To 64 or not to 64

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael D. Alligood
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M

Michael D. Alligood

Now with my licensed copy of Vista, I have a choice of the 32 bit (which
I am very accustom to) or the 64 bit. I have a 2.0 GHz AMD TurionT 64
Mobile Processor ML-37 with PowerNow!T Technology with 2 gigs of RAM.
Having only dealing mainly with the 32 bit platform, I would like to
know what to expect if I choose the 64 bit platform.

For those of you running the 64 version, could you provide me with some
advantages, disadvantage and possible pitfalls that I could expect? It
would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
Hi, Michael.

There are few advantages at the moment. But I bought my first 64-bit mobo
in 2004 as a future-proofing investment. As it turned out, I could have
waited until about now.

For the past 2+ years I've been waiting for 64-bit drivers, waiting for
64-bit Windows and waiting for 64-bit applications. Now, finally, the
drivers are here - at least, for the hardware I am using. WinXP x64 arrived
soon after I got my mobo, but it has been essentially dormant until now -
and now I'll skip it to run Vista x64. Now, finally, Vista x64 is running
well with all MY hardware and every application I've thrown at it. But
there are still no 64-bit applications and my 32-bit applications run only
slightly faster than with WinXP Pro x86.

But the apps should be arriving Real Soon Now, and my investment will
finally pay off. I expect to see a flood soon after Vista general
availability on 1/30/07. Most of the new software will still be for 32-bit
Vista, but more and more users are asking the question you just asked, and
64-bit machines are becoming commonly available, so hardware and software
developers will start producing for the growing 64-bit market. In the
meantime, I expect you will see no disadvantages to running Vista x64 and
only a few - but growing - advantages.

My guess is that a year from now you will be very glad you went 64-bit
Vista!

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Mail 7.0 in Vista Ultimate x64)
 
Unfortunately if Vista does not pick up my drivers, HP does not have any
Vista drivers available yet on their site. I had Vista beta running for
a while and the only thing that did not function was the audio. No for a
person that has like 9000 songs on his laptop; plus videos and movies,
this sucks. I researched the audio controller and discovered that many
individuals had the same issue.

So no problems with 32 bit apps running on 64 bit platform? That's
great. Does anyone know if Microsoft plans to release Office 2007 in a
64 bit app as well?

--
Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW Assoc.,
CIW Certified Instructor
 
This brings a question to mind. I'll be building a new system before
long and have been looking at the available motherboards, none of which
I see specified as being either 32-bit or 64-bit. How does one know
which one a mobo is right for, or are they all now capable of both?
 
I have had many programs that will not run on Vista64. I purchased mostly
new hardware for XP X64 so most of my hardware works. Still have hardware
problems and will have to spend many $$$ to replace software. Not
necessarily related to 64-bit. Most run well on XP X64.
 
Michael D. Alligood said:
Now with my licensed copy of Vista, I have a choice of the 32 bit
(which I am very accustom to) or the 64 bit. I have a 2.0 GHz AMD
TurionT 64 Mobile Processor ML-37 with PowerNow!T Technology with 2
gigs of RAM. Having only dealing mainly with the 32 bit platform, I
would like to know what to expect if I choose the 64 bit platform.
Click to expand...

You have the hardware to run it, but if you use any programs or open
documents that require large amounts of memory, 2gigs might not be
enough. The sweet spot for 64-bit Vista is 1.5gigs, and more is better
for obvious reasons.

I wouldn't run it on anything less than 2gigs, and would suggest
upgrading to more RAM if you can.
For those of you running the 64 version, could you provide me with
some advantages, disadvantage and possible pitfalls that I could
expect? It would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

The differences are minor - higher memory requirements to run smoothly
and a more secure kernel. Also the 32-bit version is effectively
limited to only 3gigs of RAM since installing more doesn't help with
most systems. The 64-bit version can access more memory so if you need
more than 3gigs, the 64-bit version is the way to go.

Beyond that most software is still 32-bit and you won't see any speed
improvements until those apps are compiled into 64-bit. And getting
64-bit drivers may be a problem if you have older hardware.

Having said that, I'm using the 64-bit version here on an AMD 64 x2
with lots of memory and a fast video card, and it zips along nicely.
All of my hardware is supported, so I have no complaints, but I know
others are having issues.
 
Daze N. Knights said:
This brings a question to mind. I'll be building a new system before
long and have been looking at the available motherboards, none of
which I see specified as being either 32-bit or 64-bit. How does one
know
Click to expand...

Motherboards are not really one or the other. They either support
64-bit CPUs or they don't.
which one a mobo is right for, or are they all now capable of both?
Click to expand...

All current boards should support 64-bit processors. Mine is over a
year old (Asus A8N series) with a 64-bit AMD x2 and it works great
with Vista x64.
 
So how does one tell by the cpu's the mobo supports. I was looking at
Intel's Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775
Processor, which has a list of specifications at NewEgg that says
nothing about either 32 or 64-bit, to go with an Intel mobo that
supports it. I quite imagine that this processor/mobo combination can
handle 64-bit, but how do I really know, other than via hearsay?
 
Core 2 cpu's are 64bit. All of them. All of this is on the Intel site if
you ever need to verify.
 
I use all Intel. I have Dual 64 bit Xeon 3.4 Ghz CPus. I started by
installing Vista RTM 64 bit. It was a nightmare trying to find printer
drivers, scanner drivers, ETC...the PC hardware manufacters preach 64 bit
mind you. Reality states that the people creating software for their
hardware such as Epson, H.P. offer limited support for 64 bit. Everyone has
been crowing for the past 3 years how 64 bit will catch on. This has not
been the case. People who use Windows 64 bit are treated like second class
citizens. In alot of cases they patiently wait for months for drivers, that
sometimes never appear. Most people running 64 bit have incredible
difficulty obtaining drivers. I simply reformatted my driver and installed
Vista 32 bit. Now I have all my drivers and am reasonably happy. Ask
yourself: How many 64 bit applications am I going to be running? ( I
guarantee there aren't many, nor will there be in the forseeable future).
 
I use all Intel. I have Dual 64 bit Xeon 3.4 Ghz CPus. I started by
installing Vista RTM 64 bit. It was a nightmare trying to find printer
drivers, scanner drivers, ETC...the PC hardware manufacters preach 64 bit
mind you. Reality states that the people creating software for their
hardware such as Epson, H.P. offer limited support for 64 bit. Everyone has
been crowing for the past 3 years how 64 bit will catch on. This has not
been the case. People who use Windows 64 bit are treated like second class
citizens. In alot of cases they patiently wait for months for drivers, that
sometimes never appear. Most people running 64 bit have incredible
difficulty obtaining drivers. I simply reformatted my driver and installed
Vista 32 bit. Now I have all my drivers and am reasonably happy. Ask
yourself: How many 64 bit applications am I going to be running? ( I
guarantee there aren't many, nor will there be in the forseeable future).
Click to expand...


I'm missing 64-bit drivers for a CanonScan LiDE 50 scanner and a
Nebula DigiTv box. Other than that I have full driver-support for
64-bit Vista (even my Oki C5100n colour laser is supported, via
Windows Update).

64-bit willc atch on now, I think. XP was only half-heartedly
supported, being a separate release, but Vista is 32-bit and 64-bit on
day one.


Jim
 
Take a look at the canon site the Vista drivers are there now for both 32
and 64 bit.
Click to expand...

They *only* have 64 bit drivers for the 5200pf, is this a hint I should
move to Vista 64 :-)
 
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