Windows 7 32bit worth it?

ttreaders

ttreaders

ttreaders

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Hi guys, I have been given a copy of a 32bit Windows 7 upgrade - meaning it has to be installed over a windows xp install which is what I currently use.

I mainly use my PC for gaming and currently have 2gb of memory and am finding that on some games it just isn't enough. Ideally i'd like to use the 64bit version so I could use more than 4gb of memory.. Windows 7 32bit has the same max memory usage as Windows XP I believe BUT it's mine for free.

So my question is, am I right in thinking that Windows 7 will run faster and although it can't make full use of 4gb of memory - programs will still have access to more than 2gb of memory that they have in XP so therefor it is a small upgrade?
 
ttreaders said:
Hi guys, I have been given a copy of a 32bit Windows 7 upgrade - meaning it has to be installed over a windows xp install which is what I currently use.

I mainly use my PC for gaming and currently have 2gb of memory and am finding that on some games it just isn't enough. Ideally i'd like to use the 64bit version so I could use more than 4gb of memory.. Windows 7 32bit has the same max memory usage as Windows XP I believe BUT it's mine for free.

So my question is, am I right in thinking that Windows 7 will run faster and although it can't make full use of 4gb of memory - programs will still have access to more than 2gb of memory that they have in XP so therefore it is a small upgrade?
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Windows 7 is the OS you want to be on. It's a marked upgrade over Windows XP.

You preferentially want to be installing the 64-Bit version, I cannot comment what the Upgrade limitations are but retail copies allow you to use either architecutre on one license.

Look into seeing if you can put it on as 64-Bit and if so, do it. If you cannot, use the 32-Bit version as it is worth it

2GB of memory is a little close to the mark for a Win 7 gaming machine, you would benefit greatly with 4GB in there.
 
I'm running Win7 32bit at the minute with 4GB RAM... it only sees 3.5GB as 'usable' but 0.5GB loss is nothing really is it :)

If I had 8GB and it only saw 3.5, THEN I'd be doing something about it lol
 
Go 64bit, memory fairly cheap at the moment, so you could add another 4gb if you feel the need.

I have upped my memory to 8gb (4x2gb), photoshop really benefits from the memory, pc seems more fluent with gaming.
 
With 2GB RAM, then I'm pretty sure Windows 7 will run games worse than XP, since it is much more memory hungry. However, if you do install 4GB then Win 7 (even 32bit) will be much better.

Hence, I would suggest only making use of the your copy of win 7 when you do your RAM upgrade. By then you may have sold the win 7 32bit and bought the 64bit version - so you won't have any issues with memory limits (bear in mind that with a 32bit OS, the graphics card memory also counts towards you 4GB limit).
 
When a purchase a Windows licence you can install either the 32bit or 64bit version :). Source a 64bit DVD or ISO, use your serial key and then install using this method :).
 
Meatball said:
When a purchase a Windows licence you can install either the 32bit or 64bit version :). Source a 64bit DVD or ISO, use your serial key and then install using this method :).
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+1

Please disregard what I said above about selling your 32bit and buying 64 bit - your license will indeed work with a 64 bit version. In fact when upgrade versions of windows are sold at retail they come with both 32bit and 64 bit disks and one license, it just seems that you only have the 32bit disk.

All you need to do now is to get hold of a Win 7 64 bit disk (the same version - Home premium, Professional or Ultimate as your 32 bit disk) or legit ISO. The simplest way is probably to get the 64bit disk off the person who gave you the 32bit disk (as presumably they have both disks from the retail upgrade pack), just make sure you aren't both using the same software license at the same time.
 
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Thankyou for all the helpful replies. I didn't take into account that DDR2 memory is now pretty expensive as Oxygene pointed out - plus i'd be buying old tech which would only be a very temporary solution so would be a waste of money. So it looks like I would be better off going down the 64 bit route and splashing out to get a new mobo/cpu/ram.

The disc and CD key I have is one of those student upgrades, are you guys sure that it can be used as a retail 64bit cd key?
 
oxygene said:
Dunno where you're looking but I'm assuming the op has DDR2, and thats around double the price of DDR3 atm!
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Woops! I lost a sentence or paragraph, didn't notice it this morning. DDR 2 is expensive & isn't worth buying in my opinion, if the OP decided to upgrade his pc, then I would recommend he install 8gb (2x4gb) of DDR3.
 
I would upgrade the memory and install the 64 bit, as stated above all Windows 7 installation disks come with both 32 and 64 bit versions so you have achoice
 
cmndr_andi said:
With 2GB RAM, then I'm pretty sure Windows 7 will run games worse than XP
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I've only recently upped to 4GB from 2GB and I played games perfectly well on Win7 to be honest with you... BFBC2, MOH:Black Ops, Crysis 2 Demo (keep meaning to buy that... maybe soon... lol)

Graphics weren't 'maxed' as my hardware would cry if I did that, but it was perfectly playable at some good detail levels :)

Things like photoshop and dvd ripping took ****ing years with 2GB though lol
 
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