[ADVICE] 32bit or 64bit Windows?

Rich O Brien · 12 Sept 2009, 21:27

Hi guys,

It's time to put the old Dell Latitude out to pasture and upgrade to something that can handle 2 things at once!!

But before i dive in i need to know what you guys think about 32bit versus 64bit? I know there are members that use 64bit so if you're reading this please advise.

solo · 12 Sept 2009, 21:38

Rich, the most important question is what do you want the machine to do? what apps do you NEED it to run fast?

remus · 12 Sept 2009, 21:42

There arent really any downsides to going with a 64 bit OS unless you make a habit of using old peripherals, in which case you may have trouble finding drivers for them.

On the more technical side, going with a 64 bit OS means your programs can access a lot of memory, if they're written for it and youve forked out for the extra memory. In real terms that means you can do massive renders and edit huge pics in photoshop

Rich O Brien · 12 Sept 2009, 22:00

Solo and Remus,

Thanks for replying. First off i'll be running SU7 Pro, PSCS3, DoubleCAD XT, VRayfSU, and Video Editing Software. Ideally i want something that'll replace my desktop as well as the current laptop for about 800euros.

honoluludesktop · 12 Sept 2009, 23:14

As previously noted, 64 bit architecture allow more memory. With enough RAM, you can run a lot of programs efficiently at the same time. The down side to this is that in most cases, more drive memory is required to save the same amount of data (63 vs 32 bits at a time), but drives are huge today, and with high access times, that is usually not a problem. 32 bit programs will run slower in a emulated mode. In most cases this may not be perceptible with a new pc. Drivers for older printers are definitely a problem except when you run VmXp in Win7 to gain access to them via a Virtual Net. If you plan on keeping your pc for a while, you can go 64 bit, and let the software technology catch up to you:-)

mhtaylor · 12 Sept 2009, 23:44

I run 64 Vista - I mainly got it to have PS run faster and I haven't been disappointed. I did have to replace a couple of older pieces of hardware though - a webcam and an audio interface - because drivers weren't available. I did keep my old XP machine around for that purpose too. It runs Sketchup and the Twilight render very effectively.