Trying 64 bit for the first time, has any one got any info/advice?

Keltik THC · 5 Feb 2009 at 12:01

i came to the realisation last night that the memory in my graphics cards are counted with the system RAM and are therefor limited to 3GB by Vista 32bit.. ive always known this 3gb limitation but for some stupid reason i didnt think that the memory in my GPU was counted along with the system RAM.

anyway, so this is forcing me to go to Vista 64 which ive resisted so far because basically i will only have 1GB of system RAM with 32 bit, and i recently ordered another GTX 280 for Sli... so anyway, ive got my hands on vista 64 and i just wondered if theirs any major issues with drivers i should know of? or anything else in general? this is why i resisted 64 bit because i'm sure some of my prehiperals or software wont work, and ill probably have more problems than i can handle...

at the very least as long as my Lachesis, G15 and Cisco wireless adapter work i'll think i be happy... but then i wonder about Everest, Kaspersky or even if my games would work..

anyone got any good or bad info for someone about to walk down the 64 bit path for the first time?

thanks in advance for any info.

Meatball · 5 Feb 2009 at 12:15

Keltik THC said:
i came to the realisation last night that the memory in my graphics cards are counted with the system RAM and are therefor limited to 3GB by Vista 32bit.. ive always known this 3gb limitation but for some stupid reason i didnt think that the memory in my GPU was counted along with the system RAM.

anyway, so this is forcing me to go to Vista 64 which ive resisted so far because basically i will only have 1GB of system RAM with 32 bit, and i recently ordered another GTX 280 for Sli... so anyway, ive got my hands on vista 64 and i just wondered if theirs any major issues with drivers i should know of? or anything else in general? this is why i resisted 64 bit because i'm sure some of my prehiperals or software wont work, and ill probably have more problems than i can handle...

at the very least as long as my Lachesis, G15 and Cisco wireless adapter work i'll think i be happy... but then i wonder about Everest, Kaspersky or even if my games would work..

anyone got any good or bad info for someone about to walk down the 64 bit path for the first time?

thanks in advance for any info.

The only thing Vista 64Bit will not be able to run over 32Bit Vista is 16Bit programs, so Windows 95-98 era games/programs. All your games are likely to work fine, some might require a patch though. Driver wise, any hardware that has drivers for 32Bit Vista will have 64Bit Vista drivers, it's a requirement. Only v.old hardware will not work under Vista 64bit. I can confirm Kaspersky works fine as well as I'm using it now on my Vista 64Bit laptop

. Your worrying far too much about it IMO, you wont notice the difference really

. In fact with a system of your specs you're limiting your hardware running 32Bit. 32Bit was only really released for early P4s and Celerons that don't have ET64. Now install 64Bit and stop being a girls blouse

.

Munky1080 · 5 Feb 2009 at 12:21

Don't worry mate - most things work in x64 nowadays....install it and revel in its warm glow...

MivkM · 5 Feb 2009 at 12:22

64 support is pretty good, you'll be unlucky to have hardware thats not supported

Keltik THC · 5 Feb 2009 at 12:23

Meatball said:
The only thing Vista 64Bit will not be able to run over 32Bit Vista is 16Bit programs, so Windows 95-98 era games/programs. All your games are likely to work fine, some might require a patch though. Driver wise, any hardware that has drivers for 32Bit Vista will have 64Bit Vista drivers, it's a requirement. Only v.old hardware will not work under Vista 64bit. I can confirm Kaspersky works fine as well as I'm using it now on my Vista 64Bit laptop . Your worrying far too much about it IMO, you wont notice the difference really . I'd highly recommend upgrading your system memory from 1Gb though, you can obviously afford to. 4Gb+ will be perfect for Vista.

thanks for the info Meatball, glad to hear im just getting overly paranoid about Microsoft... but just to clear it up i do have more than 1Gb, ive currently got triple channel 3GB DDr3, but with my Sli GTX 280s which get addressed first it reduced my system RAM to 1GB hence im being forced into 64 bit.. but if all goes well and i finally manage to find out how to get my supposed 'free' upgrade to 64 bit Vista from 32 Bit or if my work colleague does indeed give me a free copy of Vista 64 on Monday as he said this morning then obviously this will give me the opportunity to upgrade to lots more RAM

.

i just thought Vista 64 was mired in issues and problems..

Meatball · 5 Feb 2009 at 12:26

Keltik THC said:
thanks for the info Meatball, glad to hear im just getting overly paranoid about Microsoft... but just to clear it up i do have more than 1Gb, ive currently got triple channel 3GB DDr3, but with my Sli GTX 280s which get addressed first it reduced my system RAM to 1GB hence im being forced into 64 bit.. but if all goes well and i finally manage to find out how to get my supposed 'free' upgrade to 64 bit Vista from 32 Bit or if my work colleague does indeed give me a free copy of Vista 64 on Monday as he said this morning then obviously this will give me the opportunity to upgrade to lots more RAM .

i just thought Vista 64 was mired in issues and problems..

I had to quickly ninja edit my post you quoted, I added a bit to the end.

Vista in general was supposed to have loads of 'issues and problems', 64bit and 32Bit. Half of it is a load of twaddle though. But as I said, just install it and don't worry. I'd be very surprised if you have any software/driver problems

.

suarve · 5 Feb 2009 at 12:28

Keltik THC said:
i came to the realisation last night that the memory in my graphics cards are counted with the system RAM and are therefor limited to 3GB by Vista 32bit.. ive always known this 3gb limitation but for some stupid reason i didnt think that the memory in my GPU was counted along with the system RAM.

anyway, so this is forcing me to go to Vista 64 which ive resisted so far because basically i will only have 1GB of system RAM with 32 bit, and i recently ordered another GTX 280 for Sli... so anyway, ive got my hands on vista 64 and i just wondered if theirs any major issues with drivers i should know of? or anything else in general? this is why i resisted 64 bit because i'm sure some of my prehiperals or software wont work, and ill probably have more problems than i can handle...

at the very least as long as my Lachesis, G15 and Cisco wireless adapter work i'll think i be happy... but then i wonder about Everest, Kaspersky or even if my games would work..

anyone got any good or bad info for someone about to walk down the 64 bit path for the first time?

thanks in advance for any info.

This sounds like a thread the day after a x64 operating system was released and it brand new technology. x64 bit OS's have been around for a while and there is very little software that doesn't work with them.

funkeh · 5 Feb 2009 at 12:30

Just moved from xp to Vista64 myself and had absolutely zero issues 2 weeks into it.
Plays and runs everything I need a pc for, and the Complete pc restore works a treat for cloning onto another hd.
Very happy!