Win 7 or XP64 for Ram issue

[whels]

I now have a Intel quad 9550 with 4 gig of Ram (2 x 2 gig), and a 1 gig video card.
since XP32 only sees 3.2 gig of ram (including video card mem), im loosing the extra
ram i have.
Should i go to XP64 or Win 7? is Win 7 ready?

whels

[katanaso]

I only played around a little with XP 64-bit when it first came out, but Windows 7 is ready.  I've played around with the RC's for a while, and installed the 32-bit version a few weeks ago on a laptop.

I've been using Vista 64-bit for a year at home, and Windows 7 runs faster on a PC with less RAM and a slower CPU.

In my view, the only reason to stay with XP 64-bit and not go to Windows 7 would be if you're using older peripherals where drives may not be available.

mir

[Chalenge]

I now have a Intel quad 9550 with 4 gig of Ram (2 x 2 gig), and a 1 gig video card.
since XP32 only sees 3.2 gig of ram (including video card mem), im loosing the extra
ram i have.
Should i go to XP64 or Win 7? is Win 7 ready?

whels

Win 7 is less than thirty days from release.

[whels]

which version should i get?  I surf alot, play  2 online games, and a few offline games/sims.
i currently use XP Pro (32 bit).

[TequilaChaser]

Whels,

I have been using Win 7 Ultimate 64bit for a while now.

checked it out during beta, then upgraded it to the Win 7 Ultimate RC 64bit version last MAy when it went public as the Rlease Candidate
and most recently downloaded and installed through my MSDN technet subscription, the Enterprise version of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit... inwhich I can purchase my license when it goes public and will not have to reinstall.......

from my experience it blows windows XP away and have had nothing but shear enjoyment and satisfaction from using it

I also have not had any issues arise regarding driver problems or Software not wanting to work in Windows 7, whether it be 32bit or 64 bit..everything seems to work BETTER, for me anyhow..... YMMV......

[FLS]

Just to clarify, you need 64 bit Win7 to see all your RAM. I believe both versions come on the DVD.

[Ghosth]

You need that last little bit? For what?

IMO better to stick with xp at this point.

Either vista or Win 7 is going to take more hardware to get the same performance your seeing with XP.
So I really don't see the advantage just to get that last bit of ram.

Of course you could always partition and dual boot if your curious.

[FLS]

You're not just getting more RAM Ghost, with Win 7 you're also getting DX11. AH2 doesn't use it but for a game machine it makes a difference. I have a dual boot XP 32bit/Win 7 64bit. I've probably booted XP 3 times in the last 2 months. I haven't checked the newest version of AH2 but 2.14 ran better on Win 7 than on XP for me.

[Chalenge]

Windows 7 Professional x64 is my suggestion.

[TequilaChaser]

between my WinXPpro 32 bit  partiton  and my Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit partition, the Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit completely blows away windowsXPpro....it gives my LCD monitor screen rez 5 more frames over WinXP

winXPpro- monitor max screen rez using 1280x1024 = 70 mhz
Win7Ultimate 64bit- monitor max screen rez using 1280x1024 = 75 mhz

windows 7 Ultimate lets me utilize my total 4 gigs of ram

windows 7 ultimate 64bit, Ah2 never sees a hicup and stays pegged with detail set to the new 4 miles, and all other graphic detail settings maxed out using 1280x1024 screen rez and the hires texture package

in winxppro 32 bit..when smooth shadow is enabled I experience a loss of 30 to 40 fps....not so in win7 ultimate........

I have it set up in a dual boot configuration , using the same computer for both OS installations

My Computer Specs:

Antec 900 Case with (4) 120mm fans ,(1) 200 mm fan ( fans have washable/changable filters on them )
ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe with WiFi
AMD Black Edition 6400 X2  running @ 3.21 ghz  currently reported by cpu-z 1.52 ( full Load running 37/38 degree C )( Stock OEM heatsink/fan )(checked with everest software)( using Artic Sliver 5 thermal compound )
ASUS HD 3870 512 meg DDR4 ( full Load running 40/42 degree C )
(4) Corsair 1 Gig DDR2 800 memory sticks  4-4-4-12
ASUS DVD-DL RW with Lightscribe SATA
ASUS DVD-ROM SATA
(2) hitachi 320 gig SATAII HD's, (1) hitachi 160 gig SATAII HD, (1) hitachi 120 gig SATAII HD
PC Power & Cooling 750watt Silencer PSU
Roswell 9 in 1 Card Reader with 1.44 Floppy Drive
Sound Blaster Fatality Extreme Gamer Professional Sound Card
-Note one of the 320 gig HD's ( my main one I am using most often is partitioned as a Dual Boot with 2 OS's as follows:
1st HD partition has Windows XP Professional SP3 32 bit
2nd HD Partition has Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit (Enterprise MSDN Technet Legal Copy)

