64 Bit O/S

*red_avatar* · 04-05-2009, 06:44 PM

64 bit is the way to go because:

- drivers, software AND hardware are being designed primarily for 64 bit now. This means that 32 bit support may actually grow worse (while it was the opposite a year or two ago).

- 3GB memory is nothing when it comes to modern games and that's all you'll get with 32bit Windows.

Yes, you lose 16bit support but that's it unless you got outdated hardware with poor 64 bit drivers. And let me tell you, only pre-3D card games use 16bit anyway meaning you can just use Dosbox or Virtual Machine to run the few games that won't work properly.

If you don't have to change, don't, but for top end games, there's already a very noticeable difference in performance. Heck, I'm going to switch to 8GB soon (Vista precaches meaning it will load practically any program instantly) and with memory being dirt cheap at the moment, it can only be a good thing.

AlumiuN · 04-05-2009, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red_avatar

- 3GB memory is nothing when it comes to modern games and that's all you'll get with 32bit Windows.

Err... 4GB, actually.

Tulac · 04-05-2009, 09:10 PM

Nope, Win XP (32-bit) only detects 3,2 GB or even less AFAIK

AlumiuN · 04-05-2009, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tulac

Nope, Win XP (32-bit) only detects 3,2 GB or even less AFAIK

Sorry, but 32-bit anything can handle 4 GB. You might only have 3 GB free when running Windows...

Tulac · 05-05-2009, 09:46 AM

Yes, but we were talking about 32-bit Windows the whole time. No 32-bit Windows will detect 4GB RAM (except some Windows Server which uses tricks) and that is because:

Quote:

the Windows memory manager is limited to a 4 GB physical address space. Most of that address space is filled with RAM, but not all of it. Memory-mapped devices (such as your video card) will use some of that physical address space, as will the BIOS ROMs.

Is it just me or are EoF and the OP kind of ridiculous though. What you're saying is that you don't need to use the 64-bit system to play old games, old games! WOOOOW! Can you imagine that? You don't need the latest technology to run something that is old. Wow. Just wow.

The point is if you run newer software you can only benefit from having a 64-bit OS, since compatibility is good and more and more apps are providing support for 64-bit.

*red_avatar* · 05-05-2009, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlumiuN

Sorry, but 32-bit anything can handle 4 GB. You might only have 3 GB free when running Windows...

No, you don't even have 4GB total standard memory to work with, because your graphics cards memory is subtracted. If you got a 8800GTS with 640MB memory or even a new card with 1GB memory, this means you'll end up with less than 3GB to use. Anything that uses memory or cache gets subtracted from that total because it's the highest amount of memory Windows XP can allocate in total.

EDIT: sorry, I noticed Tulac posted after I had already begun writing my post. So yes, you only have 3GB or so left.

Tulac · 05-05-2009, 09:55 AM

Also this:

Quote:

To be perfectly clear, this isn't a Windows problem-- it's an x86 hardware problem. The memory hole is quite literally invisible to the CPU, no matter what 32-bit operating system you choose.

@red: I wouldn't say Oblivion is that good of an example since I can run it in 1920*1080 with all the eye candy (HDR, AAx8, AFx8) turned on and all the settings maxed out and my OS is 32-bit. However I can certainly say that you will benefit from a 64-bit system when you play a CPU intensive game like GTA4.

And besides we shouldn't be having this discussion anyway. Since today's HD space is dirt cheap you can use a 64-bit OS as your primary, and a 32-bit OS as your secondary system using dual boot.

I speak from personal experience since I regret not putting the 64-bit OS in the first place.

*red_avatar* · 05-05-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tulac

Also this:

@red: I wouldn't say Oblivion is that good of an example since I can run it in 1920*1080 with all the eye candy (HDR, AAx8, AFx8) turned on and all the settings maxed out and my OS is 32-bit. However I can certainly say that you will benefit from a 64-bit system when you play a CPU intensive game like GTA4.

Oblivion has a massive advantage when it comes to caching, however, if you got enough memory. I went from 2GB to 4GB and loading times were cut a lot shorter. It's not like back in the DOS games where a game would simply refuse to run - it just won't run as fast and there will be a lot more hard drive access which is not that great for the lifespan of your drive.

AlumiuN · 06-05-2009, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red_avatar

No, you don't even have 4GB total standard memory to work with, because your graphics cards memory is subtracted. If you got a 8800GTS with 640MB memory or even a new card with 1GB memory, this means you'll end up with less than 3GB to use. Anything that uses memory or cache gets subtracted from that total because it's the highest amount of memory Windows XP can allocate in total.

EDIT: sorry, I noticed Tulac posted after I had already begun writing my post. So yes, you only have 3GB or so left.

You might not have the use of all 4GB, but it's there and being handled. You couldn't use any more than that, anyway.