Worth upgrading to 64bit?

yusuo

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I'm currently using a netbook with 2gb ram, I know its not amazing but some time in the future I would like to upgrade my ram. Now im sitting here with a 64bit version of Windows 7 and im contemplating whether its worth upgrading. My netbook has a 64 bit compatible processor and im really thinking about upgrading now. Is it worth it. I don't do alot on my PC, watch a couple of HD films and do college work.
 

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From experience I can tell you that 64bit systems are pretty darn swell, if you haven't checked them out yet, give'em a test drive. Fair play, they require a tad more RAM, but it's all well-worth it.
 
D

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More RAM is always good. Although I'm not sure a netbook is worth the upgrade, if you have the funds do it.

Agreed

The OS will benefit from the processor but the programs wont unless they are 64- bit apps. x32 or x86 bit apps should work exactly the same as they do now. and i agree with "foxi4" too
 

yusuo

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From experience I can tell you that 64bit systems are pretty darn swell, if you haven't checked them out yet, give'em a test drive. Fair play, they require a tad more RAM, but it's all well-worth it.
well my pc is pretty quick anyway, seeing as i dont do anything intensive, and the ram ill get in a bout a month, hoping to get a 8gb ddr3 stick. for mild video editing. Its just a big job reformating and re-installing everything in 64bit
 
D

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From experience I can tell you that 64bit systems are pretty darn swell, if you haven't checked them out yet, give'em a test drive. Fair play, they require a tad more RAM, but it's all well-worth it.
well my pc is pretty quick anyway, seeing as i dont do anything intensive, and the ram ill get in a bout a month, hoping to get a 8gb ddr3 stick. for mild video editing. Its just a big job reformating and re-installing everything in 64bit

remember all your apps in 32 bit will work in 64 just if the apps are 64 with that 64 processor they would perform better.
 

Foxi4

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From experience I can tell you that 64bit systems are pretty darn swell, if you haven't checked them out yet, give'em a test drive. Fair play, they require a tad more RAM, but it's all well-worth it.
well my pc is pretty quick anyway, seeing as i dont do anything intensive, and the ram ill get in a bout a month, hoping to get a 8gb ddr3 stick. for mild video editing. Its just a big job reformating and re-installing everything in 64bit
Oh, if you're planning on video editing, switching to 64bit will be a BIG step-up. Converting and compressing data is where 64bit systems excel compared to the 32bit ones - you're merely unleashing the full potential of your processor.

Just remember that you'll need 64bit versions of your applications - otherwise it'll go straight through WOW64 (Windows on Windows compatibility layer), possibly making the performance *worse* than on a 32bit system.
 

yusuo

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From experience I can tell you that 64bit systems are pretty darn swell, if you haven't checked them out yet, give'em a test drive. Fair play, they require a tad more RAM, but it's all well-worth it.
well my pc is pretty quick anyway, seeing as i dont do anything intensive, and the ram ill get in a bout a month, hoping to get a 8gb ddr3 stick. for mild video editing. Its just a big job reformating and re-installing everything in 64bit
Oh, if you're planning on video editing, switching to 64bit will be a BIG step-up. Converting and compressing data is where 64bit systems excel compared to the 32bit ones - you're merely unleashing the full potential of your processor.

Just remember that you'll need 64bit versions of your applications - otherwise it'll go straight through WOW64 (Windows on Windows compatibility layer), possibly making the performance *worse* than on a 32bit system.
Yeah I have to go on a 64 bit app shopping spree, or piracy as i like to call it, i only have a few paid apps anyways, mainly office 2010 being the most important.. think this is my mission tonight now, just prepping the usb drive now and then im on it. Got all my drivers already just in case, got no other pc so wifi driver is most important, without that. I cant do anything.

Wish me luck
 

Alexrose

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I'd say until you hit the 4GB mark there's no real point in using 64 bit.

Especially if it's presumably DDR2.

64 Bit processors can use >3GB, 32 can only harness up to 2GB but it's a lot more ram intensive.

At any rate, you won't notice any benefit in upgrading software. I didn't even see THAT much of a *huge* difference after a jump from a 3GHz dual core processor to an overclocked 4.8GHz quad core, 2gb 800Mhz DDR2 to 16GB 2133Mhz DDR3, HDD to SSD, and a 5750 to to crossfired 6850s. Installing a new OS will make no significant difference whatsoever at low specs.
 

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I'd say until you hit the 4GB mark there's no real point in using 64 bit.

Especially if it's presumably DDR2.

64 Bit processors can use >3GB, 32 can only harness up to 2GB but it's a lot more ram intensive.

At any rate, you won't notice any benefit in upgrading software. I didn't even see THAT much of a *huge* difference after a jump from a 3GHz dual core processor to an overclocked 4.8GHz quad core, 2gb 800Mhz DDR2 to 16GB 2133Mhz DDR3, HDD to SSD, and a 5750 to to crossfired 6850s. Installing a new OS will make no significant difference whatsoever at low specs.
You're probably running applications in 32bit mode, alternatively you're running them on single-core or dual-core affinity which can be changed. Everything depends on whether an application is CPU-intensive or GPU-intensive, and there's a huge difference between 32 and 64bit systems when it comes to performance in CPU-intensive tasks.

