32 or 64 bit

been running 64bit vista and now win7 64 bit since march 07 without any real probs at all
in the beginning a few programs didn't work but that was sorted when they upgraded the software, so wasnt an OS problem
seems silly to stick to 32bit when 64 bit is out there and running great
 
I'm upgrading very shortly to Phenom II X4 system but really don't want to have to replace printer (Epson r200), Webcam (MS Lifecam), TV Card (Terratec), Soundcard etc. So far I have not been able to find any W7 64bit drivers for any of these :(.

Everyone says of course you must go for 64bit but all are a bit vague on the actual advantages. Exactly how much quicker is 64bit on a top system? Can someone make a list to convince me 64bit is so much better that I should fork out another several hundred pounds on peripherals. I don't do games much but HD HTPC and Photoshop are my main heavy uses.

Is there somewhere I can check definitively whether my devices all of which are fine with Vista 32 bit are sure to work on Win7 64 bit?
 
I've just had a look my Windows 7 64-bit built-in driver list and there is a driver for an Epson Stylus Photo R200 - so your printer may even install automatically.

As for the webcam, it says on this page that updates are available for 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 7:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/download/download.aspx?category=ICE&type=LifeCam&sku=68C-00001

I don't know about the soundcard and TV card, but at least you're halfway right? You may, inevitably, have to invest in some new hardware to make the leap to 64 bit.

64 bit isn't really perceivably faster doing day-to-day things but going with 32 bit is going to limit how much RAM you can put in your machine.
 
theheyes said:
I've just had a look my Windows 7 64-bit built-in driver list and there is a driver for an Epson Stylus Photo R200 - so your printer may even install automatically.

As for the webcam, it says on this page that updates are available for 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 7:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/download/download.aspx?category=ICE&type=LifeCam&sku=68C-00001

I don't know about the soundcard and TV card, but at least you're halfway right? You may, inevitably, have to invest in some new hardware to make the leap to 64 bit.

64 bit isn't really perceivably faster doing day-to-day things but going with 32 bit is going to limit how much RAM you can put in your machine.
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Wow, yeah thanks. It was my old printer I was most concerned about. So you can see a list from the Win7 disc of all the built in drivers?

Also was thinking I only need the souncard for SPDIF out via coax so if I get a motherboard with that built in I can chuck the soundcard. Just really needs TV card then. Been looking anyway to replace with an S2 one though the great advantage of the one I have is it has analogue input so I can record from my Sky+ box.

So what is the RAM limit? I was thinking of 2x2GB for starters.

Anyway thanks for the help.
 
In simple terms 4GB is your limit for a 32 bit OS. For 64 bit Windows the limit for Home is 16GB and the limit for Pro is 192GB.

Glad I could be of help anyway. No point buying 32 bit unnecessarily.

edit - buy "buying" I obviously mean "installing" :o
 
theheyes said:
In simple terms 4GB is your limit for a 32 bit OS. For 64 bit Windows the limit for Home is 16GB and the limit for Pro is 192GB.

Glad I could be of help anyway. No point buying 32 bit unnecessarily.

edit - buy "buying" I obviously mean "installing" :o
Click to expand...

So where did you see this list of built-in drivers? Had a look at my W7 disc but can't see anything there.
 
Restorer said:
So where did you see this list of built-in drivers? Had a look at my W7 disc but can't see anything there.
Click to expand...

captureqw.png


As you can see from the screengrab, you may have to run Windows Update.
 
After reading this thread it looks like my system (Q6600,4850 card & 4g of ram) will run 64 bit.my only concern is software,will I still be able to run the latest games like Football manager 2010? also older stuff like half life 2,pirates etc?
 
It's bound to run your games. You need to run 64-bit on that. 32-bit would not use all of your RAM, and would be a complete waste using it with that processor. I play Half-Life 2 on Windows 7 64-bit, and it works perfectly.
 
The only problem I had with Windows 64-bit is, that I couldn't play Crysis. And yes I got it legal, the problem was it gave me errors about my CD/DVD drive. The only fix was indeed using a ".exe" from the internets.

Although 64-bit won't work, so you have to run 32-bit :).
 
theheyes said:
I've just had a look my Windows 7 64-bit built-in driver list and there is a driver for an Epson Stylus Photo R200 - so your printer may even install automatically.

As for the webcam, it says on this page that updates are available for 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 7:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/download/download.aspx?category=ICE&type=LifeCam&sku=68C-00001

I don't know about the soundcard and TV card, but at least you're halfway right? You may, inevitably, have to invest in some new hardware to make the leap to 64 bit.

64 bit isn't really perceivably faster doing day-to-day things but going with 32 bit is going to limit how much RAM you can put in your machine.
Click to expand...


Just to let you know that I got up and running with the new system And yes printer drivers jujst intalled automatically and lo and behold the Terratec site came up the very next day with updated drivers for the TV card!
 
It is always a worry jumping to 64bit with an existing set of hardware, but as you can see a lot more vendors are getting off their collective arses and writing drivers.

Older hardware is tricky as drivers are less likely to be written for it, but we all love buying new hardware right? :D
 
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