Is it benificial switching over to 64bit to 32bit in Windows 7 Ultimate

[indrashis95]

Hi I'm Indrashis from kolkata(India),i'm new in the forum and need help about the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit Operating System.I'm not very familiar with 64bit OS,I've been running a system with Windows 7 ultimate 32bit version for almost a year.Now I wish to switch on to 64 bit ....
i have=
AMD PHENOM2 X4 945 3.0Ghz
2 GB DDR3 RAM
ATI 5770 1GB GDDR5 GPU
Gigabyte Mobo
16inch LG LCD monitor
etc etc
.........I have to download all the drivers and softwares of 64bit version if I want to switch on to 64 bit version of W7.So,I want to know whether it will be good to upgrade to 64bit version???Will it increase the performance of my system??(My system is used mostly for playing games like crysis,COD etc etc)

 

[hclarkjr]

if you are upgrading just for running 64 bit then i would say the answer is no. but if you want to add more memory to your computer sometime then yes would be the answer. do a search on this forum here you will find lots of posts about this.

 

[SickBeast]

64 bit apps will run a bit faster, but your computer will also use up more memory in 64 bit mode.

I would go with 64 bit personally.

 

[GaryJohnson]

64 bit apps will run a bit faster but your computer will also use up more memory in 64 bit mode.

1. You can't run 64 bit apps at all in 32 bit windows. So yeah I suppose they would run faster since "faster" is more fast than "not at all".

2. Your computer will be able to use more memory, but it won't use up more memory.

 

[JackMDS]

The Majority of End-Users that run x64 have only social benefit from it.

I.e., they can say in HS and College "Dude" I run x64.

The rule is that if One does not come presenting a specific issue that he/has with the usage of their computer that x64 can improve on. They only need it for social purposes.

 

[JackMDS]

if you are upgrading just for running 64 bit then i would say the answer is no.

The Majority of End-Users that run x64 have only social benefit from it.

I.e., they can say in HS or College "Dude" I run x64.

The rule is that if One does not come presenting a specific issue that he/has with the usage of their computer and it seems that x64 can improve on. They only need it for social purposes.

Social goals are important too, and their is No need to "hide" them pretending that it is a technological need.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Cogman]

There are SOME speed increases in specific situations from going to a 64 bit environment, however, for the most part it is the same speed as a 32 bit environment. The biggest reason for going over to 64 bit is the ability to use very large amounts of memory.

 

[blackangst1]

Unless you will run 4 gigs or more of memory, I would say no benifit to move to 64 bit.

 

[MGMorden]

1. You can't run 64 bit apps at all in 32 bit windows. So yeah I suppose they would run faster since "faster" is more fast than "not at all".

2. Your computer will be able to use more memory, but it won't use up more memory.

1. I read that as him saying that 64-bit programs running on 64-bit Windows will run slightly faster compared to the same programs running as 32-bit versions on 32-bit Windows.

2. Not exactly true. 64-bit code uses 64-bit memory addresses, which necessitates that memory addressing when running 64-bit code take up twice as much space. Also, standard space for integer and floating point data types doubles as well (things like character data types remain unchanged) when running 64-bit code. While it likely won't amount to a whole lot of extra memory used, there will be some excess memory usage compared to 32-bit code.

 

[Gamingphreek]

1. I read that as him saying that 64-bit programs running on 64-bit Windows will run slightly faster compared to the same programs running as 32-bit versions on 32-bit Windows.

2. Not exactly true. 64-bit code uses 64-bit memory addresses, which necessitates that memory addressing when running 64-bit code take up twice as much space. Also, standard space for integer and floating point data types doubles as well (things like character data types remain unchanged) when running 64-bit code. While it likely won't amount to a whole lot of extra memory used, there will be some excess memory usage compared to 32-bit code.

Not quite true on the second point.

While the memory addresses (by extension the pointers) do use up double the space, integers and the like do not change.

The Microsoft data model for 64-bit programming (LLP) states that, outside of pointers a "long long" data type is introduced to use 64-bit. Most Linux and BSD based systems however, simply double the value of the "long" data type. Everything else remains the same.

-Kevin

 

[Cogman]

Not quite true on the second point.

While the memory addresses (by extension the pointers) do use up double the space, integers and the like do not change.

The Microsoft data model for 64-bit programming (LLP) states that, outside of pointers a "long long" data type is introduced to use 64-bit. Most Linux and BSD based systems however, simply double the value of the "long" data type. Everything else remains the same.

-Kevin

Doesn't the Win32 x64 (wow thats confusing) api get a bit more stringent on the use of Unicode strings? That could increase the size of an app if before it was Ascii characters.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Doesn't the Win32 x64 (wow thats confusing) api get a bit more stringent on the use of Unicode strings? That could increase the size of an app if before it was Ascii characters.

Ya know, I'm not sure... In doing a bit of research, I found that all native Windows API's are written in unicode. So in that case if they used a native windows API (.NET) then that would increase the size.

On the nomenclature - you think that is crazy - check this out. The Windows 32 folder contains 64 bit libraries whereas the WOW64 contains the 32 bit libraries. THAT was some smart thinking on Microsoft's part