XP 32 bit, XP 64 bit, windows 32 bit or windows 64 bit

C

codral

New Member
Ok so i have a few problems

1st: i want to run 4GB ram (as this is the amount i got in the deal, and by the time every OS is 64 bit the ram will be redundant)

2nd: i am sick of XP i have copies of XP home and XP pro with all the service packs and even on fresh installs i get the occasional blue screen, the menu's take ages to load if i have cd's in, the explorer dies etc etc

3rd: i am worried that Vista 64 bit will run games slower because most games are still 32 bit.. Am also worried that vista 64 bit will have less compatibility than the 32 bit version even though it can step down to run 32 bit apps.
BUT i guess it will have less annoying crappy bugs than xp (or at least a new set that might be more ignorable)

4th: I am pretty sure that Vista 32 bit will run a bit slower than XP and have less compatibility but will have less bugs, hopefully it will boot faster too, my XP is taking around 4 minutes to fully boot. Also i am pretty sure 32 bit vista can't run 4GB ram which sucks

So i need to know are there ANY other OS options at all?

It needs to support 4GB ram, be a fast-ish operating system with good compatibility that doesn't crash too often and is easy to find drivers for.. does this exist?

This is a gaming pc so Linux etc is out of the question as i want to play: WoW F.E.A.R, colin mcrae, ghost recon and other new-ish games

thx guys

MY new PC is a AM2 6000+ dual core
ASUS m2ne-sli mobo
4 gb corsair 800mhz DDR2 ram
7600gt grafix card
 
First of all what is seen with a 32bit version with 4gb of memory installed is some .75gb mapped out to hardwares by Windows. A 4 minute boot time suggests more then what version of Windows you are running. That suggests whatever is connected externally like a faulty printer or other device. Or the bios itself may be in need of an update.

Vista may seem slow or a memory grabber due to the new Super Prefetch feature that puts the most often used programs into a form of standby mode allowing for faster loading times when going to use them. You would be surprised to learn that some 6-7yr. old games actually run quite well on the 32bit version of Home Premium. Games like Fear, Fear Expansion, Prey, Half Life 2, EP1, the Minerva 3rd party addon for EP1, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, SOF1 as well, Return to CastleWolfenstein have all performed well on Vista while Metal of Honor: Allied Assault refuses to install. You gain some and you lose some with any new version of Windows.

Here's one thing to add further. The original 8bit version of the old strictly MSDos game Duke Nukem and Nukem 2 run quite well through a virtual dos window on Vista. Imagine hearing a 1993 dos game out of 5.1 surround speakers instead of the small speaker found on most boards. Eventually a second pair of 1gb dimms will go in here.
 
not being rude, just a general announcement. We really need to make a os sticky. We have had so many questions on 64 and 32 we need to make a faq... Any one up to it :P
 
Ooh that is cool, Major Striker has n awesome sound track i wouldnt mind hearing in 5.1

The 4 min boot time didnt change with the new mobo or the old diamond k8n with the 3700+ so i think windows just hates me and no amount of fresh installs will help

I thought that the ram issue was windows not detecting it, i guess it's still "sorta" helpful if it's mapping it out, and that way the other 1 gig that actually works as ram will still be dual channel ay

I was going to get the 64 bit vista but i'll try the 32 bit out first, cheers dude
 
codral said:
Ok so i have a few problems

1st: i want to run 4GB ram (as this is the amount i got in the deal, and by the time every OS is 64 bit the ram will be redundant)

2nd: i am sick of XP i have copies of XP home and XP pro with all the service packs and even on fresh installs i get the occasional blue screen, the menu's take ages to load if i have cd's in, the explorer dies etc etc

3rd: i am worried that Vista 64 bit will run games slower because most games are still 32 bit.. Am also worried that vista 64 bit will have less compatibility than the 32 bit version even though it can step down to run 32 bit apps.
BUT i guess it will have less annoying crappy bugs than xp (or at least a new set that might be more ignorable)

4th: I am pretty sure that Vista 32 bit will run a bit slower than XP and have less compatibility but will have less bugs, hopefully it will boot faster too, my XP is taking around 4 minutes to fully boot. Also i am pretty sure 32 bit vista can't run 4GB ram which sucks

So i need to know are there ANY other OS options at all?

It needs to support 4GB ram
Click to expand...

1) If you want to see a full 4 GB RAM, you will need to use 64-bit. Otherwise, sell up to 2 Gigs on eBay or (what I would do) give up to 2 Gigs to a friend

2) Not sure why you see BSOD with fresh installs. I would look into a possible hardware problem or corrupted Install source. I am very anti-MS, and do not have any BSOD problems with XP upon a fresh install (or heavy use as is sometimes necessary).

3) If in doubt, go 32-bit. 64-bit is the future, but 32-bit is currently mainstream and will be for a while. I'm not a betting man, but would 'put 1k on black' as a friend would say :)

4) I would put a well-installed and optimized version of XP against any version of Vista running the same hardware any day, any time. A 4-minute XP boot means you either have way to many programs starting at Boot, or are heavily bogged with random 'Schtuff' (yes, a cross between 'Sh**' and 'stuff') you do not need. You are correct with the Vista 32-bit/reading 4 full-Gigs of RAM. 32-bit reading 4 full-Gigs of RAM = impossible, as you would have to forgo every process before the 'RAM reading'.

Sooo...if you absolutely *must have* 4 Gigs of readable RAM, go with 64-bit. If you can 'suffice' with 3.x Gigs of readable RAM, stick with 32-bit.
 
brianmay27 said:
not being rude, just a general announcement. We really need to make a os sticky. We have had so many questions on 64 and 32 we need to make a faq... Any one up to it :P
Click to expand...

Possibly. Let me think about it and I'll see if I have the time/energy to make a non-biased Guide that will detail the benefits/downfalls of each.
 
A good reference for any sticky on the "3gb barrier" is the article with that same title. http://www.dansdata.com/askdan00015.htm

Some now running one of the 32bit editions of Vista with 4gb installed report seeing 3.25gb of useable ram available. The 3gb denominator seems to be more a rounded off figure then the actual results you will see. A good deal also depends on the software as well as hardware configuration on every machine by itself.

How about "50 ways to make Windows Vista faster"? The 5/27/07 article covers several pages as seen at http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/UK/4352741769746825868/50-ways-to-speed-up-your-pc-part-1.html
 
i have 4gb of ram and on xp pro and vista ultimate 32bit i see 3.25gb of ram so i changed to vista ultimate 64bit and i have had no really bad problems all my ram is recognized, my printer works fine my razer copperhead works fine my belkin nostromo works fine, i did find that after installing call of duty uo the game would play ok but it would not go full screen so i downloaded the nvidia beta drivers and that solved the problem and now cod uo works fine, steam seems to work fine thats to say it installed ok and is updating my games at the moment, crysis demo works great no problems all in all vista 64 bit seems to run quicker and smoother but this is my personnel experience.
 
To expect a performance gain simply by going to a 64bit version of Windows shouldn't be expected. 98 was 32bit while 95 was 16bit then. On the same machine 95 would ring circles around 98SE. That was from the additional features then seen in 98SE over the less involved 95.

In Vista the one thing many aren't aware is the WEI process in the new version whether 32 or 64bit that has an impact at times on gaming performance as well as the new Aero styles and gadgets that use up resources. That would be the Windows Experience Indexing feature that determines if the hardware is adequate.

Tom's Hardware has a good article on this seen at http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/04/19/vista_benchmarking_or_benchmarketing/page3.html

But what is the WEI? http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/f59082f4-6385-4a61-ba7e-2de9625a780a1033.mspx
 
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