32 or 64 bit?

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

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Joined
17 Oct 2002
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Hi guys,

No real plans to move to Vista on my main machine yet but I reckon it'd be good to have a play and familiarise myself with it anyway, so I'm going to put it on my laptop.

I've got a legitimate Vista license from Uni - now I need to decide whether to use 32bit or 64bit. The laptop never, ever plays games. Infact, it browses the web, watches the odd movie and is used with Office. Thats it.

Which version would you guys put on? It's a Dell D620 with Intel Core2Duo T7600, 2Gb ram, 120Gb HDD, etc.

I'm thinking 64bit given driver issues probably wont a problem?
 
Hello[TW]Fox, defiantly go with Windows Vista 64-bit. A 64-bit platform is securer, more stable and is generally faster and this will show quite significantly from now onwards really.

I'm not sure weather you will be interested but this article here explains the advantages of a 64-bit platform other than the memory capabilities. You may also be interested in this post here by NathanE, taken from this thread here.

As far as driver issues; the laptop that you have mentioned seems to be farily modern so it is extremely unlikely that you will have problems finding drivers. :)
 
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[TW]Fox;11341486 said:
Excellent, 64bit it is then chaps :)
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32-bit is like a car with cheap plastic interior and doors that make a rattly sort of thud when they shut.

64-bit is like a Beemer or Merc with all the option packs.
 
If you want to make the most of the 64bit upgrade your memory to 4Gb. The Dell will take it, although dont get it from them as they'll crucify you. Just get some normal DDR2 laptop memory but you'll probably need 2 x 2 GB to replace the 2 x 1gb you have. Dont pay more than £50 for it.
 
32bit is dying though, if we are going to be totally honest. When there is need for 4GB people will have to start using it.
 
One thing you will notice especially with 2GB RAM is that the hard-drive will be going into overdrive for the first few weeks. After that it'll be much better but the superfetch plus the low amount of memory plus indexing, etc. it will be slow for a while. It is much better with 3/4GB RAM.


M.
 
the only reason 32bit vista exists is for plebs like me who only have 32bit hardware. there is no reason to use it if you have a 64bit cpu.
 
So, even with 2GB of memory and a C2D (64-Bit ready) Vista 64 should still be better then my Vista 32 bit?

I've always heard people say No tot his question...:(
 
Ice On Fire said:
So, even with 2GB of memory and a C2D (64-Bit ready) Vista 64 should still be better then my Vista 32 bit?
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Hello Ice On Fire, yes it is because it is securer, more stable and generally faster. :)

Ice On Fire said:
I've always heard people say No tot his question...:(
Click to expand...

bit-tech said:
One of the biggest changes has been the clear offering and even a gentle push towards the 64-bit version of the OS. Indubitably, this extra option becomes fodder for forum discussion, usually along the line of:

Forumite 1: "Hi, I am building a new system and I wanted to know what your thoughts were on whether I should use 64-bit or 32-bit Vista? I've heard varying things around the net regarding compatibility, and was hoping someone could help."

Forumite 2: "Hi! I just read your post. You should definitely go with the 32-bit version. There's tons of compatibility problems with 64b (Just look at XP-64), and it's going to die a long, drawn-out death. Besides, the only actual difference between them is that 64-bit can make proper use of 4GB of RAM."

Forumite 1: "Oh, ok! Thanks!"

Now, what's wrong with this picture? The answer is a lot. Time and time again, self-proclaimed gurus determine that the only real difference between 32-bit computing and 64-bit computing is the memory limit. Are they right that RAM is a reason? Definitely - but that's missing about 99 percent of the true differences. By that logic, the only major difference between your old 8-bit Nintendo console and your Xbox 360 is processor speed. I think we can all agree, that's just wrong.
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Taken from the article - 64-bit: More than just the RAM which is well worth a read. :D:)
 
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the only reason 32bit vista exists is for plebs like me who only have 32bit hardware. there is no reason to use it if you have a 64bit cpu.
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I think it was mainly laptop cpus that lagged behind, desktop cpus were 64 capable for ages before Vista was released, Sempron 754 Celeron Ds etc.

My personal rule of tumb is for desktop machines if your cpu isent 64 bit capable you probably won't want to run vista on it.

I wish MS had only released Vista as x64.
 
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