Windows 7 64bit on 2GB RAM. Is it worth it?

[denyboy]

I know that 64 supports 4 RAM and more and 32 bit doesnt. RAM is irelevant for my performance couse i have 2GB.

I have 2 GB of RAM. Im using now W7 7000 32bit version. I want to download 7068 version and im willing to try 64 bit version.

My question is will i have any benefit or performance gain by running 64bit version with 2GB of RAM.

I know that by running 32bit game on 64bit system will have no gain in prefrormance comparing to 32bit system.

But. For example if i run games like Crysis64 witch support 64 bit will it run better.

Also I heard that there is advantage in multitasking. Will i have any advantage while just working in Windows 7??

[waruikoohii]

You probably won't have any performance gains. Keep in mind that 64 bit OS's and software do consume a bit more memory, too.

For you, install it if you want to try it, but it won't help you, really.

However, if you think you might upgrade to 4GB RAM later, then install the 64 bit version. You cannot upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit, so you should install it from the get-go if you think you might get the RAM later.

[ACTIONpack]

I know that 64 supports 4 RAM and more and 32 bit doesnt. RAM is irelevant for my performance couse i have 2GB.

I have 2 GB of RAM. Im using now W7 7000 32bit version. I want to download 7068 version and im willing to try 64 bit version.

My question is will i have any benefit or performance gain by running 64bit version with 2GB of RAM.

I know that by running 32bit game on 64bit system will have no gain in prefrormance comparing to 32bit system.

But. For example if i run games like Crysis64 witch support 64 bit will it run better.

Also I heard that there is advantage in multitasking. Will i have any advantage while just working in Windows 7??

Just buy more ram and you don't want to worry if it's worth using 64bit OS.

[darth_vader]

I have 2 GB RAM (build 7068) and to be honest I don't see any performance improvements, only that it uses more ram than 32bit. When RC is out I'll get the 32 bit version.

Anyway the bild is very stable, I didn't encounter any problems with It.

[Neoauld]

i dont see the point of goin 32bit..2gigs is really low nowadays..will be even worse upon W7's release

and its 'future proof' to go 64bit, in case you do upgrade cause ram is dog cheap

i really wish they had dropped 32bit completely, most processors are 64bit, if you have a 32bit processor then your system must be god awful slow and should probably stick to xp

[Ricardo Gil]

i dont see the point of goin 32bit..2gigs is really low nowadays..will be even worse upon W7's release

and its 'future proof' to go 64bit, in case you do upgrade cause ram is dog cheap

i really wish they had dropped 32bit completely, most processors are 64bit, if you have a 32bit processor then your system must be god awful slow and should probably stick to xp

A large piece of the application market is 32bit only. Windows can't just go 64bit exclusively all of a sudden.

Even if Windows 64bit handles both modes simultaneously... I don't think it would be wise to keep out older 32 bit processors from running Windows 7.

[terminx]

I know that 64 supports 4 RAM and more and 32 bit doesnt. RAM is irelevant for my performance couse i have 2GB.

I have 2 GB of RAM. Im using now W7 7000 32bit version. I want to download 7068 version and im willing to try 64 bit version.

My question is will i have any benefit or performance gain by running 64bit version with 2GB of RAM.

I know that by running 32bit game on 64bit system will have no gain in prefrormance comparing to 32bit system.

But. For example if i run games like Crysis64 witch support 64 bit will it run better.

Also I heard that there is advantage in multitasking. Will i have any advantage while just working in Windows 7??

Yes, you should see performance improvements when using a 64-bit version, especially in tasks which are very CPU intensive. The 64-bit versions use a different (better) function calling convention by default (everything is essentially fastcall instead of cdecl or stdcall) which takes advantage of all the extra registers present on a 64-bit CPU when passing arguments to functions, meaning a lot more function parameters get stored in registers (fast!) instead of getting pushed to the stack (not quite as fast).

You also have the advantage of all these extra registers being available when actually executing code, which a compiler targeting 64-bit will happily make use of.

[denyboy]

on my 7000 32 bit i dont have any performance problem with my 3.16Ghz Core2Duo and 2GB of RAM. I play all new games on maximum settings with 1440x900 resolution. System is working ultra fast.

First. No one answered me if i will have advantage by running 64bit application like Crysis64 on 64 bit system.

Second. Is there a big difference between 7000 and 7068 version. Did they fixed some important stuff or its small change.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

No, I would not do it. You may not notice it now but when more and more apps are x64 you might. I would run it with at least 4GB.

[Udedenkz]

First. No one answered me if i will have advantage by running 64bit application like Crysis64 on 64 bit system.

Faster Loading Times, that is about it for Crysisx64 or Hl2x64. :/

[majortom1981]

There is no performance increase with only 2 gigs of ram but there is a security increase.

[denyboy]

OK. just two more questions left unanswerd to make my decition.

1.Is there a big difference between 7000 and 7068 version. Did they fixed some important stuff or its small change?

2.How many MB of Physical memory Windows 7 64bit use after boot on idle. For example Windows 7 32bit use about 530MB of 2GB (26%).

