Advice- 32 bit or 64 bit for low RAM (2 gigs)

[Sabsaban baby]

So I'm still running XP and I'm going to upgrade soon to Windows 7 or 8.1 but I can't decide if I should get the 32 bit or the 64 bit.

I have 2 gigs of RAM (yes, I know) and I heard 64 bit uses more RAM than 32 bit, but I'm not sure.

So, performance is my main concern.


(Please don't tell me to upgrade my RAM).

[kevin]

Not upgrading your ram defeats the main purpose of upgrading to 64 bit.

For gaming, that is.

[PowerHaus930]

I'm not sure of the performance difference between 32 and 64 bit windows but I would highly recommend going with 64 bit because eventually you will need to upgrade your RAM (i'm not saying you have to do it now) and in order to be able to use more than 4GB of RAM you need a 64 bit operating system. I haven't used or even seen the layout of Windows 8.1 so I can't say anything about it either way but I have 7 and I like it. I have heard some people say that Windows 8.1 is not as user friendly as 7 is and that it is geared more towards touchscreen devices so the interface is alot different. Check out the minimu/recommended requirements for Windows 7/8.1 t6o be sure that your PC is capable of running either of them and if your PCs specificationss are on the lower side or more toward the recommended specs.

[AbedsBrother]

2 GB of ram? If you're planning to have 2 GB of ram for the life of the machine, then 32 bit is fine. 64-bit uses approximately 200 - 500 MB more ram at idle than 32-bit. With only 2 GB, I'd want to preserve as much of my ram as possible.

And if you have integrated graphics, the actual useable ram you have is less than 2 GB.

[Sabsaban baby]

Originally posted by abedsbrother:

64-bit uses approximately 200 - 500 MB more ram at idle than 32-bit.

rly? That's a deal breaker.

Originally posted by abedsbrother:

And if you have integrated graphics, the actual useable ram you have is less than 2 GB.

Oh, no. I have a GTX 460. My hardware isn't much, but it can run games just fine.

[UberFiend]

64bit uses around 1gb for basic operation.

Consider how long you expect to stay with the new windows & whether you'll need to upgrade your computer within that period (which I would strongly suggest).

If you do decide to pick up some more ram (even just another 2gb) or upgrade something down the track 64bit is the best placed to take full advantage of it.
Otherwise you'll have to add the expense of another OS going from x86 to x64 ontop of any improvements, which would really suck.

I'm guessing you have DDR2 ram which is a killer, and at most a 2core CPU. You would be doing yourself a big favour moving into the 21st Century.

[Sabsaban baby]

Originally posted by UberFiend:

64bit uses around 1gb for basic operation.

I'm guessing you have DDR2 ram which is a killer, and at most a 2core CPU. You would be doing yourself a big favour moving into the 21st Century.

No. Quad core 3ghz CPU. Nothing to brag about, but still ok. Everything is fine except the RAM (and OS, of course)

[Veristä mössöä]

Originally posted by Bat Girl:

Originally posted by abedsbrother:

64-bit uses approximately 200 - 500 MB more ram at idle than 32-bit.

rly? That's a deal breaker.

That's the basic purpose of windows memory management ( and the way how 64bit OS uses it more efficiently ). Free memory is ultimately waste of resources. It prefetches things there so at the end computer will work faster.

And for the 64 vs 32 bit, there are more reasons to use 64 than just memory limit. For example 64-bit is way more secure OS to use.

http://www.howtogeek.com/165535/why-the-64-bit-version-of-windows-is-more-secure/

Only reason I can think to stick with 32-bit OS is if there are no drivers for 64bit (really old machines)

In nutshell, check things after heading: The Benefits and Shortcomings of 64-bit Computing

http://www.howtogeek.com/56701/htg-explains-whats-the-difference-between-32-bit-and-64-bit-windows-7/

[time goblin]

ram is so cheap why would you not get more?

[Sabsaban baby]

Originally posted by ontelo:

Originally posted by Bat Girl:

rly? That's a deal breaker.

That's the basic purpose of windows memory management ( and the way how 64bit OS uses it more efficiently ). Free memory is ultimately waste of resources. It prefetches things there so at the end computer will work faster.

And for the 64 vs 32 bit, there are more reasons to use 64 than just memory limit. For example 64-bit is way more secure OS to use.

http://www.howtogeek.com/165535/why-the-64-bit-version-of-windows-is-more-secure/

Only reason I can think to stick with 32-bit OS is if there are no drivers for 64bit (really old machines)

In nutshell, check things after heading: The Benefits and Shortcomings of 64-bit Computing

http://www.howtogeek.com/56701/htg-explains-whats-the-difference-between-32-bit-and-64-bit-windows-7/

Ok.

I think I'll get 64-bit then.

Thanks to everyone who answered.

[upcoast]

Once you go to 64bit you're going to need more ram.

I ran xp pro 64bit and win 7 64 bit with 2GB and it's not enough, playing an avi in win 7 64 bit goes to a stutter. Just typing now win 7 is using 1.19GB.

[Veristä mössöä]

Originally posted by upcoast:

Once you go to 64bit you're going to need more ram.

I ran xp pro 64bit and win 7 64 bit with 2GB and it's not enough, playing an avi in win 7 64 bit goes to a stutter. Just typing now win 7 is using 1.19GB.

No you don't. 64-bit doesn't use any more that normal 32-bit in consuming sense. It just uses it more efficiently.

I think that you problem was somewhere else, like drivers (crappy 64-bit versions or something like that). Videostutter doesn't sound like RAM-problem.

If you want to poke the dot... yeah 64bit uses little bit of more memory, but it's like 100mb or so. That's because memory pointers are being a little bigger to address the larger amount of RAM, and 64bit has to load old 32bit libraries in order to maintain backward compatibility.

You’ll see increased efficiency. Not only can you install more RAM in your system (easily as much as your motherboard can support) you’ll also see more efficient use of that RAM. Because of the nature of the 64-bit address system in the register and how Windows 64-bit allocates memory you’ll see less of your system memory chewed up by secondary systems (like your video card). Although you may only double the physical amount of RAM in your machine it will feel like way more than that because of the new efficiency of your system.

[upcoast]

@ ontelo, I can't disagree with you more,. I did weeks of testing and swearing trying to get to the bottom of it on that tower. I have 4 towers in the house and dressers and shelves full of spare psus, mobos, hdds, vid cards pretty much a store room. I swapped all but the ram and still the problem persisted so I search about ram and vid playback and find a few things that say it needs more ram, I give in slap another 2GB ram in 4GB total and presto smooth video play back, x4 640 / 4670 1GB.

If you're short on ram it always takes it off the hdd the slowest part of the tower.

Win 7 64 with 2GB will be fine for web surfing and flash games.

Ps the same mobo/ x2 6000/ 3850 256MB I gave to my Dad that uses win 7 32 bit 2GB ram plays vids perfectly, I have to keep their 3 towers going too.

[alcoholic philipp mainländer]

64-bit is slightly cheaper and offers slightly better performance in games.

[Jamebonds1]

I don't recommend 64 bit on 2 GB RAM. Only 32 bit is good enough for you; however, fewest game will not running on your computer. Like Call of Duty Ghost and BF4.

[alcoholic philipp mainländer]

But if he chooses to upgrade his RAM to 4 gigs he will have slightly better performance, I've tested running both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 on the same computer running a 2.8 GHz i3 and 4 gigs of Kingston 1600 MHz RAM, 64-bit version had slightly better boot times and gaming performance. If he doesn't plan on upgrading the RAM 32-bit will be fine.