32-bit vs 64-bit

[WayTooShort]

I'm building a new computer to run newest games at least moderately and I need to decide whether I take 32-bit or 64-bit windows 7.

I already know some of the pros and cons of both systems. 32-bit can't have more than 3gb RAM, 64-bit doesn't have this problem but some programs don't work on it or have weird bugs and it generally just isn't as stable as 32-bit.

Which one you prefer? Is the 3gb RAM limit worse than the cons of 64-bit?

Perfect solution would be some way to have atleast 4gb RAM with 32-bit, but I don't believe that is possible.

 

[Prometheus]

64 bit is absolutely fine if you get Windows 7 64 bit. I recommend it, as long as your processor supports 64 bit.

 

[azareus]

Wait... I got 4 gb ram and 32-bit. IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

Anyway, 64-bit is better, though some programs does not have a version for it.

 

[Slapshot136]

Perfect solution would be some way to have atleast 4gb RAM with 32-bit, but I don't believe that is possible.

it is impossible to use the last 1gb as ram (32 bit = 2^32 is the max amount of ram that can be allocated, as that is how big the address is), but you can use it as a ramdrive (virtual hard drive) that would be ridiculously fast.. not too many applications outside of a Photoshop scratch disk for only 1gb tho

what programs are you worried won't work on x64? x64 has a built-in compatibility mode for non-64 programs that works with just about everything

@ azareus - yes you can have that much ram in the computer, only the last chunk of it simply won't be useable as ram

 

[UndeadDragon]

I run on Windows 7 64 bit and I have found no problems with program compatability.

 

[Ghan]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366796(v=vs.85).aspx

 

[tom_mai78101]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366796(v=vs.85).aspx

Wow! I never knew that. Thanks, Ghan_04.

I'm going to check and see if my laptop can have another additional 2GB and then enable PAE. I'm Windows Vista 32-bit.

 

[codemonkey]

it is impossible to use the last 1gb as ram (32 bit = 2^32 is the max amount of ram that can be allocated, as that is how big the address is), but you can use it as a ramdrive (virtual hard drive) that would be ridiculously fast.. not too many applications outside of a Photoshop scratch disk for only 1gb tho

what programs are you worried won't work on x64? x64 has a built-in compatibility mode for non-64 programs that works with just about everything

@ azareus - yes you can have that much ram in the computer, only the last chunk of it simply won't be useable as ram

Don't start making up numbers when it comes to 32 bit max memory supported. 1GB is assuming he has a 1GB video card. You can use 4GB total with 32 bit, including your graphics card memory. So if your graphics card uses 512MB of memory you can use up to 3.5GB regular RAM.

 

[sqrage]

Don't start making up numbers when it comes to 32 bit max memory supported. 1GB is assuming he has a 1GB video card. You can use 4GB total with 32 bit, including your graphics card memory. So if your graphics card uses 512MB of memory you can use up to 3.5GB regular RAM.

Video card RAM doesn't affect motherboard RAM. So no, if you have 512mb of video card RAM and 4 GB of motherboard RAM, you will have 4gb of usuable RAM for the OS.

 

[Slapshot136]

Video card RAM doesn't affect motherboard RAM. So no, if you have 512mb of video card RAM and 4 GB of motherboard RAM, you will have 4gb of usuable RAM for the OS.

no, codemonkey is right - they do use the same, it was my bad for assuming 1gb for the graphics card, but regardless, you will use some amount of ram for graphics (and 1gb is pretty common these days, especially if you want something to run the newer games moderately), which you will then have to subtract to get your available system ram

 

[sqrage]

no, codemonkey is right - they do use the same, it was my bad for assuming 1gb for the graphics card, but regardless, you will use some amount of ram for graphics (and 1gb is pretty common these days, especially if you want something to run the newer games moderately), which you will then have to subtract to get your available system ram

And where are you getting this info? I think you're confusing it with when integrated chips use system RAM as videoRAM.

 

[Ghan]

It seems to be a general consensus:

http://www.dansdata.com/askdan00015.htm
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/clearing-up-the-3264-bit-memory-limit-confusion/3124
http://www.tested.com/forums/pc-and-mac/5/does-4gb-ram-limit-in-32-bit-include-video-ram/7024/
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/258528-30-explained

The general idea is that regardless of who is doing the graphics storage, the OS still needs to address that space and will not be able to if it's trying to address all the RAM.

 

[sqrage]

Thank you.

 

[WayTooShort]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366796(v=vs.85).aspx

Seems like the perfect solution, thanks a lot.

It just left my wondering if enabling PAE would hit the performance of the computer?