Making the switch to Vista, 32-bit or 64-bit?

newtekie1 · Jan 24, 2008

I got a free legal copy of Vista Business Edition. But I was wondering if I should install the 32-bit version or the 64-bit version?

Mainly I am looking for whichever one has better software and driver support at the moment. I am worried the the 64-bit of Vista will be like the 64-bit version of XP.

Kreij · Jan 24, 2008

I think the 64 bit drivers have gotten a lot better for most hardware.
I was thinking of getting a 64 copy and switching myself.

W1zzard · Jan 24, 2008

switch to XP32

Triprift · Jan 24, 2008

The only thing i had a prob when i had to reinstall vista after gettin me lappy back from repairs a few months ago was itunes not working dl drivers and it runs fun now the same as every other programme. Definitly go 64 bit you wont be dissapointed.

Mandown · Jan 24, 2008

I would go 64-bit. I haven't really seen anything that wont work right except for maybe graphic drivers but thats all I've seen that could be wrong. I doubt you'll have many problem except for the common windows Installation issues.

InnocentCriminal · Jan 24, 2008

Why don't you dual boot and use both t'see which one you prefer. That's if the key(s) allow you!

Mussels · Jan 24, 2008

Xp 32 or vista 64. Those are the two options. Got 4GB ram? vista it is.

das müffin mann · Jan 24, 2008

vista 64 supports more ram thats what i would go for

newtekie1 · Jan 24, 2008

W1zzard said:
switch to XP32

I already use XP32, I want something different, I like change. I can't afford new hardware right now, so I need a software change. Plus I really need to start learning Vista for my job, I am getting more and more Vista related tech support questions, and I find them hard to answer because I don't use the OS on a regular basis.

InnocentCriminal said:
Why don't you dual boot and use both t'see which one you prefer. That's if the key(s) allow you!

I find that when I dual-boot I tend to just boot into whatever the first option is on the boot menu most of the time, neglecting the second OS completely.

Mandown · Jan 24, 2008

I noticed more with 64-bit than just the 4gb ram thing, i saw that is was faster. program switching was quicker, and windows all together ran smoother. from all the techies at best buy, circuit city, hell even my college said theres around a 10% better performance over the 32-bit.

rampage · Jan 24, 2008

im using vista X64 and i havent looked back, there were some teething probs and u may find a problem with a app or two switching from Xp X86 but im sure you could find anything u need in X64

asb2106 · Jan 24, 2008

I have installed 32 and 64 bit many of times and I prefer the 64 bit. Basically just for the memory access and program switching. But when it comes to performance(3dmark & other benches) I get almost the same results, varying higher and lower telling me that there isnt much difference. A 32bit app is gonna run at 32bit regardless of the 64bit OS, so its not gonna be any faster just because its 64bit.

I have heard of issues with TV tuners and various other hardware with 64 bit, infact MaximumPC podcast was just talkin about that on last fridays podcast. But I havnt had those issues with my tuner experiences.

I would say go 64 bit because when new apps come out to use it, then you have it.

FYI, i also dual boot a 32 bit XP.

Solaris17 · Jan 24, 2008

im running 64 bit ultimate and everything runs fine iv had no program issues whatsoever...and did i mention its crazy fast?

Mandown · Jan 24, 2008

lol love the avatar solaris :laugh:

Matt18 · Jan 25, 2008

I would definately dual boot. I just left my existing copy of XP32 and got a new HD and installed vista 32 on it. 1 week later I switched to vista 64bit ultimate. No regrets what so ever. Other than I could stream video via media center to my 360 w/ the 32bit, but for some reason the xbox locks up when i try to play it on the 64bit. Can't figure it out...

Either way I noticed a significant improvement w/ vista, it just seems to me to respond faster.

asb2106 · Jan 25, 2008

Matt18 said:
I would definately dual boot. I just left my existing copy of XP32 and got a new HD and installed vista 32 on it. 1 week later I switched to vista 64bit ultimate. No regrets what so ever. Other than I could stream video via media center to my 360 w/ the 32bit, but for some reason the xbox locks up when i try to play it on the 64bit. Can't figure it out...

Either way I noticed a significant improvement w/ vista, it just seems to me to respond faster.

Vista uses the adressing of memory much better, which allows programs to be stored better and respond quicker. Vista is a memory hog for that reason, it will use what you have, on my gaming rig I do alot of other apps too. After leaving it on for a few days without a restart my computer will be using a good 1.4 or more gigs of ram, and some of that might be mem leak but the applications load and run very quick and smoothly. After a restart the programs lag for a second or two until they get loaded into memory. I am a big fan, I think Vista has done a pretty good job

sturge33 · Jan 25, 2008

Vista 64

I went with 64-bit for the extra ram. So far the only thing I can't run is Dscaler or any other TV tuner app. I'm stuck using Media Center but at least the tuner works. I don't use it that often so it's no big deal. I would suggest checking to see if 64-bit drivers are available for your hardware before making the switch though. Most likely they are but you never know.

