Going back from Windows 7 64 bit to 32 bit. Will I notice it?

I recently got a new laptop with Windows 7 64 bit on it. So far I'm loving it. It responds very fast.

Now there is one problem, my Wimax dongle is not supported in x64. So if I want it working I'll need to go back to 32 bit.

If I do go back to 32 bit, will I notice it?

I noticed I don't use ANY 64 bit application.

 

no you wont. espencially once you get your ssd, the performance difference between both are not really detectable anymore.

 

You wont notice it... unless you have 1-2 gig ram

 

X64 is highly overrated. Its only good to make full use of your memory, but other than that, not really the biggest difference.

Maybe on some advanced programs that has x64 versions, but not for everyday stuff, atleast not for me.

 

No you won't notice it. The architectural change isn't really so much for end users as it is for developers(so they can use 64bit architecture in their softwares) so the differences and gains are marginal at best. Once the switch is fully made(which could be in a few years' time) perhaps the end user will see more of a change(like from 16bit to 32bit), but for now it's kiff-kiff as lots of softwares are still 32bit and a 64bit OS just runs them in 32bit compatibility mode.

So short answer: No you won't notice much of a performance drop if any at all.

 

Firefox (during start up) lags like crazy in 64-bit for me. Go with 32-bit for now.

 

Depends on what you want to do.
Maybe in applications that are data and CPU heavy - e.g. Photoshop you could notice it (also RAM heavy) - but normal use, doubtful.

 

Gaming is shifting towards x64, so you may notice a performance difference on RAM heavy games. Otherwise, no I don't think you'll see a performance hit.

 

This.

Photoshop is one area where 64 bit is quite noticeable.

 

but only if you use photoshop in 64bit mode and have much ram (>4gb)

 

Update to this. I've been going back and forth between 32 and 64 bit Windows 7.

Windows 7 64 bit feels noticeably snappier to me.

 

I will never go back to a 32bit OS.

Windows 7 64bit has been amazing to me.

 

Is it me or does x64 boot slower than x86? I really feels like it does, at my laptop, not really my desktop.

 

if youve got 4gb of ram then using 32b only 3.1gb will be seen and used so you lose almost 1gb

 

I think he understands that, but wants to know if there are any noticeable differences (mainly speed) to the naked eye.

I don't think it would be too big a problem, unless you're into those programs that are resource demanding.

 

I asked the question a couple of months ago. The answer then was I wouldn't notice the difference.

Now after switching back and forth a couple of times I feel like I do notice the difference. x64 runs noticeably snappier on my HP DM3.

 

I do notice W7 64bit to be snappier wrt the UI and things loading. My problem with 64 bit relates to gaming and not that the problem lies with the OS but rather the 64 bit Nvidia drivers tend to suck.

I have some racing games and sims that skip and sputter along when using Nvidia 64 bit drivers on my 9800GTX+. Magically though when I run the same game under a 32 bit environment those same games are as smooth as silk. So I decided to stick with 32 bit and lose .5GB of memory.

 

oh no you lé didnt !
you sure it isnt powermizer messing up or something?

 

Are you testing this with both of them at the front of the hard drive and fresh-ish installs? If Win7x64 is near the beggining of the HDD and x86 is not, that would explain the difference in snappiness.

I ask because, having used both XP x86 and XP x64 for weeks at a time and with both installed at the beginning of the same hard drive, I did not notice any increase in snappiness from running a 64-bit OS - even when using lightweight 64-bit apps such as web browsers, I didn't notice a difference (I don't have a Photoshop behemoth to test with).

Can't say I've personally tested this with Vista or 7 - only ever used Vista in 32-bits, and 7 in 64-bit beta (natively - used RC in a VM). So maybe there is a difference there.

 

Both fresh installs. Maybe the HP DM3 runs better with x64. It has 4GB DDR3 RAM (not that that explains it).

It seems like everything runs a bit faster. Tabs in Firefox open quicker, shutting down goes quicker etc.

I understand theoretically there should not be this difference. In reality it does seem to be there.

Although there is one other possible explanation: the reason I installed 32 bit was for a Wimax dongle that did not support x64. When running x64 the Wimax dongle is not installed.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back with Win 7 x64.

 

32bit OS does use 4gb RAM, what you see is the available RAM but the rest are used by the video card and what nots. x64 for me seems to load a little slower but once it's running there's not much diff in speed. Even with 8gb RAM 6.4gb RAM is still available when everything is loaded (Dell XPS m1530). I guess with the newest processors it's running more efficiently.

 

Can you get a new Wimax dongle that works with 64-bit?

 

My provider doesn't have it. No problem, I stopped using Wimax anyway.

That's why I could go back to x64.

 

Whoa, provider that doesn't support 64-bit - fail.

 

True, in terms of performance x64 may actually be slower(with lots of prevalent 32-bit only applications, running in emulation mode, and the 64-bit ones consuming slightly more memory due to the 64-bit addressing).

 

A 64-bit OS itself can use all 4 GB of RAM.