Vista32- vs. Vista64-bit OS Showdown *Done!*

[taltamir]

well.. considering it took a whole year before vista was really READY for use... Sometime next year windows 7 will come out... sometime during 2010 the major bugs will be ironed out and we will all migrate to it

There is no OS tweaking needed to test 32bit. You just double click game.exe instead of game64.exe (typically there is a luncher.exe that runs first and automatically lunches one of those two depending on detected OS)...

I see a few cases where 64bit really suffers, like HL2. That could explain my issues with HL2 since I have been using XP64 since the day it came out (march 2003)... so its been many years since I last gamed on a 32bit OS.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: taltamir
well.. considering it took a whole year before vista was really READY for use... Sometime next year windows 7 will come out... sometime during 2010 the major bugs will be ironed out and we will all migrate to it

There is no OS tweaking needed to test 32bit. You just double click game.exe instead of game64.exe (typically there is a luncher.exe that runs first and automatically lunches one of those two depending on detected OS)...

I see a few cases where 64bit really suffers, like HL2. That could explain my issues with HL2 since I have been using XP64 since the day it came out (march 2003)... so its been many years since I last gamed on a 32bit OS.

oh, that

yes, i did that .. results as posted .. almost no difference really .. i will be 64 bit with the next game that really can take advantage of it an one that i really like .. probably WILL be another year for that game to run perfectly on Vista64 so my 'timing' is good again

 

[jiffylube1024]

<-- You can add another person to the Vista-64 bit list. I upgraded recently and it's at least as good/stable as Vista 32 for me . The upgrade is actually quite transparent!

 

[taltamir]

well, The "as good in games" part compliments the "much better in software"...
Firefox and IE7 appear to be about 5 times faster at LEAST.
I benchmarked 7z to be 27% faster in 64bit.
And the new dolphin (consule emulator) has a new beta 64bit version that can also do dual core... on skies of arcadia: 32bit emulator - 3fps, 64bit emulator - 12fps, 64bit emulator with dual core mode enabled (not available in 32bit) - 50+ fps.

There were a few other programs I can't think of off the top of my head...
Since the ONLY program I know of to NOT support 64bit OS is UPS worldship (closed beta available if you can get into it, fedex as a public beta version you can just download) I see no reason NOT to be on a 64bit OS and reap the benefits as they come. That, and windows itself boots faster in 64bit.

Anyways, we should really make a list of games that perform better in 64bit mode, and those that perform better in 32bit mode...
That way if you have 64bit vista you can just change your shortcut from game64.exe to game.exe and enjoy the higher performance, while maintaing the benefit of games that do better in 64bit.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: taltamir
well, The "as good in games" part compliments the "much better in software"...
Firefox and IE7 appear to be about 5 times faster at LEAST.
I benchmarked 7z to be 27% faster in 64bit.
And the new dolphin (consule emulator) has a new beta 64bit version that can also do dual core... on skies of arcadia: 32bit emulator - 3fps, 64bit emulator - 12fps, 64bit emulator with dual core mode enabled (not available in 32bit) - 50+ fps.

There were a few other programs I can't think of off the top of my head...
Since the ONLY program I know of to NOT support 64bit OS is UPS worldship (closed beta available if you can get into it, fedex as a public beta version you can just download) I see no reason NOT to be on a 64bit OS and reap the benefits as they come. That, and windows itself boots faster in 64bit.

Anyways, we should really make a list of games that perform better in 64bit mode, and those that perform better in 32bit mode...
That way if you have 64bit vista you can just change your shortcut from game64.exe to game.exe and enjoy the higher performance, while maintaing the benefit of games that do better in 64bit.

i am SO glad you said "we"

i have pretty much moved on to another project .. but i will faithfully update this one in the first two posts if someone want to do this very ambitions project.

However, i *expect* - after pioneering this little semi-finished experiment - with admittedly inconclusive results - i would be willing to bet that we will soon see "official" benchmarks and properly executed reviews on the Tech Sites that may support or blow away my own [inconclusive] conclusion. Perhaps someone *else* has the patience to really examine and explain the differences in the OSes. i did this little review quite SUPERFICIALLY - Vista is interim anyway - just so i could satisfy MYSELF that i was not disadvantaged with Vista 32 RIGHT NOW! i am OK with Vista 32 or Vista 64.

if i bought Vista today instead of a year ago, i might well pick Vista-64 ... but i didn't and unless someone wants to give me a free copy am keeping Vista-32 for now; i will Upgrade to Vista7-64 - for sure .. i promise