Im planning to upgrade my copy of Vista from 32-bit to 64-bit and i have a few questions.

1) Will the software (from games to AutoCAD) that work properly in a 64-bit environment?

2) Is there any performance boost? Any noticeable change in performance in gaming?

3) Is it really worth it to upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit?

i found out 64bit more troublesome than 32bit. Some of my network adapters driver cannot work properly on 64bit. making the network sometimes good sometimes bad. I am going back to 32bit, no big deal except u wan maximize the 4gb ram.

1. if i still remember correctly, XP 64bit (own experience) has 2 program files folder, 1 for 32bit applications.
when run, it will activate some *wow64* thing, so you can run them properly.
2. still up to drivers.
3. no comments.

1) will work on new s/w & games (some older games too).

2) not really, it depends, like some games r code to run better on 64 bit mode. even so, performance gain is hardly noticeable.

3) i think most of the people who wan to use 64 bit is those who wanna enjoy pc gaming to the max wit >3gb of RAM.

I agree with tech3910. It's for game.

on my experience i never experience such difficulty before

1) shoudn't have any problem unless the program is frekin old/obsoleted one.
2) There will be some perfromance boost if the game/program was compile/made to run on x64 platform.
3) its worth if you are gamer/graphic designer and the program you use always utilize large amount of system memory.
and if your mobo/network adapter/GPU ect ect hardware is not-so-old one and have 64bit drivers.

This post has been edited by 1024kbps: Dec 25 2008, 07:12 PM

1) Games ve no problems... i even played Red Alert 1 on Vista x64...

2) i feel that boot up is slightly faster... but other than that, not much difference

3) if u ve 4GB or more RAM, yes... else, staying 32-bits is ok...

1. Yes, most softwares will work properly even though the software aren't 64-Bit software. They'll just run in "32-Bit Compatibility Mode".
2.a) Yes, there's a performance boost if your using more than 4GB of RAM but for me, when I compare 3GB and 4GB of RAM, I don't feel the difference.
2.b) No, there's no noticeable enhancement in gaming unless the game is 64-Bit (Maybe it'll work better). I'm not sure as I don't play games.
3. Yes, it's worth to upgrade to 64-Bit if you use more than 4GB of RAM. Example: You use 8GB of RAM, you should definitely use 64-Bit. But if you use 4GB of RAM, may as well forfeit the 1GB because only 3GB is utilized.

Thanks guys.

Guess i'll just keep with 32-bit then.

Appreciate your help a lot.

No problem bro, mind closing this thread since your problem has been solved?

Nobody commented on security aspect in regards to 64 Bits OS. It is more secure to have a 64 Bits OS if you are managing alot of online transactions.

Or'ly? I haven't encountered any difference in security aspects and it's no where listed that 64-Bit OS is safer than 32-Bit.

better security system like firewall play much bigger role in dis situation............

I see but from interface POV, I don't see a difference.

I think i just leave it open as someone might have the same question.

The big advantage of vista 64 is it can address large of memory to itself, well from what i read vista can address up to 128 GB RAM . But once you install vista 64, the cpu is locked to 64bit processing only (well most desktop cpu out there is not real 64 btw) which mean you can't use 32 bit native applications without compatibility support.



Actually it depends, on other part of the PC as well. Vista don't address the memory from RAM only, other component as video cards, etc also play role. Therefore if you got 512 mb of video card memory Vista will have to use 512MB of that address space to address your video memory to itself, which therefore vista address your ram lower. But it never hurt to use 4 GB of ram for 32 bit vista but just your Vista will not enough space to address it.

Well, 4GB minus the address space required by addin cards and other hardware equals the MAXIMUM addressable Vista RAM. Source http://www.vistaclues.com/reader-question-...-windows-vista/

This post has been edited by takercena: Dec 28 2008, 07:39 PM

duhh ?

who doesn't know this ?

Hey dude, please be inconsiderate towards other people. If people don't know about this (RAM issues), TS wouldn't create this thread. No point posting dumb posts and getting flamed for it.

Oh yeah, is it just me or 64bit Vista is faster than 32bit Vista?

Ok ok I know that 64bit utilises more RAM, but hell, if the difference is that big, all of the reasons for Vista's better performance, IMHO. The only thing that concerns me last time before changing is application compatiblitiy too, but apparently I'm not using much hardcore engineering softwares and they are all supported so I'm fine with it.

Afterall, Vista's generic driver support should be sufficient enough for any incompatibility issues (like wireless).

Actually i am looking at upgrading my 32bit OEM Home Premium copy to 64bit. Since i've already paid for it (legal copy), i might as well look for an upgrade path. So far, a few local shops only sell full 64bit vista rather than the 'upgrade' option (if there is one) which could be just a fraction of the full cost.

Do you know if such upgrade option/package even exist? One thing i do know is that a full re-install is required which i don't mind.