Okay go 64 or not

[Computer-Ed]

Here is the scenario, you are building a new Core2 system. You have a decent HD, a X FI Xtremegamer for sound and a 8800GTS for video. The system is for a bit of light work at home but mostly the pure joy of some gaming with friends. You currently have 2 gigs of RAM but can see moving to 4 gig by the end of the year.

Do you go Vista 64 right out of the gate or go 32 right now and then go 64 when you get the 4 gig?

Will 2 gig be enough for Vista 64 to run well?

 

[Dark_X]

If all of your devices will work with 64 bit I would use 64.
I am using it with only 1 gig!

 

[Computer-Ed]

Motherboard is a 965P-DS3, full 64 bit support, the 8800GTS has drivers listed from nVidia but not sure how good they are. Creative says the X FI has 64 bit support again suspect. The onbard Realtek sound has full support however. My printer, a CP1700 has 64 bit drivers.

 

[Brink]

Computer-Ed,

I have the x64 Home Premium Vista with 2 gig of RAM and it is pretty quick for me. It seems like you have 64 bit drivers for everything. I would go for the 64 bit.

Shawn

 

[larryk]

Go for it. I run an 8800GTS and it works like a champ. The only issue I had with gaming was that I use a gamepad and I was using the Belkin n52. Had to switch to Saitek to get reliable functionality (and even they are still beta drivers). I was running 2G and then went to 4. Didn't notice much difference.

 

[Asky]

Yep if you have the proper Hardware drivers then you can go for Vista X64 no Problems .

I ran Vista X64 on 1G for arnd 6 Months ,ran pretty fine.(on to 2G now)
2G should be smoother.

 

[Computer-Ed]

Thanks for all the feedback, Vista 64 it is. Now the decision is to run this with Business or Ultimate. I have access to both. I will never be using the multi-media functions of Ultimate so I am really debating if I should not hold it for another machine and just use Business on this one.

 

[Brink]

Computer-ED,

You can compare the two at this link to see what will fit your needs the best, but Ultimate does have more features. You can always disable the ones you do not use.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx?wt_svl=10033VHa1&mg_id=10033VHb1

Take a look here for some ideas on how to speed up Vista more:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/81176-speed-up-performance-vista.html

Have fun,
Shawn

 

[scott784]

Do I try Vista 64 bit or not?
I have an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor running 32 bit Vista Home Premium. I have the 64 bit edition that I preordered but the 64 bit version has sat in my closet ever since I got it in February.

I know 64 bit Vista will handle all of my hardware on my Dell XPS410. HOWEVER, just how much software would I have to orphan to use 64 bit Vista??? I've only considered using it because I mistakenly ordered my Dell with 4 gigs of ram, only to learn that the 32 bit version cannot take advantage of this much memory.

Here's some of my programs that I am concerned about. They include the following:
Acronis True Home Imaging
Norton Internet Security 2007
DVD Cloner IV
Easy Media Creator Version 9.1
Webshots
Winzip 11.1
Quicktime and RealPlayer (latest versions but don't think they'll work)

Most of you have probably heard of Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. Unfortunately, this handy software program will not scan your PC for Vista "64" bit. So I am left to wonder, would I end up losing most of the programs listed above? If so, what cd/dvd burning software is recommended for 64 bit? What about an antivirus program? The only software that I have that I "know" will work (for sure) in Windows Vista 64 bit is Office 2007

I am only tempted to try 64 bit Vista to allow me to utilize all 4 gigs of my memory that are currently installed on the 32 bit Vista. But is this worth it? Can someone give some good advice here? It's hard to find because most folks don't seem to know much about 64 bit. I appreciate any response.
Scott

 

[Brink]

Hi Scott,

Welcome to the forum.


Acronis True Home Imaging = Yes, it will work on x64.

Norton Internet Security 2007 = Never install Norton on Vista. It will mess it up. I would use Avast antivirus instead.
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

DVD Cloner IV = I do not know.

Easy Media Creator Version 9.1 = I do not know.

Webshots = I do not know.

Winzip 11.1 = Yes, it will work on x64. However, the trial period is now enforced. You can get the free 7-Zip program, this is a great one to.
http://www.7-zip.org/

Quicktime and RealPlayer = I heard bad things about these two programs also. I haven't tried them yet on x64 though. I just use WMP.

Hope this helps Scott,
Shawn

 

[scott784]

Hey Shawn,
Thanks for the quick reply and welcome to the forum.

Your comments did help. Can you tell me what you use as far as CD/DVD burning software on Vista 64 bit? Or maybe another way of phrasing the question is to ask you what is a popular CD/DVD burning software application that works on Vista 64 bit?

Can you confirm that Office 2007 will work flawlessly in 64 bit Vista? Surely, there would be no problems with that application. If so, I would be shocked since it is an MS product.

Thanks again for your input. It's so hard for me to get input because all my friends and family either use Vista 32 bit or Win XP. Win Vista 64 bit is certainly not in the mainstream. However, as I said before, I am tempted to try it to utilize all of the money I spent on 4 gigs of ram (which was a mistake with my 32 bit OS).

Regards,
Scott

 

[Brink]

Scott,

I just use the built-in CD/DVD burning from Vista. It works fine for me. I have not tried any retail programs, so I do not know of one that works great or not.

From what I hear, Office 2007 did not have any problems running on x64 Vista.

Shawn

 

[scott784]

Thanks for your input Shawn. I'm just trying to take inventory (so to speak) of the programs I would have to dump if I decided to go with Win Vista 64 bit. It seems they've got the hardware issues resolved for newer systems (like mine). It's just these software issues that remain questionable and there's not a central source/place to go to find the answers.

