should I run xp/vista 64bit on a quad with 4GB ram?

[Darknight]

Title said it all!
Should I run a 64bit version on a quad with 4GBs of ram?

vista 32bit is only showing up 3 of the 4GB in task manager but in the system information its saying 4GB.

Does this other GB of ram get used at all or is it just sitting there going to waste?
If its not able to be used for ANYTHING in a 32bit OS I might upgrade however I wanna know what sort of issues I might face with a 64bit OS.

Thanks.

[Tracker]

The other GB is just going to waste. If all your hardware supports 64bit then you really should just use that.

[Darknight]

What other hardware apart from CPU needs to support 64bits?

I have 9500GT and I am pretty sure they support 64bit but idk, never really looked in to the whole 64bit thing lol.

[DarkBlood]

If some of your hardware isn't 64 bits, Windows will use generic 64 bit drivers if it has them for those devices.

You can't force Windows 64 bits to use 32 bit driver. It'll spit out a nasty warning at you.

[Darknight]

ok well I might try doing a dual boot and see if this pc will support it, im pretty sure everything in it will have a 64bit driver but idk.

[.Bobby]

Yeah, I had the same problem as you. I was previously running a XP Home 32-bit which recognizes only 2.75GB of my 4GB of RAM. I thought it'd be such a waste, so I got a Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit and yeah. Works pretty fast now.

[bariteau]

Use Win7 64-bit if you don't mind the RC state, it's much more reliable than Vista 64-bit (not too bad) and XP 64-bit (don't go near it, there's little support for drivers)

[GlennBeforeTime]

Screw getting a retail OS. Get a server OS and deck it out as a PC OS ;)

[DarkBlood]

Screw getting a retail OS. Get a server OS and deck it out as a PC OS ;)

Windows 7 costs less than Vista. But only by a little itty bitty bit.

[bariteau]

Windows 7 costs less than Vista. But only by a little itty bitty bit.

And it's much better!

[Dynash]

Erm... Vista over Windows 7 anyday. To be fair though, with only 4GB of RAM, I'd still just put XP on that... not saying it wont run well with Vista on it, but I'd still want more RAM.

[bariteau]

To be fair though, with only 4GB of RAM, I'd still just put XP on that... not saying it wont run well with Vista on it, but I'd still want more RAM.

Maybe you'll get a bit more RAM but support for Win XP 64-bit sucks, most manufacturers never bothered to make drivers for it, they waited for Vista to make 64-bit drivers (since Vista was a new architecture, it was worth it to make drivers for XP 64-bit)

I'd recommend you go with Vista 64-bit or Win 7 64-bit (it's free in RC so why not, take a look at my blog to see if your favorite apps are supported) or go with 32-bit otherwise. XP 64-bit will just bring more problems for you.

[Darkonia]

Go for a Linux and install Fedora 11.

[DarkBlood]

Oh and, get Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate. Home Basic supports up to 8 GB of RAM, Home Premium supports up to 16 GB of RAM. But both Pro and Ultimate support up to 192 GB of RAM.

Home Basic and Home premium also don't come with XP compatibility mode.

[Darknight]

lol wtf more ram?

Why buy crap you dont need?
I can play all my games on this + wtf could a quad do to use more than 4GB of ram at a time, LBH it aint that powerful I agree with a i7 having 8GB although they are still a old tech processor in my eyes, to really have a use for a high amount of ram we need a new series of more powerful processors.

I tried xp 64bit and indeed it is ----, ill get a copy of vista soonish.

[Dynash]

Yes, more RAM because I've seen Vista running at just under 3GB of RAM used minimum. Not like RAM is expensive. If you can support it why not buy it?, wasn't saying go buy 50 monitors or something.

[Darknight]

Yes, more RAM because I've seen Vista running at just under 3GB of RAM used minimum. Not like RAM is expensive. If you can support it why not buy it?, wasn't saying go buy 50 monitors or something.
vista always shows high ram usage, its the way it works with ram.. dont mean you need more.

[tlchosting]

The main differences between the 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista relate to memory accessibility, memory management, and enhanced security features. The security features that are available in the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista include the following:

* Kernel Patch Protection
* Support for hardware-backed Data Execution Protection (DEP)
* Mandatory driver signing
* Removal of support for 32-bit drivers
* Removal of the 16-bit subsystem

One of the greatest advantages of using a 64-bit version of Windows Vista is the ability to access physical memory (RAM) that is above the 4-gigabyte (GB) range. This physical memory is not addressable by 32-bit versions of Windows Vista.

