC.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
I also found Vista 64bit RC to be horribly unstable and had only problems with it.
In general I found the beta version to be much more stable than the RC.

Specs?

I'm using a laptop with intel chipset / video and it has been nearly flawless. I would blame drivers right now above all else.

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: GaryJohnson
64bit doesn't have any performance advantage over 32bit apart from the fact that you can use more RAM which can lead to better performance.

The only other real reason to go 64bit is for future software compatability. For example in 5 years from now Vegas Pro 14.0 might be 64bit only.

So weigh those reasons against whatever "problems" you're currently having with 64bit. Which... btw, what are the problems you having with 64bit? You shouldn't be having problems.

A 64bit OS is inherently faster than a 32bit OS in certain tasks, right now- not years in the future. See here. This is Linux, but the principle is the same- encoding, extraction, flash and 3D rendering are all faster on a 64bit OS with appropriate software. The catch is indeed 'with appropriate software' so you are going to need to use these things to see the difference but the difference is there. IMO there is no reason to be buying a 32bit, 'compatibility' was a problem maybe 3 years ago or whenever XP 64 came out but thats not an issue today. All devices to be certified for Windows Vista/7 need to have a 32bit and 64bit driver, so unless you are running a printer from 98 the likelihood is you will be fine.

 

[Scotteq]

Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life

Now, I realized that if I downgrade to 32bit, I lose 4gb of ram (which I would take out and put in another machine). However, my real question here is what would I benefit from in terms of performance if I went to 64bit for my final build when Windows 7 comes out?

I current do gaming and HD video editing with Sony Vegas Pro 9.0. Is there a real need for me to go 64bit?

Video Editing/encoding will greatly benefit from as much resource - especially memory - that you can throw at it.


Now... What problems?

 

[StarsFan4Life]

Originally posted by: Scotteq

Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life

Now, I realized that if I downgrade to 32bit, I lose 4gb of ram (which I would take out and put in another machine). However, my real question here is what would I benefit from in terms of performance if I went to 64bit for my final build when Windows 7 comes out?

I current do gaming and HD video editing with Sony Vegas Pro 9.0. Is there a real need for me to go 64bit?

Video Editing/encoding will greatly benefit from as much resource - especially memory - that you can throw at it.


Now... What problems?

My problem:

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...id=34&threadid=2316039

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

it's the case. use antec instead of CM and i bet your problems will be rectified.

 

[StarsFan4Life]

How in the world is it the case?

 

[jdjbuffalo]

StarsFan4Life, it looks like this issue is a big mess of problems with lots of fixes. It might be something wrong within the core of Windows since it spans across Vista and Win 7. I doubt using 32 bit over 64 bit would be beneficial (I didn't see that listed as one of the fixes for your issue). Most of the resolutions seemed to revolve around replacing defective hardware or reinstalling windows.

Have you already tested your RAM and video card (those seem to be the most frequent issues in the few pages I read)?

Have you reinstalled Windows?

 

[StarsFan4Life]

Originally posted by: jdjbuffalo
StarsFan4Life, it looks like this issue is a big mess of problems with lots of fixes. It might be something wrong within the core of Windows since it spans across Vista and Win 7. I doubt using 32 bit over 64 bit would be beneficial (I didn't see that listed as one of the fixes for your issue). Most of the resolutions seemed to revolve around replacing defective hardware or reinstalling windows.

Have you already tested your RAM and video card (those seem to be the most frequent issues in the few pages I read)?

Have you reinstalled Windows?

I ran memtest x86 for 8 hours without any problems. How can I test the video card?

The problem seems to mainly happen when the PC is "idle". If I am gaming or rendering video, everything seems to be fine.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life
How in the world is it the case?

why'd you include it in the OP then?

 

[Tequila]

There's no way you can test all 8gb of memory in 8 hours. If you don't have the patience I would just start yanking out all but one stick and see what happens when your PC is in idle. If that works then put in the next stick and so on.

Memory problems are a PITA to debug when you don't run memtest for all of it because you might have no problems for 1-2 days then *boom* your mouse freezes or windows reboots or some other wierd thing happens but you might not have any problem running a game for hours on end.

I'm saying this because recently a stick of patriot ddr3 went bad on me and I only discovered it by yanking out one stick. It was wierd because I could run Stalker:CS no problem but then I'd get wierd random mouse/keyboard freeze randomly or after wakeup from standby or just a random reboot all together while browsing the web. It put a sour taste in my mouth so I went with some good quality 1.5v Crucial ddr3 and it's been super stable since then.

I would say in the last 15 years about 4-5 sticks of ram have gone bad on me and everytime it happens I get a wide variety of random wierdness that makes me scratch my head until I finally do something to either yank&test or memtest it

 

[StarsFan4Life]

Originally posted by: Tequila
There's no way you can test all 8gb of memory in 8 hours. If you don't have the patience I would just start yanking out all but one stick and see what happens when your PC is in idle. If that works then put in the next stick and so on.

