Reluctant to go 64bit with my 1555 order...

Hi all,

I'm all set to order my 1555 except that I'm in two minds whether to get a 32bit or 64bit system.

I want to stay with 32bit coz that what I'm using,(with xp) and it works but want to go for the 64bit coz that's what all systems to moving towards now. I'm aware that the former can only utilise 3.3G RAM(I'm getting 4G with mine) and the potential of the latter is higher with more RAM should I want to upgrade in future.

My questions are:

1) Is there somewhere on the web that I could check if the programs I use now and intend to use the laptop for, are compatible with a 64bit system?

2) I'll be getting the P8600 2.40Ghz, 3MB, 1066MHz with 4G RAM. How much performance difference are we talking about between the two systems?

3) With the free Windows 7 upgrade, will they send ONLY the corresponding upgrade installation dvd? Otherwise, if they were to send both, I can try both out and see for myself.

Though some might not work altogether, I've heard that some 32bit software will run under a 64bit system but on the contrary run even slower? Can anyone confirm this?

If I stick to the 32bit now, and I want to move on to 64bit, will Dell just send me the installation disc?

Thank you for your time.

 

I believe most software will run on 64 bit, but not slower, just normal. I think it runs faster if it is 64 bit.

 

I believe most software will run on 64 bit, but not slower, just normal. I think it runs faster if it is 64 bit.

A quick google search will likely tell you about any compatibility issues.

Your configuration will not be able to address 768 MB of ram on your comp if chosen as 32 bit, not sure about other issues.

Dell will only send you the corresponding version of Windows 7 as your Vista selection, so there's that as well.

 

I have used 64 bit from the word go with Vista and now the release candidate of Windows 7. The only problems I've had is typically with open source software that requires low level drivers. These need to be signed in 64bit, and as this costs money they are not always done so.

However, for most things there are work arounds.

What software do you intend to use?

 

Nero, Photoshop CS4, ACDSee Pro 2.5, utorrent, MS Office 2007, MediaMonkey, Itune, Firefox, Matlab, Acronis True Image, Messenger, Skpye, WinASO, CCleaner, WinAVI, MagicISO, PowerISO, MiniLyrics, RocketDock....

 

OK, I know Photoshop, MS Office, Itunes, Firefox, Matlab, Acronis, Messenger, Skype, CCleaner all work fine. Others will need to pipe in for other pieces of software - or do a google search on them to find out if there have been any problems.

 

From what I've found, a majority of apps work with x64, but those third party things (NHC and those types) are a bit iffy.

 

I can confirm MagicISO, uTorrent and Nero work fine in 64-bit. iTunes not only works, as Fragilexx mentioned, but is available in a native 64-bit version.

For any others, google appname and 64-bit and you should have an answer in seconds.

About the upgrade, I know that the upgrades that were available for purchase from Microsoft until early July combine 32 and 64 bit on one DVD. No real way of knowing if that will apply to Dell's OEM upgrade disks though. I would think so - if it can be done, it's much easier on them for inventory purposes.

I believe the upgrade disks though are designed to upgrade only. I don't think you'll be able to switch back and forth without reinstalling Vista. In other words I *think* you can probably use the disk to install your choice of 32-or-64 regardless of what version of Vista you have installed, but you can't use it to switch Windows 7 64 to 32 or vice versa without reinstalling Vista first.

 

In the next 2 years everything will be 64 bit probably except maybe for phones or something, and before long even those will be 64 bit.

 

can't wait for the 1024bit..

 

haha well we can have up to like 10billion times the standard ram before it will be necessary to 'upgrade' to the next bit level...

 

I think that once ssd gets hold, ram will be rendered obsolete .

I thought that the new intel board (i7 i think) already support unlimited ram?

 

Nah not unlimited RAM, but a lot of it. Don't expect so much RAM in notebooks though - the limited space means we need to see a physical shrinking of the modules before much more can be added.

 

Well to have unlimited ram you'd also need unlimited slots. My Studio XPS Desktop supports up to 12 GB. The Studio XPS 435 supports up to 24 GB. The XPS 730x Gaming Desktop supports 6 GB.

I doubt there are any uses right now that could make use of 24 GB without first running into roadblocks with the hard drive, GPU or the processor.

 

Running a huge database would be one instance. Setting temporary database sizes etc to be held in RAM up until they reach over 20GB for example would mean a lot to someone writing large MySQL databases. unfortunately it would probably also lead to a lot of unoptimised code.

 

I was just like you, reluctant to get 64bit, but it has been working very well for me on Windows 7.

I was even surprised I could still run Photoshop 7.

 

You mean skynet?

 

Only program I haven't found a good replacement/workaround for that had issues with 64 bit OS is Cisco VPN software. Only there latest software works under 64, but you need to be running there newer hardware.

 

Also the Merlin XU870 HSDPA expresscard is a real pain to try to get working under 64bit in some instances.

 

This is why I'm running Windows 7 32-bit!

There is supposed to be a 3-rd party solution, but I couldn't get it to work with my company's set up (not all of which I know about, as I'm an end user, not an IT guy). Fortunately the whole company is going Windows 7-64 next year, so they'll have to find a solution.

 

Thank you for everyone's input. I think I might just take the plunge.