Vista/RAM/Gaming

Well, I`ve recently got a notebook and I´m trying to decide whether or not to migrate to Vista 64 bit. Right now I´m using Vista Home Prem. 32 bit, but I´ve been thinking, when it comes to gaming, would it better if I upgraded to 4 GB RAM and got a copy of Vista 64 bit? (say home premium again). You can get an OEM copy really cheap here in Germany. The point is, what do you think would be better for gaming (given all the other specs remain the same, i.e. 2 x 2.2 Ghz. T7500, nVidia 8600 GT 512 Mb., 120 Gb. HDD at 7200 rpm):

1. Windows Vista 32 bit (Home premium) + 3 Gb.RAM (if I do that, I´d lose the dual channel mode, wouldn´t I? Would that hit game performance really bad, given the fact that I´d actually add 1 GB RAM more?)

2. Windows Vista 64 bit (Home premium) + 4 Gb. RAM

I´ve been pretty satisfied with Home Premium 32 bit, the only reason that I want to change over to 64 bit is the increased amount of RAM, but would 4 Gb. (2 x 2 + dual channel mode) be that different from 3 Gb (no dual mode) when it comes to playing games?

 

according to what I've read, dual channel only increases performane by 3-5%. which is not really high imo. and if u have the option of going to 64 bit for cheap, id say go for it but ONLY if you can locate ALL drivers before you change OSes. but dual channel vs non dual channel would not be a. big performance difference.

 

OK, thanks. But if that´s the case, then, wouldn´t it be better if I keep the 32 bit Vista? I mean 3 gb is less than 4 gb, but I´ve read that vista 64 bit is quite memory hungry. I mean I don´t mind reinstalling everything, but if it basically needs twice more RAM for all dlls and stuff... On a typical day my Vista 32 bit uses 0.4-0.6 Gb RAM. If the 64 bit version would use 0.8-1.2 gb, then the 64 bit windows would typically use, say, half a gb more.
The difference between 32 bit with 3gb and 64 bit with 4 gb would be then ... about half a gb ram more, available for applications.
On other hand, as you said, there would be 3-5% hit on performance due to the lack of dual channel mode (3 gb with 32 bit windows).
I wonder what the negative hit would be when using 64 bit OS with 32 bit software (games). I´m not much of a geek and I´ve no clue about it. But t seems that the performance would be pretty much the same or quite similar in both cases. Or am I wrong?

 

64-bit cpus using 64-bit OS sometimes are even faster running 32-bit code (games for instance). It is not always the case, but gaming will not suffer that is true.

I would summarize some thoughts to all stated above like this:
1. First be sure you have all drivers for all devices for 64-bit Vista
2. Then consider how much RAM you actually need. Is you need 4 GB - here you go. The "memory hungry" statement for 64 bit Vista is overrated. All Vistas are "memory hungry" anyway. Vista actually uses all available ram. Always. Superfetch. 4 is better than 3.
3. Dual channel is nothing to worry about. It is faster, but not too much. 4 GB dual channel is better than 3 GB not dual channel.

I would go for 64-bit 4 GB dualchannel if you find all drivers.

Cheers,
Ivan

 

I recently upgraded to 3GB of RAM with Windows Vista Ultimate 64 and I sure as noticed performance increase in gaming. So I can just imagine 4GB would be even better.

 

I recall seeing that XP 32bit > Vista 64bit > Vista 32bit > XP 64bit in gaming benchmarks... I don't remember the thread though.

 

I was planning to get vista 64bit and 4GB ram...
But some people said that that 3GB is more than enough so then i was thinking for getting one 2GB stick and keep my vista 32bit


But NOW i'm thinking again for getting 4GB ram AND vista 64 bit... LOL
Now, serious: Does Vista 64 bit really give a performance boost? And does 4GB ram really give a performance boost?

And what is that boost then (like how much fps ingame,...) ?