Vista 32 or 64?

[Holesto]

I'm building a new gaming system to play the most recent games. I have a thread with my projected build here

My only question is should i go with the 64 bit version of Vista home premium or the 32 bit? Going to have 4 gigs of RAM and I've read that 32 only supports up to 3? Is this true? And will 32 or 64 make games run better?

[Statica]

It's true that a 32bit OS can only see ~3GB of RAM. As for performance of your game, it comes down to checking to see compatibility of your game with a 64bit environment. Usually, if you consider systems with the same RAM and hardware spec, the difference in performance is usually very minimal. What you should consider a 64bit environment for is if you're sure that your hardware and software will run well within it .. if so, you obviously have a lot more scope with the 64bit OS.

Personally, am running Vista x64 and it's not so much that I find it faster than the 32bit .. but my preference is based on the expandability of the system given that my hardware and s/w is quite stable.

[ckilleen]

It also depends on your tech level as well as you sytem. I tried both 64 bit as well as 32 bit on my computer and I would say stay with window XP. There are still to many problems with vista. all it take with vista is on little bit of hardware that doesn;t work with vista and you will have a bunch of trouble. for exampl my DVD drive didn;t work with 64 bit which caused my system to crash extremely often, by the way the DVD drive said vista combatable.

I would just say stick with XP till windows 7 comes out. maybe that will be better

[sprinter922]

Just built a brand new system off Vista 32 bit. I don't know about all this 32 and 64 bit, but dude I can play Crysis and currently Age of Conan in max resolution with max graphics on a 22" wide screen and it looks beautiful. AoC lags a bit cause it's a new game but Crysis has no problem. I'm gonna have to say Vista does have it's... problems. But if all the drivers on your system are solid and you keep your register and **** clean it'll run solid.

[suzuki16]

Vista definately recognises 4 gig of ram with Service pack one installed.

Jack

[Force Flow]

Vista 64-bit is reasonably well supported, unlike XP 64-bit, though it's not without problems when using older hardware not supported under vista, or 3rd-party software not designed for vista, and especially for not for vista 64.

But, I have vista 64 on a tablet a work, and so far, it seems to run okay for the most part. Granted, I overlook some of the more minor issues since it isn't my main workstation.

[shadowpr]

Been using Vista 64 HP since August, and have had no problems. Almost entirely new software in a new build. All peripherals are new as well.

Haven't had any problems gaming either that couldn't be solved by making some in game tweaks.