Win 7 64bit or 32bit?!?

[Underground Shogun]

Okay, so I am finally building a new system since my current 5 year old laptop just isn't doing it for me anymore, nor has it for quite some time. I mainly play online MMORPGs, including Everquest 2, and soon to be Aion. I also played WoW for a bit but got bored with it! Anyways, I am tired and frustrated with zones taking forever (minutes) to load. I know what some if not all of you are thinking...'Why the hell would you use a laptop for gaming?!?'...well my best answer to that is financial reasons - so no need to point that out - I am perfectly capable of understanding the reasons why one should not game with any (esp older) laptops.

With that said, I would like to tell you what I am building on and would like your professional opinions on what OS is best to go with. I have downloaded both .iso for Win 7 (32 and 64) and really want to go with the 64bit, but am wondering if said games above will function okay on that OS.

Here is what I will be building:

i7 920
ASUS P6T Deluxe
XFX 4890
12 GB 1600 Corsair RAM
WD HD 750GB 7200 RPM
Couple DVD R's (Plextor)
750W Corsair PS (CMPSU-750TX)
Antec 902


Let me know what you think,
Thanks,
underground.shogun

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Underground Shogun
Okay, so I am finally building a new system since my current 5 year old laptop just isn't doing it for me anymore, nor has it for quite some time. I mainly play online MMORPGs, including Everquest 2, and soon to be Aion. I also played WoW for a bit but got bored with it! Anyways, I am tired and frustrated with zones taking forever (minutes) to load. I know what some if not all of you are thinking...'Why the hell would you use a laptop for gaming?!?'...well my best answer to that is financial reasons - so no need to point that out - I am perfectly capable of understanding the reasons why one should not game with any (esp older) laptops.

With that said, I would like to tell you what I am building on and would like your professional opinions on what OS is best to go with. I have downloaded both .iso for Win 7 (32 and 64) and really want to go with the 64bit, but am wondering if said games above will function okay on that OS.

Here is what I will be building:

i7 920
ASUS P6T Deluxe
XFX 4890
12 GB 1600 Corsair RAM
WD HD 750GB 7200 RPM
Couple DVD R's (Plextor)
750W Corsair PS (CMPSU-750TX)
Antec 902


Let me know what you think,
Thanks,
underground.shogun

The games should work just fine, and unless you want to essentially throw out 9GB of your RAM, then you should go 64bit. I have encountered almost no issues (only one I came across was tages DRM, I had to download the 64bit driver for it) running 64bit Vista or 7.

 

[thescreensavers]

you want to use more then 3gigs of ram? if so 64 bit.

Games work fine.

 

[pcslookout]

Thats a no brainer Windows 7 64 bit unless you plan on using about a 9 to 10 GB ram drive for something.

 

[postmortemIA]

you don't need 12GB of RAM if you don't know how to use them/don't have anything to use it.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA
you don't need 12GB of RAM if you don't know how to use them/don't have anything to use it.

Why not? You can never have enough ram unless your talking about the question itself.

 

[KeypoX]

lol save some money and get less ram

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My 2-cents-worth:

1) Unless you have an old system without a CPU deploying 64-bit capability (and you don't!) -- 64-bit is the only way to go. I have a test installation of Windows 7 (64), but VISTA-64's performance is a telltale indication of what to expect. I cannot recall any significant problem I've had with software compatibility except for a single freeware program and the PaperPort PDF-printer driver for Nuance's PaperPort version 10. PP v10 is an old version, and otherwise works fine in VISTA 64.

2) I imagine a trade-off between total RAM, power-consumption, swapfile size and performance. Intuitively, I only guess that a more efficient, 64-bit OS would shift the optimal RAM needed a little lower. That's only a guess. But with 4GB of dual-channel RAM, I don't see any bottlenecks or need for more. If course, my choice of games is less demanding than it could be. I also am somewhat sure that more RAM means more limitations on over-clocking. But maybe that changes with the newer socket-1366 regime.

With your i7 920, I suspect you have triple-channel RAM . . . (just checked the EGG for the P6T, and confirmed it) . . . and -- yes -- there are 12GB (6x2GB) kits available, as I see. Perhaps with the lower voltage for these DDR3 sticks, you won't increase your power-bill either.

 

[Underground Shogun]

Well, this thread just confirms my own intuitions about going with a 64bit OS. My only concern was if my games would be playable; though it seems I should not run into any problems. As far as saving money and going with 6GB instead of 12GB, I am reminded of a quote from "Contact" - "...why build one when you can have two at twice the price?". I mean really $125 for 6 or $250 for 12 isn't much of a price difference considering I'm going to using this system for (hopefully) years to come. I know memory prices are always getting cheaper for more, but I've waited 5 years to build a solid system like this and now that I have the finances to do it, I'm going to indulge a bit.

