How much faster is the 64bit Win7 over 32bit win7?

men8ifr · 8 Mar 2010 at 08:40

Looks like you have the option when you upgrade, i guess the 64bit is compatable with a lot less programs?

Philtor · 8 Mar 2010 at 08:47

When I installed the 64 bit version of Win 7 I found all my programs bar Nero worked fine. In terms of speed this will depend a lot on the spec of your machine. Not much point using the 64 bit version unless you have 4GB of RAM or more. That's not to say you can't use it mind.

ShakenNstirred · 8 Mar 2010 at 08:50

win 7 64 bit runs good on 2gb of ram and most programs are fine
been using 64bit since 07 and havent had any real problems with it

PatZ1989 · 8 Mar 2010 at 08:51

Compatible with less programs but theoretically twice as fast (in real world no but its nice to dream)

Should be noticeably faster though

men8ifr · 8 Mar 2010 at 08:52

core 2 duo 4.2ghz 4gb ram, GTX260 if that makes a difference?

Philtor · 8 Mar 2010 at 09:00

Wap on Windows 7 64 bit on that machine.... You'll be glad you did

Kainz · 8 Mar 2010 at 09:10

You'll notice the speed difference for sure. 64bit is much quicker.

Simi · 8 Mar 2010 at 09:23

It's over 9000 faster.

DJDaz · 8 Mar 2010 at 10:06

whether there's a speed difference or not it's till worth using 64bit. much more future proof than 32bit if you upgrade your machine at all

robinbredin · 8 Mar 2010 at 10:52

You'll notice the speed difference for sure. 64bit is much quicker.

It's over 9000 faster.

I have found no speed difference between the 64bit and the 32bit. As the other posts say if you have 4GB on ram, then the 64bit version will see it, compared to 3.25GB for the 32bit version. But will you use 4GB of ram, some gamers have said the most system rem they have used is 1.95GB. Also there still is, an drivers issue with 64bit OS.

gord · 8 Mar 2010 at 11:03

oh Robin.. are you sure its not 9000 faster?

But seriously, 32 bit vs 64 bit speed difference will be negligible until you start to go beyond 3GB Ram usage.

SiriusB · 8 Mar 2010 at 12:28

There is no reason to avoid 64 bit.* Even if you only have 2GB RAM. I will repeat what I said in another thread - it is much easier to add more RAM than reinstall Windows! W7 64 will run beautifully on just 2GB.

Driver support for 64 bit is fantastic. The only issues are with older, crappy hardware that you should probably chuck in the bin.

I also agree with gord. 64bit is only faster in that it can address far more RAM, so less paging and fetching from the HDD.

*some software may not work in 64bit OS, but it is far more likely the software just wont run in W7, regardless of 32/64 bit.

Guest2 · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:01

I think all my programs/games work in 64bit, with the exception of one i think, that i ran in 32bit compatibility mode. Even my trusty Winamp 2.5e works from October 1999 that I used to run on Windows 98.

r3loaded · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:17

64-bit isn't noticeably faster than 32-bit. But tbh, you have no reason to use 32-bit nowadays, the big PC makers like Dell are using 64-bit Windows 7 on their machines. Likewise, compatibility is a non-issue these days.

cambb · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:32

64bit all the way. I havn't found one prog that doesn't run.

Guest2 · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:33

r3loaded said:
64-bit isn't noticeably faster than 32-bit. But tbh, you have no reason to use 32-bit nowadays, the big PC makers like Dell are using 64-bit Windows 7 on their machines. Likewise, compatibility is a non-issue these days.

Not for business they arnt. (Or they arnt by default with us anyway) VPN doesnt work correctly with 64bit which is a massive downside

SiriusB · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:35

In what way doesn't work correctly?

reflux · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:36

Simi said:
It's over 9000 faster.

Only 12 faster here.

Burnsy2023 · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:38

SiriusB said:
In what way doesn't work correctly?

Indeed, I don't have any issues with VPN connections.

theheyes · 8 Mar 2010 at 16:45

I'm guessing there is some VPN client software which isn't supported, which is a third party issue.

Anyway, everyone should use 64bit.