Gaming: 64-bit or 32-bit W7?

[pingpongmury]

I'm looking to upgrade my OS to Windows 7. I am curious as to whether i should go with the 32bit version or 64bit for gaming? I understand that 64 bit supports more memory, but are there any other notable advantages of 64bit?

Also, does Windows 7 offer any improvements over Windows Vista in gaming?
Thank you for your help!

 

[Lokalaskurar]

Yes, sort of

Windows 7 offers DirectX 11, which Vista has issues with. DX11 really looks amazing compared to DX10 and such.

Also, apart from a maximum of 16EbB of memory compared to just over 3GbB, there are no huge differences between 32- versus 64-bit.

 

[pingpongmury]

I agree! DX11 is ridiculous! Too bad my ol' 8800gt doesn't support it =\. Hopefully i'll upgrade soon.

Thanks the help!

 

[Leeky]

Unless you have very specific reasons for staying with 32 bit (for driver and software support in a business environment for example) I would recommend you upgrade to 64 bit if your purchasing a new license.

4GB of RAM is pretty much becoming the new default amount of RAM, and your pushing the upper limitations of the OS to support that size. If and when you decide to upgrade your GPU I would recommend purchasing more RAM as well. 6-8GB (6GB for triple channel/8GB for dual channel) are highly regarded as the sweet point for RAM on gaming computers - right now RAM is very cheap, though I suspect thats about to change with current events in Japan.

 

[Trillionsin]

I would also suggest 64bit version of Win7. Win7 has definitely made 64 bit processing more popular, and drivers and programs are becoming more available for 64 bit platforms.

So, like Leeky said:

Unless you have very specific reasons for staying with 32 bit (for driver and software support in a business environment for example) I would recommend you upgrade to 64 bit if your purchasing a new license.

Whether you are gaming with it or not... I wouldnt be concerned with the installing 32 bit version of Win7 just for the reason of gaming... it doesnt really matter unless you are going to use over 4 GB of RAM. It's always nice to be able to upgrade beyond that limit when you get the extra cash.

 

[CAMusing]

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-choose-between-32-bit-64-bit-windows-7-operating-systems/

 

[nismo91]

if you're upgrading to Win7, skip the 32-bit altogether. i tried installing win7 (32bit) in my old lappy and notice minimal to none improvements. so i installed vista (32bit) back.

 

[JasonWinTeam]

It sounds like 64bit will serve you best. Before you upgrade, I recommend that you download and run the free Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. It helps find potential issues with your computer’s hardware, devices, or programs that might affect installing Windows 7, and gives recommendations on what to do. Let us know what you decide on.

 

[DDG4005]

I'm looking to upgrade my OS to Windows 7. I am curious as to whether i should go with the 32bit version or 64bit for gaming? I understand that 64 bit supports more memory, but are there any other notable advantages of 64bit?

Also, does Windows 7 offer any improvements over Windows Vista in gaming?
Thank you for your help!

I play a few older games (Sinistar Unleashed, Titan Quest) that perform better in 64-bit Windows 7 than in 32-bit Vista. With support for more memory and generally improved stability, 64-bit is the way to go for gaming.

 

[Trillionsin]

I play a few older games (Sinistar Unleashed, Titan Quest) that perform better in 64-bit Windows 7 than in 32-bit Vista. With support for more memory and generally improved stability, 64-bit is the way to go for gaming.

Now there you are almost comparing Apples to Oranges. In my opinion, Vista was very difficult to work with. I've never had a decent running version... during games there was always some hanging out here and there whether it was 32 bit or 64 bit. haha

 

[DDG4005]

Now there you are almost comparing Apples to Oranges. In my opinion, Vista was very difficult to work with. I've never had a decent running version... during games there was always some hanging out here and there whether it was 32 bit or 64 bit. haha

Vista definitely had some issues but I think Win7 has gone a long ways to resolve them. To be truthful some older games (Quake, Quake 2, etc) did not work in 64-bit Windows 7...at least not for me. I was surprised that Freespace, Freespace 2, and Sinistar Unleashed ran as well as they did (I had use Compatibility mode for the Freespace games but Sinistar ran beautifully).

That said, I think you'll be good with 64-bit Windows 7 if you haven't already upgraded.

 

[Trillionsin]

That said, I think you'll be good with 64-bit Windows 7 if you haven't already upgraded.

Agreed.

/thread (OP left)

 

[Siavash]

I understand that 64 bit supports more memory, but are there any other notable advantages of 64bit?

Yes, there is. That doubles the SIMD registers available to applications from 8 registers in 32 bit to 16 registers in 64 bit mode. This is a very good opportunity for Games, Audio, Video and Image processing applications to run faster.

Best Regards, Siavash.

 

[ComputerFreezee]

64 bit win7 still runs 32bit programs smoothly

hey, if you have more than 3 gb of ram you must install 64 bit to benefit from all your memory. otherwise it stil good to have a 64bit operating system that also runs 32bit programs smoothly and have extra folder in system HDD for that reason( Program Files (x86) )