Depending on the version of Windows Vista that is installed, a 64-bit version of Windows Vista supports from 1 GB of RAM to more than 128 GB of RAM. The ability to address more physical memory lets Windows Vista minimize the time that is required to swap processes in and out of physical memory. Therefore, Windows Vista can manage processes more efficiently. This memory management feature helps improve the overall performance of Windows Vista.

[GlennBeforeTime]

lol wtf more ram?

Why buy crap you dont need?
I can play all my games on this + wtf could a quad do to use more than 4GB of ram at a time, LBH it aint that powerful I agree with a i7 having 8GB although they are still a old tech processor in my eyes, to really have a use for a high amount of ram we need a new series of more powerful processors.

I tried xp 64bit and indeed it is ----, ill get a copy of vista soonish.

Or better yet, programs that will use more then 2 cores and 2 GB of RAM!

Useless decking your PC out with the latest technology when retail games and software are not programmed to be multithredded.
:tired2:

[Darknight]

Or better yet, programs that will use more then 2 cores and 2 GB of RAM!

Useless decking your PC out with the latest technology when retail games and software are not programmed to be multithredded.
:tired2:

well yeah, the only game I have ran that uses all 4 cores is GTA4, I think more games will start being built optimized for 4 cores though, its coming.

Although I wouldn't be surprised if in a year we have a single core processor thats more powerful than the current quads.

[.Bobby]

lol wtf more ram?

Why buy crap you dont need?
I can play all my games on this + wtf could a quad do to use more than 4GB of ram at a time, LBH it aint that powerful I agree with a i7 having 8GB although they are still a old tech processor in my eyes, to really have a use for a high amount of ram we need a new series of more powerful processors.

I tried xp 64bit and indeed it is ----, ill get a copy of vista soonish.

Hmm.. just note that some programs may not work as well on Vista. My Steam Games work no more in Vista - unlike in XP, when it did. Now, somehow, I always hang at 'Establishing Connection to Server...'.

Thinking back, I switched back to XP previously because of this. Now, forgetting that incident (which has since resurfaced), i've switch to Vista, again.

Lol.

[bariteau]

Hmm.. just note that some programs may not work as well on Vista. My Steam Games work no more in Vista - unlike in XP, when it did. Now, somehow, I always hang at 'Establishing Connection to Server...'.

Thinking back, I switched back to XP previously because of this. Now, forgetting that incident (which has since resurfaced), i've switch to Vista, again.

Lol.

Never got that issue on Vista or 7 (they're the same kernel) seems like a networking issue not an OS one

[Darknight]

Never got that issue on Vista or 7 (they're the same kernel) seems like a networking issue not an OS one

dont forget vista was ---- before SP1

[bariteau]

dont forget vista was ---- before SP1

still is in my opinion but it doesn't mean THAT didn't work with Vista RTM

Also .Bobby said that the problem resurfaced so I'm assuming he is back on Vista and I'm also guessing he as installed SP1 meaning that the problem is omnipresent whether he is on Vista RTM or SP1.

[Darknight]

Lol, I totally read that wrong, sorry.

[Darknight]

I got some vista 64 going and its a hell load faster than the 32bit xp I was running,
PC sits at about 800mbs ram usage idle and when I play GTA4 gos up to 2.5GB or something but eitherway there is heaps for everything, im quite happy with it except the lack of support for software such as flash in 64bit browsers.
Some of my older games I have had to play with massivly to get them working, they just arnt made for 64bit vista lol but almost everything works.

When windows 7 is released I will order a copy of the top version but by that time I will prob have a new PC again anyway the way hardware is going these days.

[.Bobby]

I got some vista 64 going and its a hell load faster than the 32bit xp I was running,
PC sits at about 800mbs ram usage idle and when I play GTA4 gos up to 2.5GB or something but eitherway there is heaps for everything, im quite happy with it except the lack of support for software such as flash in 64bit browsers.
Some of my older games I have had to play with massivly to get them working, they just arnt made for 64bit vista lol but almost everything works.

When windows 7 is released I will order a copy of the top version but by that time I will prob have a new PC again anyway the way hardware is going these days.

Does Steam Games with for ya?

[bariteau]

Does Steam Games with for ya?

Uh? If you are asking if steam games work with Vista, I can say that they work on 7 so they should work on vista (same kernel)

[Corazu]

Steam Games work for me fine - they're not coded for 64bit but they'll run fine as 32bit.

[Darknight]

idk I dont do steam, never have and never will.