Mussels · Jan 25, 2008

i'm of the same opinion. The people who rant about hwo vista uses more memory so its gotta be crap, is a dumb idea. Vista uses more ram because we have more ram to use! using ram more means less page file used, so its a GOOD thing.

asb2106 · Jan 25, 2008

Mussels said:
i'm of the same opinion. The people who rant about hwo vista uses more memory so its gotta be crap, is a dumb idea. Vista uses more ram because we have more ram to use! using ram more means less page file used, so its a GOOD thing.

its good talking to people who dont shit on vista left and right. Even when i listen to PC people in the industry(MaximumPC and other podcasts) they still bash vista to this day. There comes a time where there gonna have to deal with it and get used to the fact that you need more than 512mbs ram.

asb2106 · Jan 25, 2008

sturge33 said:
I went with 64-bit for the extra ram. So far the only thing I can't run is Dscaler or any other TV tuner app. I'm stuck using Media Center but at least the tuner works. I don't use it that often so it's no big deal. I would suggest checking to see if 64-bit drivers are available for your hardware before making the switch though. Most likely they are but you never know.

I ran my TV tuner software in compatibility mode and it worked fine, then I used Media Center for awhile and I have no reason to even use the TV tuner software anymore, Vista MC is awesome and really easy!

Mussels · Jan 25, 2008

asb2106 said:
its good talking to people who dont shit on vista left and right. Even when i listen to PC people in the industry(MaximumPC and other podcasts) they still bash vista to this day. There comes a time where there gonna have to deal with it and get used to the fact that you need more than 512mbs ram.

at the local lan events, lots of people are copying my system.

There are now 4 users with the same system as me (motherboard/ram identical, various core 2 duo/quad CPU's, 8800's)

Even with the same overclocks, those on XP loaded up to 30 seconds slower in games - now that most of them have switched to vista 64, the differences between systems are 5-10s, and i believe hard drive related.

Vista is a great OS, as long as you meet the following requirements:
#1: 2GB or more of ram. DDR2 is so cheap these days, you cant argue against this.
#2: decent speed hard drive. 250GB or above, simply because its hard to find a slow 250GB drive

#3: you arent an irrational fanboy who thinks less memory used is faster. memory is faster than hard drives, so using the memory instead of the drive is a damn good thing.

as a side note, 4GB of ram is sexy in vista. Superfetch really shines with 4/8GB of ram, so i reccomend vista x64. If you have a modern system (AM2/core 2) then your hardwares going to be new enough to have driver support.

Dangle · Jan 25, 2008

Vista 64 support is WAAAAAAAAAY better than XP 64

grunt_408 · Jan 25, 2008

Damn I just ordered 32 bit Vista for a customer only coz I didnt want it to have any issues with drivers ect.

thoughtdisorder · Jan 25, 2008

Craigleberry said:
Damn I just ordered 32 bit Vista for a customer only coz I didnt want it to have any issues with drivers ect.

Best of luck, and may the Force be with you..........

EnergyFX · Jan 25, 2008

Vista is awesome. People who bash it and swear to stick with XP until the end are the people that probably enjoy cereal from a black and white box, Hyundais, answering machines with a cassette tape, and probably still play Police Quest.

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
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Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

Processor	Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory	48 GB
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Storage	2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
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Software	Windows 10 64-bit

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Processor	AMD A10 4600m quad core @ 2.3 ghz
Motherboard	dunno
Cooling	Logitech alto connect
Memory	16 Gig ddr3 1600mhz
Video Card(s)	Ati HD 7660G + & 7470M
Storage	1 TB
Audio Device(s)	onboard crap
Software	Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit with sp1

System Name	Rusty Black Dragon <> Spider-Dragon <> Raging Theatah
Processor	Phenom II X4 940BE 3.6 <> Phenom X4 9850BE 3.1 <> Phenom II X3^4 740BE 3.75
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Cooling	ZEROTherm Nirvana <> 2x AC Freezer 64 pro
Memory	4Gb G-skill ripjaws @1200Mhz 5-5-5-18 <> 4Gb - G-skills 1066Mhz <> 4Gb - G-skills 1066Mhz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 4850 X2 <> HIS 3850 TurboX <> HIS 4670
Storage	WD 750GB Caviar Black <> Western Digital 640GB <> 300GB Maxtor + 500GB Seagate
Display(s)	Hanns-G 28" HG281D 1080p <> Acer 22" X223W <> LG 42" LCD 720p
Case	Antec Twelve-Hundred <> NZXT Apollo Black <> NZXT Apollo Orange
Audio Device(s)	SB Audigy-Logitech Z-5300e <> Diamond Xtreme 5.1 <> 4670 HD Audio
Power Supply	Cosair 850w<> Ultra LSP 750w <> Antec 650w Trio-power
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