Memory problems are a PITA to debug when you don't run memtest for all of it because you might have no problems for 1-2 days then *boom* your mouse freezes or windows reboots or some other wierd thing happens but you might not have any problem running a game for hours on end.

I'm saying this because recently a stick of patriot ddr3 went bad on me and I only discovered it by yanking out one stick. It was wierd because I could run Stalker:CS no problem but then I'd get wierd random mouse/keyboard freeze randomly or after wakeup from standby or just a random reboot all together while browsing the web. It put a sour taste in my mouth so I went with some good quality 1.5v Crucial ddr3 and it's been super stable since then.

I would say in the last 15 years about 4-5 sticks of ram have gone bad on me and everytime it happens I get a wide variety of random wierdness that makes me scratch my head until I finally do something to either yank&test or memtest it

In 2 hours, it ran through the complete process 1 and 3/4 times....almost 2.

 

[StarsFan4Life]

I also think it is a driver issue somewhere. Every single BSOD is the following:


BSOD Message:

atikmdag.sys - Address FFFF8800463BFCC base at FFFFF88004629000, Datestamp 4a0e3895

Physical Memory Dump

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
I also found Vista 64bit RC to be horribly unstable and had only problems with it.
In general I found the beta version to be much more stable than the RC.

I have been running Vista 64 for a while now... never a hiccup. Same with virtually every version of Windows 7 I have installed.

The sooner 32 bit dies the better.

 

[Tequila]

Are we talking about the same memtest? I can get maybe 30% through 4gb in 8 hours of testing.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life
I also think it is a driver issue somewhere. Every single BSOD is the following:


BSOD Message:

atikmdag.sys - Address FFFF8800463BFCC base at FFFFF88004629000, Datestamp 4a0e3895

Physical Memory Dump

Sounds like an issue with the ATI drivers.

 

[Tequila]

Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life
I also think it is a driver issue somewhere. Every single BSOD is the following:


BSOD Message:

atikmdag.sys - Address FFFF8800463BFCC base at FFFFF88004629000, Datestamp 4a0e3895

Physical Memory Dump

Ah dumb question. You are using the Win7 drivers for your Radeon right? You didn't accidentially download the vista ones? If not then maybe it is bad memory on the video card. Oh well, I have to leave for work. Hope you figure it out

 

[StarsFan4Life]

Originally posted by: Tequila

Originally posted by: StarsFan4Life
I also think it is a driver issue somewhere. Every single BSOD is the following:


BSOD Message:

atikmdag.sys - Address FFFF8800463BFCC base at FFFFF88004629000, Datestamp 4a0e3895

Physical Memory Dump

Ah dumb question. You are using the Win7 drivers for your Radeon right? You didn't accidentially download the vista ones? If not then maybe it is bad memory on the video card. Oh well, I have to leave for work. Hope you figure it out

Yes, I am using the Windows 7 Radeon drivers - http://game.amd.com/us-en/driv...p=win7/windows-7-64bit

However, the chipset drivers I downloaded from Gigabyte are Vista drivers (no Windows 7 drivers yet).

Is there a way I can test the video card out to see if it is faulty at all? I am highly considering sending it back and getting a good ole NVidia card.....

 

[mshan]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...AR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

Remember also reading another thread where I think one of the mods mentioned that Windows 7 64 bit has better security than 32 bit version.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: GaryJohnson
64bit doesn't have any performance advantage over 32bit apart from the fact that you can use more RAM which can lead to better performance.

The only other real reason to go 64bit is for future software compatability. For example in 5 years from now Vegas Pro 14.0 might be 64bit only.

So weigh those reasons against whatever "problems" you're currently having with 64bit. Which... btw, what are the problems you having with 64bit? You shouldn't be having problems.

That is 110% wrong. Please educate yourself before responding to someone's help request!

I highly doubt the 64bit anything is your problem OP. You are using a RC/Beta Operating System. While it has been, by many accounts, great - you still need to remember it is not a final release.

To me, that looks like a a driver problem.

Additionally, why in the WORLD are you going to a manufacturer's site to get drivers. Most of the time they are out of date and horribly bloated with other stuff. Go to AMD's site and grab the AMD Chipset Drivers - stay away from manf drivers.

-Kevin

 

[StarsFan4Life]

Kevin,

Would you mind pointing me to the correct drivers I would need?

 

[Gamingphreek]

I think one of the mods mentioned that Windows 7 64 bit has better security than 32 bit version.

Well not really. The only more "secure" feature in 64bit, is simply that you cannot install unsigned drivers on the computer at all (Whereas in 32bit, you can install any driver that you want and force it to continue).

-Kevin