Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Vista x86 or x64?
- Thread starter menziep
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Go with 32-bit.
Most games are designed for 32-bit and may have problems on 64-bit platform. Also you may have driver issues with the 64-bit version of Vista. From what I've read, it seems you should only go with 64-bit if you have specific applications that can use a 64-bit OS. Otherwise it's not worth the potential headaches.
Most games are designed for 32-bit and may have problems on 64-bit platform. Also you may have driver issues with the 64-bit version of Vista. From what I've read, it seems you should only go with 64-bit if you have specific applications that can use a 64-bit OS. Otherwise it's not worth the potential headaches.
Thanks, I was leaning towards the 32-bit (x86) Version but just couldnt make up my mind.
benefit from 64-bit now...
Sorry for the late reply, but: The opposite of what you say is equally true.
Some games burn a lot of user memory and can hit the 2GB ceiling enforced by 32-bit Windows. 64-bit Windows will in many cases double the limit for 32-bit processes and give these games (and apps) more room to grow... (see http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3034 for a longwinded discussion on this topic)
Note that this is virtual memory. It matters little whether you have 1GB physical memory or 4GB. (although, as you get more than 3GB physical memory combined with the latest powerful graphics card, you'll need to use 64-bit Windows so you can utilize all of your memory -- again, see the article above)
As for games, the biggest problem is shoddy copy protection schemes. Most (if not all) of them have been patched to support x64, but not all games have released patches with upgraded copy protection code. (stupid, but true: You buy a game and you only own it for a limited time -- don't plan on any hw or OS upgrades unless you get your hands on a pirated version)
--
Rune
Sorry for the late reply, but: The opposite of what you say is equally true.
Some games burn a lot of user memory and can hit the 2GB ceiling enforced by 32-bit Windows. 64-bit Windows will in many cases double the limit for 32-bit processes and give these games (and apps) more room to grow... (see http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3034 for a longwinded discussion on this topic)
Note that this is virtual memory. It matters little whether you have 1GB physical memory or 4GB. (although, as you get more than 3GB physical memory combined with the latest powerful graphics card, you'll need to use 64-bit Windows so you can utilize all of your memory -- again, see the article above)
As for games, the biggest problem is shoddy copy protection schemes. Most (if not all) of them have been patched to support x64, but not all games have released patches with upgraded copy protection code. (stupid, but true: You buy a game and you only own it for a limited time -- don't plan on any hw or OS upgrades unless you get your hands on a pirated version)
--
Rune
That is the word on the street, however in order for a driver to get WHQL certified, it HAS to support the x64 version of Vista. Drivers are currently an issue for 32-bit as well (although it makes little sense as OEMs have had a LONG time to prepare and the changes AFAIK aren't that big, except for the video drivers).
And as I wrote, some 32-bit games run better under 64-bit Windows. Some apps, like e.g. Photoshop run quite a bit better as well (One of the Adobe guys wrote a whitepaper about memory management and x64 Windows after the CS2 release). This has been the case for quite a while now.
When dealing with a MacBook Pro, the number of devices that need drivers is limited. You don't need Vista to support every device in the world -- just the ones you're using.