System Name	BeeR 6
Processor	Intel Core i7 3770K*
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus V Gene (1155/Z77)
Cooling	Corsair H100i
Memory	16GB Samsung Green 1600MHz DDR3**
Video Card(s)	4GB MSI Gaming X RX480
Storage	256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD
Display(s)	27" Samsung C27F591FDU
Case	Fractal Design Arc Mini
Power Supply	Corsair HX750W
Software	64bit Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores	@ 4.6GHz *@ 2133MHz

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	MUFFIN_MACHINE
Processor	i7 920
Motherboard	E760 Classified
Cooling	cooler master gemini II
Memory	6gb ddr3 crucial ballistix
Video Card(s)	TFIII 6950
Storage	500gb wd, samsung spinpoint t series 500gb, 2 tb samsung somthing or other
Display(s)	syncmaster 940bw 19"
Case	Corsair Carbide Series 500R
Audio Device(s)	X-fi extrememusic
Power Supply	Corsair HX 850W
Software	windows 7 64bit
Benchmark Scores	i can drink a pint in 5 seconds flat.

System Name	Rampage 3.0
Processor	i7 3770K 4.2Ghz
Motherboard	ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
Cooling	Corsair 110 (280mm rad)
Memory	16GB G.Skill Sniper F3-1866 10-11-10 CR1
Video Card(s)	2 X gigabyte 7970 ghz edition @1100mhz / 6000mhz
Storage	samsung 500 GB + 128GM crucial M4 ssd
Display(s)	LG IPS235P 23in IPS 1080p
Case	corsair vengance c70 - white
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	Corsair HX-750w
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

System Name	File Server
Processor	2600k
Motherboard	idk
Cooling	H110
Memory	20gb of something
Video Card(s)	onboard!
Storage	2x120 SSD, (5x8tb)+(3x4tb) = 35 TB Z1 pool
Display(s)	couple 4k 32s
Case	cooler master something i think
Audio Device(s)	does anyone bother with anything but onboard?
Power Supply	Whatever OCZ PC Powercooling became. 1200 modular setup
Mouse	MX Master 2x
Keyboard	G710
Software	FreeNAS

System Name	Rocinante
Processor	I9 14900KS
Motherboard	EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling	EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory	64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s)	MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage	1x 500GB 980 Pro \| 1x 1TB 980 Pro \| 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s)	Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case	Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s)	Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply	Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse	Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard	Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD	Quest 3
Software	Windows 11
Benchmark Scores	I dont have time for that.

Processor	C2D E6600 @ 3.1ghz stock voltage
Motherboard	Asus P5B
Cooling	Thermaltake Big Typhoon, Artic Silver 5, 1 92mm out 2 80mm in.
Memory	G.Skill 6GB (2x1gb, 2x2gb) DDR2 800
Video Card(s)	ATI Radeon HD 4770
Storage	WD Caviar 320gb + Barracuda 250gb +WD 640GB Black
Display(s)	Samsung Syncmaster 940BW LCD 19"
Case	Rosewill TU-155
Audio Device(s)	On Board 7.1
Power Supply	Antec 500w Dual 12v rail(17a + 19a) 2 fans
Software	Vista Ultimate x64; Win 7 Pro 64bit

System Name	Vista
Processor	Q6600
Memory	2GB Corsair 800mhz
Video Card(s)	2900XT
Storage	300GB 7.2kRPM Seagate for OS; 74GB 10kRPM WD for Games
Audio Device(s)	XFi
Power Supply	750W

System Name	All Ryze
Processor	Ryzen 7 1700
Motherboard	MSI X370 Pro Carbon
Cooling	Air
Memory	G-skill Flare x 16GB 2400MHz
Video Card(s)	MSI 1080
Storage	Intel 600p NVMe 512GB for OS , 1TB WD Black and a 4TB Toshiba
Display(s)	BENQ PD3200U
Case	Phanteks
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair 750W
Mouse	Logitech G403 wired
Keyboard	G19
Software	Win 10 Pro

System Name	n.audBl
Processor	E8500 @ 3.80GHz
Motherboard	ASUS Striker Extreme
Cooling	Full liquid (everything except power supply)
Memory	4Gb OCZ DDR2 PC9600
Video Card(s)	Dual EVGA GTX 280 SSC Edition
Storage	Dual WD Raptor in RAID 0 (300Gb), Dual WD 1Tb Cavair in RAID 1
Display(s)	Dell 2407 24" HD+ Widescreen
Case	Theraltake Tai-Chi
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Fata1ty (bleh!)
Power Supply	Ultra X3 1000W
Software	Win 7 64bit

Making the switch to Vista, 32-bit or 64-bit?

Which version of Vista has better software and driver support?

32bit

64bit

They are both about the same, so install the 64bit because 64bit is the future man!

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