I'm running Windows 7 64bit at *2GB* and it runs perfectly fine. Hell, I even tested Windows 8 and it didn't choke.
 

Alexrose

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Thanks for the concern, but I'm a programmer, I know to run my applications x64.

I just take good care of my PCs and don't use any advanced modelling software etc., so the only major difference was switching to an SSD, where basic operations got faster. Okay I can my games at higher graphics settings, but that's nothing to do with my OS, and I'm no graphics whore.
 

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If it's a netbook I think the processor's going to be weak to the point of being the obvious bottleneck in video editing...
Which is probably why one would want it to work at full capacity and using 64bit words, or at the very least give it a shot. ;)

Go 64, turn off some of the "useless" Aero effects and animations that you barely even notice, disable unwanted services (I mean, the Tablet PC sevice is running regardless of whether or not a computer even has a touchscreen. There's plenty of those that you can get rid of), disable indexing (damn, does that slow down HDD's or what? If you don't use the Search function often, you might as well turn it off) and keep your drive defragmented (Auslogic is a fantastic tool - not only it works better than the stock Windows tool, but it also groups System files in the so-called "fast access areas" of the HDD - nifty stuff). That, and change booting properties to boot with two cores at once (if the processor is dual-core) - boosts the process quite significantly.

That way, you get all the advantages of 64bit processing without putting too much stress on the processor by the background processes.
 

yusuo

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So I finally installed 64bit alls nice and smooth, well apart from Microsoft update, this thing takes the piss it's been going for 2 hours trying to install 92 updates and were on 65 so far. I really do hate Microsoft. Why does it take so friggin long?
 

yusuo

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If it's a netbook I think the processor's going to be weak to the point of being the obvious bottleneck in video editing...
Which is probably why one would want it to work at full capacity and using 64bit words, or at the very least give it a shot. ;)

Go 64, turn off some of the "useless" Aero effects and animations that you barely even notice, disable unwanted services (I mean, the Tablet PC sevice is running regardless of whether or not a computer even has a touchscreen. There's plenty of those that you can get rid of), disable indexing (damn, does that slow down HDD's or what? If you don't use the Search function often, you might as well turn it off) and keep your drive defragmented (Auslogic is a fantastic tool - not only it works better than the stock Windows tool, but it also groups System files in the so-called "fast access areas" of the HDD - nifty stuff). That, and change booting properties to boot with two cores at once (if the processor is dual-core) - boosts the process quite significantly.

That way, you get all the advantages of 64bit processing without putting too much stress on the processor by the background processes.

Right I know how to turn off indexing but how do I do the rest of the stuff, boot dual core, turn off tablet of etc
 

Zetta_x

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So I finally installed 64bit alls nice and smooth, well apart from Microsoft update, this thing takes the piss it's been going for 2 hours trying to install 92 updates and were on 65 so far. I really do hate Microsoft. Why does it take so friggin long?

Tell me about it, everytime I have to re-install windows 7 at my work, we have the original disc (not service pack 1). Takes about 4 hours to get through all of the updates and you can't install anything while windows is installing updates.

Make sure you have drivers for everything ---> Devmgmt.msc on the run console (windows button + r). Keep in mind, if you have drivers for everything they may not be the most up to date ones.
 

Zetta_x

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Why not use Vlite to slipstream SP1 in an install disc?

Wouldn't make my supervisor comfortable =(

We do it on such a large scale any modifications we do have to be not only reviewed but super ensured they won't cause problems in the long run.
 

Foxi4

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Right I know how to turn off indexing but how do I do the rest of the stuff, boot dual core, turn off tablet of etc
Boot affinity can be changed by turning on MSCONFIG.EXE from the Run bar. Select the Boot tab and click on the Advanced Settings button.

To fully disable Indexing (not just on the drive Properties menu) and other services, you need to right-click on Computer and select the Manage option. There you should find an option called Services and Applications. Now, all you have to do is change their Startup setting from Automatic to Manual or Disabled (depending on whether you use them or not and how often).

To disable Aero that you don't need, enter the Personalize menu (not necessary).

To disable some of the Visual Effects, go to Computer again, select Properties and then Advanced and finally Performance. From there, you can find the Settings menu with a Custom option. The only few options you really need not to make the system look nasty are the last few - notably Visual Styles.

Here's a list of Services that you can comfortably disable or set to manual depending on your preferences: http://www.computing...7-that-can.html
Here's a list of all the Services - you may find additional ones that you don't need, and disabling them will enhance performance: http://www.blackvipe...configurations/

Good luck with your tweaking and have fun!
 

Coconuts 500

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"64 bit" itself will not give you any kind of performance boost. 64 bit applications do not run faster than their 32 bit counterparts. The only benefit to "upgrading" to a 64 bit OS is that you can have more than 3 GiB RAM. Generally it is adviced to stay on 32 bit as long as you don't need that extra RAM, as 32 bit applications and drivers are usually more stable and faster.

In addition, there is very little performance difference between 2 GB RAM and more, for general computer use.
 

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