Topic sez it all, Is 64 bit a performance boost in win7 for sims and fps over 32 bit vista?

Thanx

I would think it is worth it, for the simple reason alone that a 64-bit system can use as much RAM as you have, whereas you're capped at 3.5/4gig RAM on a 32-bit system.

For 'sims'...games in general...I agree with Ice. On the other hand for the computering *I* do, this "i7-950...6 GB RAM" 64 bitter seems no different from my "Q9500...3 GB RAM" 32 bitter.... both VISTA, and the same seems to exist when I have this computer Upgraded to W7.

I'd suspect the Video Board would remain the limiting factor...eh?

It's probably no different in most situations, but there is neither any extra effort or trouble for going 64-bit, contrary to the thread title. So there's no reason not to.

yep, confirm what Joe said. Like I put it in another post, going from Nvidia to ATI and sorting out the various game "fixes" was much more effort than moving from XP 32bit to Win7 64bit.

I figure that even though 32 bit is fine for me now, Win 7 (I hope) will be around for a long time and eventually may really make a difference. Might as well plan for the future than have to re-buy it later on. You can't upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit, it would require a clean install, if that makes a difference to you.
Note: I said this about Vista as well. LOL

I probably oughta keep my Pie-Hole shut, but I have to agree with "Raw"... 32 bit is/was fine for me too. If I could have bought THIS computer [lastest and greatest]... in 32, I'd have done it. My larger reservation is W7 itself. I've run it now for a couple weeks. *I* see nothing, nada, zip... that it does, that Basic VISTA doesn't...here. Further, my list of 'little gripes'/ awkward things has grown to six regulars. I suppose it is foolish to set myself up for the firing squad, but I'd like to compare the news Stat about the HUGE success of W7 [as measured by copies purchased] against a poll of Real World User Happiness with it. And I do know that 'A Man Will Defend to the Death That Which He Is Stuck With' [or paid good money for]

Back to the safety of my cave...

B

32bit is working fine for me as I have no use for unlimited amounts of RAM. I'm also using a lot of old software that works great in Win 7 32 like MS Digital Image suite 2006. I read it won't work at all on 64bit.

Windows 7 (and Vista) may not work so well on older hardware that's been running XP.

However, if you have the hardware to run Windows 7 and the software that works with it, then 64bit is little or no added effort over 32b.

The main value of 64b over 32b is in getting extra memory in some cases. Mainly, it makes up for the memory addresses lost when one uses a GPU with a lot of memory -- most are going to 1GB now, and that comes "off the top" with 32b -- its virtually free with 64b.

In the long run, as more applications are coded in 64b, there will be a definite speedup with well coded programs. Its not just extra memory. Working with 64b "chunks" gets more work done per CPU cycle for some machine instructions. Mostly, the speedup on well coded games will be in the 10 percent range (could be more or less). 10 percent is significant. For example, a lot of people pay a lot more for a GPU that gives 5 to 10 percent more. In the best cases, some test programs that just move stuff around ran almost twice as fast with 64b vs 32b on Linux (don't know how well that would work with Windows).

Anyhow, yeh, I agree with the above posts

I chose 32bit for my Windows 7 install. Wanting to run some older software, and a successful testing period with the RC were enough to satisfy me. The one main advantage I'd see with 64 bit, more RAM, I don't have and don't plan on with this build.

Happily, I as times change I can always use my 64 install media when needed. For those who don't know, my Windows 7 Upgrade Retail came with two DVDs in the box, one for 32 and 64 bit.