32bit vs. 64bit Win7
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
SoCal App is absolutely right to recommend a decent graphics card - that makes far more difference to Win 7 than an extra 4 GB RAM (IMHO).
What I have done is to start with 4GB RAM and 64-bit Win 7, leaving half the memory slots free to upgrade (double the RAM) should I feel the need.
I have 2 systems running win 7 - the slightly older PC has the same AMD dual-core CPU (2.4 rather than 3GHz part) and RAM as the newer system, but an AGP 8X video adapter, and is waaaay slower than the PCI-Express system as a result (I eschew the aero interface on the AGP system). Hence comment above!
I haven't encountered too many problems with 64-bit, other than drivers: I've had to work hard to find 64-bit drivers for my printers and scanner - and I've given up on the DAB radio PCI card. To be fair, I think I'd have had problems with win 7 32-bit drivers for those as well, judging from the research I did.
SD
What I have done is to start with 4GB RAM and 64-bit Win 7, leaving half the memory slots free to upgrade (double the RAM) should I feel the need.
I have 2 systems running win 7 - the slightly older PC has the same AMD dual-core CPU (2.4 rather than 3GHz part) and RAM as the newer system, but an AGP 8X video adapter, and is waaaay slower than the PCI-Express system as a result (I eschew the aero interface on the AGP system). Hence comment above!
I haven't encountered too many problems with 64-bit, other than drivers: I've had to work hard to find 64-bit drivers for my printers and scanner - and I've given up on the DAB radio PCI card. To be fair, I think I'd have had problems with win 7 32-bit drivers for those as well, judging from the research I did.
SD
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Got my home made 3.4 Ghz Quad core AMD Phenom and 9400 geforce I gig graphic card running 64 bit win 7 it only has 4 gig of ram at the mo but it runs like a greased pig,only new drivers I downloaded were 64 bit drivers for the graphic card, not even sure if that was neccessary,had nary a problem with it ere now.
Last edited by tony draper; 8th Sep 2011 at 07:51.
Thank you for all your comments. Very helpful. I feel less scared about 64 now.
I was pondering why no other tight 5 bothered me when I played rugby, (although there was one Welsh Valleys team that I'm glad I only met once), but stuff like this 32/64 caused brain damage. No answer to that.
I will go for 7/64 and 8gig of Ram. I now need to research the best video card to use!
I was pondering why no other tight 5 bothered me when I played rugby, (although there was one Welsh Valleys team that I'm glad I only met once), but stuff like this 32/64 caused brain damage. No answer to that.
I will go for 7/64 and 8gig of Ram. I now need to research the best video card to use!
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"will it work" all depends on what you want to run on it. Some software people still run came out of the ark (i.e. 1990s) and wasn't designed properly for Windows, let alone Windows 7 (but of course it's all Microsoft's fault that the original widget designers didn't follow their design framework and went and stuck workarounds in which failed on 7).
Windows 7, 32 or 64-bit, will run comfortably in 2Gb of RAM, and the 4Gb ceiling in 32bit is not likely to be hit noticeably by the average punter.
I'd expect Windows 8 to be 64-bit only, after all the widget manufacturers have got their 64bit versions of software working under Windows 7.
All that said, if you don't want to do anything extensive, then 4Gb RAM and a 32bit Windows 7 will do nicely. There's no such thing as futureproofing yourself in computing (as otherwise the manufacturers would go out of business!), so it's unwise to spend extra on stuff you don't need, as that cash should go on the next machine when you need it. Also, sticking to 32bit would give your legacy apps that little bit extra that they may need to work.
Windows 7, 32 or 64-bit, will run comfortably in 2Gb of RAM, and the 4Gb ceiling in 32bit is not likely to be hit noticeably by the average punter.
I'd expect Windows 8 to be 64-bit only, after all the widget manufacturers have got their 64bit versions of software working under Windows 7.
All that said, if you don't want to do anything extensive, then 4Gb RAM and a 32bit Windows 7 will do nicely. There's no such thing as futureproofing yourself in computing (as otherwise the manufacturers would go out of business!), so it's unwise to spend extra on stuff you don't need, as that cash should go on the next machine when you need it. Also, sticking to 32bit would give your legacy apps that little bit extra that they may need to work.