[hdood]

I think you should just go ahead and install the 64-bit version. That way you can see for yourself what it's like and how it runs on your system. You're going to be reinstalling in a few months anyway, so there's nothing to lose. It's true that the 64-bit version uses more RAM, but it's not a lot, and the marginal (for most things) performance improvement might make up for it. You'll have to be the judge of that.

[hdood]

2.How many MB of Physical memory Windows 7 64bit use after boot on idle. For example Windows 7 32bit use about 530MB of 2GB (26%).

That's not a very good measure, since it depends on many factors. It'll be in the same area. On this 2GB machine, it's 500MB. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the fact that 64-bit (and the 32-bit emulator) uses slightly more RAM, chances are you won't notice it.

[manwiththedroid]

i really wish they had dropped 32bit completely, most processors are 64bit, if you have a 32bit processor then your system must be god awful slow and should probably stick to xp

A P3 1ghz with 512mb of PC133 ram runs W7 minus Aero just as well as it runs XP, which is amazing because Vista just tanks on CPU utilization.

[Neoauld]

A P3 1ghz with 512mb of PC133 ram runs W7 minus Aero just as well as it runs XP.

thats shocking

im even more excited for w7 now

cant imagine what itll do on a my system

[manwiththedroid]

thats shocking

im even more excited for w7 now

cant imagine what itll do on a my system

Yeah I was surpised too. I use an ATI Radeon 9600 and it plays stuff on Hulu.com pretty smooth. When I tried Vista.... HA!!! I think i heard the PC crying.....

[Inctye]

I have noticed a performance difference on x64 as well. Application loading is slightly faster since it now uses more of my 2GB ram than before. I think 32bit is coded to always recollect previously used ram almost immediately after closing a program, whereas 64bit is more likely to keep frequently used programs like web browser on ram for a longer time. Performance-wise, more cpu intensive tasks complete faster. Best way to check this is out is to play 64bit games or programs like Photoshop CS4. For most programs that are still 32bit, you may not see much of a difference. But regardless, 64bit is the future. I would not be surprised if MS announces next year during their early planning that they will only support 64bit version of Win8. Major software devs like Adobe are already leading the way in converting all their software to 64bit. Now only if Firefox and Chrome would do the same as well.

[Neoauld]

I have noticed a performance difference on x64 as well. Application loading is slightly faster since it now uses more of my 2GB ram than before. I think 32bit is coded to always recollect previously used ram almost immediately after closing a program, whereas 64bit is more likely to keep frequently used programs like web browser on ram for a longer time. Performance-wise, more cpu intensive tasks complete faster. Best way to check this is out is to play 64bit games or programs like Photoshop CS4. For most programs that are still 32bit, you may not see much of a difference. But regardless, 64bit is the future. I would not be surprised if MS announces next year during their early planning that they will only support 64bit version of Win8. Major software devs like Adobe are already leading the way in converting all their software to 64bit. Now only if Firefox and Chrome would do the same as well.

i know ive seen 64bit builds of firefox

chrome is based on open source software, so im sure it can be done, if not already

[darth_vader]

i know ive seen 64bit builds of firefox

chrome is based on open source software, so im sure it can be done, if not already

here is the 64 bit version of firefox, but you can't use flash player, shockwave player .. etc, so it's pretty useless.

[UncleSpellbinder]

i know ive seen 64bit builds of firefox

chrome is based on open source software, so im sure it can be done, if not already

Never seen a 64 bit build of Firefox, ever. Not saying a "home made" one doesn't exist, just saying (as a tester of Firefox builds),

that Mozilla has not released Firefox 64-bit. All public releases are Firefox win-32.

Officially: "There are no plans for 64 bit versions of Firefox 3.0 though there may be in a major release after, say for Firefox 4.0"

[ViperAFK]

There is no performance increase with only 2 gigs of ram but there is a security increase.

There is still better performance with 64 bit optimized programs.

and @ above, there IS 64 bit builds of firefox but not from mozilla themselves.

Use pretty much any 64 bit linux distro and it has 64 bit firefox installed by default. There is also builds which can be found for windows.

[terroradagio]

I'm hesitant to move to 64bit for compatability reasons with some software and older games.

[UncleSpellbinder]

there IS 64 bit builds of firefox but not from mozilla themselves.

Use pretty much any 64 bit linux distro and it has 64 bit firefox installed by default. There is also builds which can be found for windows.

As I said, Mozilla has no plans for 64-bit until at least version 4.0. So, as far as MOZILLA's Firefox, there is NO 64-bit version (unless you

have an official alpha/beta build). Unless it's MOZILLA Firefox, it ain't Firefox.

[ViperAFK]

As I said, Mozilla has no plans for 64-bit until at least version 4.0. So, as far as MOZILLA's Firefox, there is NO 64-bit version (unless you

have an official alpha/beta build). Unless it's MOZILLA Firefox, it ain't Firefox.

It's still very much firefox. Just 64 bit compiled... (although pretty useless because there is no 64 bit flash ect...)