thru all the recent patches and new AH versions, I only experienced 1 problem in Windows 7, for some reason which might have been my mistake to begin with, it picked up my onboard HD audio, my Video Card HD audio and my Sound Blaster Fatality Extreme Gamer Professional Sound Card and they were all enabled at the same time, which caused my mic not to work in game..I noticed though it did the same thing on the Windows XPpro partition as well....a quick disabling of the Video HD audio and the Onboard HD audio fixed my mic issue I was having.......

in windows XP pro I experienced a few warps/stutters in I think patch 6 and patch 7........have not experienced anything of the like in windows7 OS.....

outside of the arena wide disco's/game freeze alot of us had back during the last Scenario and one of the FSO's.........

as Ghosth's posted,, I agree that Vista may take more hardware to experience the same or close to same as xp, but I disagree that Win7 will require more.........my personal experience has showed me Windows 7 utilizes a persons PC setup/hardware far better than WinXP does........
I have tested/checked out and used WIndows 7 since around November/Dec of last year, and in my view Windows 7 has been near Rock Solid since they released the Windows 7 RC candidate back in May of this year.......



YMMV.......

[MrRiplEy[H]]

If you want to overclock or use multimedia codecs to watch movies a 32-bit Win7 would be an excellent choice.

x64 has driver enforcement meaning ati tray tools etc. will not be able to run without disabling driver enforcement during every bootup. Also some codecs will fail in x64.

Unless you do some very special stuff that makes you need more than 2Gb of ram at once (meaning you need a 64-bit version of the program) then go x64. If you run AH and regular internet etc. go with 32-bit.

People have a common misconception that they 'lose' some of their ram without realizing they can't use it in the first place if their software is 32-bit.

[Chalenge]

Nonsense. Vista has driver enforcement and out of hundreds of programs I have ever installed I have never had one that did not have a digital signature.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Nonsense. Vista has driver enforcement and out of hundreds of programs I have ever installed I have never had one that did not have a digital signature.

Ati tray tools is one example. I know, I have Win7x64 and it gets disabled every bootup if I forget to disable driver enforcement. If you haven't used it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

99% of userbase have no real reason to use x64. It only brings incompatibilities that are unnecessary unless a specific need for a 64-bit enviroment exists.

My only motivation for using x64 is I'm running compatibility tests and do testing on large databases. For gaming use it's just shooting yourself in the leg.

There are some rare cases x64 is necessary such as having dual 1gig display cards. But again 2 gigs of videoram is 90% wasted in 99% of the applications today.

[TequilaChaser]

It only brings incompatibilities that are unnecessary unless a specific need for a 64-bit enviroment exists.

have not experienced none of these for nearly a year......

For gaming use it's just shooting yourself in the leg.

only game I play specifically is AH2, and have only experienced Greater Improvement of Game play, Game features, etc....... with Win 7 64bit verses WinXPpro 32 bit

My Autocad MEP 2009 works significantly better in Windows 7 64 bit, than it ever did in Windows XP pro 32bit..........and when I upgraded to the 64bit version of Autocad it only got even better results......

but everyone will have differing results, I am sure.........

Unless you do some very special stuff that makes you need more than 2Gb of ram at once (meaning you need a 64-bit version of the program) then go x64.

People have a common misconception that they 'lose' some of their ram without realizing they can't use it in the first place if their software is 32-bit.

completely agree with this as well........ except there is a work around on the MS tech boards that lets a person use significant amount of more ram in a 32 bit windows environment........but I would not post it here for the everyday internet surfing individual to try and manipulate ( read as totally mess up their system )....... they can go search for it on their own and take their own risk 

[Ghastly]

Unless you do some very special stuff that makes you need more than 2Gb of ram at once (meaning you need a 64-bit version of the program) then go x64.

While it doesn't apply too much to a gaming environment, it's worth remembering that even if you only run 32 bit programs, more available RAM means that running more programs simultaneously can mean less swapping to disk and significant improvements in performance - even if each application can access no more memory than it could under a 32 bit OS.  This wouldn't matter as much of course if Window's programs made efficient use of memory - but many do not.  

IMO, of course - but 64 bit is the future.

<S>