P.S. Hey, one last question. My pc is configured in a Raid 0 array running 32 bit Vista. Do you happen to know if Raid works with 64 bit Vista? Thanks again for your input

 

[Brink]

Your welcome Scott,

If you have X64 drivers for your Raid device, then yes it should work without any problems.

You might take a look at this link for some tips on it.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/79013-raid-install.html

 

[scott784]

Shawn,
So far so good. I loaded 64 bit Vista Home Premium this evening and I don't see any problems thus far. Everyone keeps talking about how bad the driver support is. However, with my system being less than one year old, I didn't have problems getting drivers for my hardware.

As far as the software, most of my programs are fairly new. Although, it appears most software is not made for 64 bit (except Office 2007), my programs are installed in the Program Files (x86) folder. I understand 64 bit does a good job running 32 bit applications so hopefully I won't have a problem with this.

I do have a couple of questions about apps. Since the Shockwave Player does not appear to work in 64 bit, is there some alternative for multimedia applications? The Adobe Flash Player and Reader seem to work fine so I was just wondering about Shockwave. Also, is there a 64 bit supported version of Firefox Mozilla for 64 bit? I read something on here about that but got confused. It's late!

I wanted to go with 64 bit to take full advantage of my 4GB of ram. If things turn south, I've always got my ghost image of my 32 bit setup that I made with Acronis. Below are my hardware specs:

Dell XPS 410
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor at 2.13 GHz
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs
Two 250 GB Sata Hard Drives
Philips DVD-ROM6316
TSSTCorp DVD+-RW TS-H553A
13 in 1 Media Card Reader
Dell 1907 flatpanel (digital)
256MB X1300 ATI Graphics
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
64 bit Vista Home Premium with Raid 0 (new 64 bit)

I will put another update on this board once I have a chance to start using some of my programs. I spent all evening just trying to reload everything. Wish me luck and thank you for your input :-)

P.S. I have taken your advice and did not reinstall Norton 2007 under Vista 64 bit. I will download Avast tomorrow and hope that works out for me. If you have time, I would appreciate an answer to my questions above about the apps.

 

[Brink]

Hi Scott,

Glad to hear it is going well so far.

Forget Shockwave, it will not work with Vista. I just use Windows Media Player. I suppose RealPlayer or QuickTime would be good alternatives.

Firefox is a 32 bit program, but it will work in x64 Vista. In fact, the default IE7 is 32 bit in x64 Vista.

If you have problems with some older programs, you can try Compatibility Mode to see if they will work. Just never do it for utility programs. You can see more on this here.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/75909-compatibility-mode.html

Shawn

 

[scott784]

Hey Shawn,
Well, I spoke too soon. Although everything seemed fine, I started having problems with my Creative XFi-XtremeMusic soundcard. The soundcard would work fine for a while. Then, at random, I would hear this loud static coming out of my speakers for no apparent reason. I reinstalled the Creative driver and all seemed well. Then later on, the problem would start again.

I have seen other posts online about Creative and the lack of driver support in 64 bit Vista. Creative "does" post a 64 bit driver for my soundcard. However, again, there is this random static problem that comes and goes. Clearly, Creative has more work to do on their 64 bit drivers! Sadly, this is the sort of thing that sometimes gets people when attempting to use 64 bit. It's that one piece of hardware that has driver problems. As for my apps, all of them (32 bit) ran flawlessly in 64 bit Vista.

Thanks to Acronis, I have a ghost image of my 32 bit Windows Vista configuration. Different topic, but that program (Acronis) is fantastic! I will try 64 bit Vista again at a later time when I either replace my soundcard "or" when Creative gets better driver support. Thanks for all your help.

Dell XPS 410
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor at 2.13 GHz
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 4 DIMMs
Two 250 GB Sata Hard Drives
Philips DVD-ROM6316
TSSTCorp DVD+-RW TS-H553A
13 in 1 Media Card Reader
Dell 1907 flatpanel (digital)
256MB X1300 ATI Graphics
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
Vista Home Premium with Raid 0

 

[Brink]

Your welcome Scott,

Sorry that the sound card is leaving a bad sound in your ears.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Hopefully, Creative will have a better driver soon.

Yeah, I think Acronis is a great program. Never had a problem with it, and I can't tell you how much time it has saved me.

Shawn

 

[beastiebob]

64bit user here for over a month, before that I was running 32bit Vista for 5 months (2GB RAM). So far I have had a good experience with the 64 version, and I feared the worst when I first installed.

Here are some generalities that you can apply between 32 and 64 versions:
I and most people out there haven't found too many issues running programs between the two versions. For the most part if a application has an incompatibility issue with vista 64, chances are its also going to have an issue in Vista 32 (but there are exceptions).

Although here are some of my experiences specific to 64 bit:

- My ole HP 712C printer, worked fine on 32bit, couldn't print on 64bit (even though HP stated it would). Had to get a new printer

- Office 2007 (32 bit) seems to work just fine. Although I tested out the Send To -> Internet FAX server feature and got a warning (not supported in 64bit operating system) dialog box pop-up. So there is at least one feature that's disabled in 64bit Vista vs 32 bit.

- I have an X-FI XtremeGamer card too. Have the exact same experience between the two which has been mostly positive. Some users report issues with this card when you have 4 gigs though, but I haven't tried it yet

- 8800GTS which I have games seem to work great both old and new (Company of Heros, Far Cry, CC3, etc)

- The latest version of Quicktime seems to have installed correctly and is working fine in 64bit Vista for me.

I've head of a lot of hardware/Vista issues appearing in the 64-bit version once you move to 4GB of RAM, so far with 2GB I really haven't had as many issues as I thought (I feared the worst).

Just checkout every piece of hardware you have and software you need to run and make sure its compatible to save yourself any unpleasant surprises.