=)

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: Underground Shogun
Well, this thread just confirms my own intuitions about going with a 64bit OS. My only concern was if my games would be playable; though it seems I should not run into any problems. As far as saving money and going with 6GB instead of 12GB, I am reminded of a quote from "Contact" - "...why build one when you can have two at twice the price?". I mean really $125 for 6 or $250 for 12 isn't much of a price difference considering I'm going to using this system for (hopefully) years to come. I know memory prices are always getting cheaper for more, but I've waited 5 years to build a solid system like this and now that I have the finances to do it, I'm going to indulge a bit.

=)

It's your money, but I REALLY don't think you'll be able to utilize that much ram. If it were me, I'd go with 6gb, and put the rest of the money into a nice SSD for a boot drive.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: Underground Shogun
Well, this thread just confirms my own intuitions about going with a 64bit OS. My only concern was if my games would be playable; though it seems I should not run into any problems. As far as saving money and going with 6GB instead of 12GB, I am reminded of a quote from "Contact" - "...why build one when you can have two at twice the price?". I mean really $125 for 6 or $250 for 12 isn't much of a price difference considering I'm going to using this system for (hopefully) years to come. I know memory prices are always getting cheaper for more, but I've waited 5 years to build a solid system like this and now that I have the finances to do it, I'm going to indulge a bit.

=)

It's your money, but I REALLY don't think you'll be able to utilize that much ram. If it were me, I'd go with 6gb, and put the rest of the money into a nice SSD for a boot drive.

Word!

I have 4GB in my system and almost never use all of it (I mean, 7 will, it will use all it can for superfetch and whatnot), but with regards to individual, or even dozens of programs open, 4GB is plenty for now, and as you said, RAM prices keep getting cheaper so why not only get 6GB now (which is plenty), and then put some more cash on top of those savings for an 80GB Intel G2 drive.

 

[MainFramed]

64bit

 

[Horsepower]

Since RTM I have never installed anything but 64 bit Vista and now 64 bit 7.
my 2 cents

 

[philosofool]

Originally posted by: Underground Shogun
I mean really $125 for 6 or $250 for 12 isn't much of a price difference considering I'm going to using this system for (hopefully) years to come. I know memory prices are always getting cheaper for more, but I've waited 5 years to build a solid system like this and now that I have the finances to do it, I'm going to indulge a bit.

=)

If you want to indulge, indulge! However, one you have 6GB of RAM, $125 put into almost any other component will go much further than putting more money into RAM. The first thing that comes to mind a $225 80GB SSD for your operating system and program files (user files stored on large, conventional, separate HDD.) The SSD basically makes application load times instantaneous. Hardcore users who have been around for ages say that this is the biggest improvement in user experience they have ever gotten from a single piece of hardware. Another thing that comes to mind: get two 1GB Radeon 4850 cards and set them up in Crossfire. Another is to get another 750GB HDD and some good backup software to protect your data. I'm sure if I thought about it enough, I would come up with three or four more things. (5.1 speaker system, second monitor...)

If you want to indulge, by all mean, indulge. But if you're going to spend $125 dollars on dinner, you could rent a limo and have it take you to KFC or you could drive yourself to the best steak house in town. Both are indulgent, but only one really makes sense.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
[

It's your money, but I REALLY don't think you'll be able to utilize that much ram. If it were me, I'd go with 6gb, and put the rest of the money into a nice SSD for a boot drive.

6GB kits are ~$100 now for pretty decent stuff. Forgoing a second one isn't going to save you enough to buy a decent SSD.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: aka1nas

Originally posted by: lxskllr
[

It's your money, but I REALLY don't think you'll be able to utilize that much ram. If it were me, I'd go with 6gb, and put the rest of the money into a nice SSD for a boot drive.

6GB kits are ~$100 now for pretty decent stuff. Forgoing a second one isn't going to save you enough to buy a decent SSD.

It'll get you part of the way there. 12gb is all but useless to most people. Empty sockets will give most users as much performance as filling them with ram.

 

[gevorg]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: Underground Shogun
Well, this thread just confirms my own intuitions about going with a 64bit OS. My only concern was if my games would be playable; though it seems I should not run into any problems. As far as saving money and going with 6GB instead of 12GB, I am reminded of a quote from "Contact" - "...why build one when you can have two at twice the price?". I mean really $125 for 6 or $250 for 12 isn't much of a price difference considering I'm going to using this system for (hopefully) years to come. I know memory prices are always getting cheaper for more, but I've waited 5 years to build a solid system like this and now that I have the finances to do it, I'm going to indulge a bit.

=)

It's your money, but I REALLY don't think you'll be able to utilize that much ram. If it were me, I'd go with 6gb, and put the rest of the money into a nice SSD for a boot drive.

:thumbup:

 

[pcslookout]

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2331311&enterthread=y