chumley Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Hi Guys A simple question - Win 7 32 bit or win 7 64 bit - which is the best option? Aybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 To be honest I don't think it matters but I have heard many people having problems obtaining 64 Bit drivers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 Will the 32 bit version use all of 4g of RAM or is some not addressable? Thanks Aybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alainneedle1 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 No matter what OS 64-bit is always the best to use with FSX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolter van der Spoel Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 running W7 RC1 64bit here and I'm pretty happy with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Webb Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I personally would only install 32 bit so I can run my Dreamfleet Dakota. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heiko Glatthorn Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I didn't buy the Dakota because it doesn't run on 64 bit... Be smart, install 64 bit ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test Pilot Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 If your processor can handle it, then 64bit is a must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumman Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 As a contented XP 32-bit user I'm in no hurry to move to 64-bit or to Vista or Win7. There's no upgrade path from XP to Win7 so I expect I'll have to bite the bullet one day and do a fresh install of Win7 (after about SP2), or maybe it will be Win8 by then Anyone care to identify what benefits you see in moving to Win7? Any forecasts on when XP will no longer be a viable O/S, and why? I think it's the only O/S that MS ever got right, but I'm willing to be convinced that Win7 is better. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Ive yet to see conclusive evidence in either direction that 64 Bit is better that 32. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skypilot Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I have found WIN7 64 to be much better for me in at least one particular area. I have an Open Office document that is 186,198K in size. It has 32 scanned photographs which is why it is so large (yes I know I can scan at a lower resolution). I find with WIN 7 64 using the the OPEN OFFICE 32bit suite (I do not think OO is done in 64 bit [OOo_3.1.0_Win32Intel_install_wJRE_en-US.EXE is the name of the install package]) I can scroll through the document without a problem and the scrolling is instant and smooth! On XP 32bit scrolling through the same document I would have long pauses waiting for the photographs to 'load'. I mean I would have 20 second or more pauses while trying to scroll. It was so bad that I was considering removing the photos so I could edit the document without all the pauses and then re-adding them when I had finalised the text. The only thing that has changed is the OS to win 7 64! Same document, same open office load, same MOBO, same processor, same RAM! So the discussion that 32 bit applications run slower on 64 bit is not true in this case. So all the arguments for/against 32/64 is now becoming a bit tiring for me. You can look at it this way too. Why restrict yourself to 32bit? You are restricting yourself to not taking advantage of upgrading the ram at a later date, to not being able to use 64bit programs as they become available and 32 bit applications will still run on the 64 bit OS. The way of the future is 64bit. Your MOBO is probably 64 bit anyway and the processor is also probably 64 bit too. Win7 32 & 64 is free at the moment - try the 64 and if you do not like it go to 32. As for 64 bit drivers I find the VISTA 64 bit drivers, where available work fine for me. I had to use the 'compatibility' switch to load  COMODO Firewall and I had to change a folder from read only to R/W to install my EPSON scanner software, win 7 does have in built scanning application but you can only scan to an image file - epson scan will scan direct to a PDF which I do a lot of. Nvidia have a WIN 7 64 bit video driver, if you have an Nividia video card. I find it difficult to understand the philosophy that 64 must be demonstrably better than 32 before any consideration is given to using 64. I have given one example above where 64 running a 32 bit application is much better. Will 64 perform any worse than 32? I like the thought that the OS at least is taking advantage of 64bit if nothing else. Talk about putting head in the sand. I have win7 64 on two PCs; my FSX PC on which gives me smoother frames, and on my mediacentre PC, both of which are working fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skypilot Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Hi Guys A simple question - Win 7 32 bit or win 7 64 bit - which is the best option? Aybe Yes simple question - simple answer WIN 7 64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper31 Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 64 bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennyson Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 I personally went for 64 bit, but not for FSX reasons, more for other productivity software as I have 12 gb RAM and 64 bit addresses the lot! Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Thank you all for your comments. I have downloaded both the 32 and 64 bit versions. As far as I can see the only shortcoming will be that my laser printer doesn't have any 64 bit drivers written for it so it will become redundant unless there is a workaround. Time to check out Goggle for the workaround. Cheers Aybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skypilot Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Thank you all for your comments. I have downloaded both the 32 and 64 bit versions. As far as I can see the only shortcoming will be that my laser printer doesn't have any 64 bit drivers written for it so it will become redundant unless there is a workaround. Time to check out Goggle for the workaround. Cheers Aybe No, you will be able to load and use 32 bit printer drivers - at worst use the default win 7 drivers. I have a networked lexmark 1855 laser, USB Epson 915 and USB epson 530rx multifunction and all are working using the propriety drivers - I can even use epson scan for which I had to remove a read only flag on a particular folder. Don't forget also you can install driver and apps using the compatibility mode too. (you can also look for VISTA 64 bit drivers to use - they will probably work) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumman Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 So all the arguments for/against 32/64 is now becoming a bit tiring for me. You can look at it this way too. Why restrict yourself to 32bit? You are restricting yourself to not taking advantage of upgrading the ram at a later date, to not being able to use 64bit programs as they become available and 32 bit applications will still run on the 64 bit OS. The way of the future is 64bit. Your MOBO is probably 64 bit anyway and the processor is also probably 64 bit too. Win7 32 & 64 is free at the moment - try the 64 and if you do not like it go to 32. I may try it on a spare partition at some time, but I'm in no hurry. My main question is whether Win7 has some advantages or compelling new features over XP, quite apart from the 64/32-bit issue. For example, does it solve the security issues that have always plagued Windows? The Win7 RC might be free, but it is time-limited, so there'll be a cost to buy the released version eventually. I find it difficult to understand the philosophy that 64 must be demonstrably better than 32 before any consideration is given to using 64. I have given one example above where 64 running a 32 bit application is much better. Will 64 perform any worse than 32? I like the thought that the OS at least is taking advantage of 64bit if nothing else. Talk about putting head in the sand. Each to his own. Performing no worse is not a great argument in its favour. Unless there are applications that need the extra address space, or you particularly enjoy experimenting with the latest bloatware from Microsoft, there has to be a compelling advantage as far as I'm concerned. I have a very stable XP 32-bit installation, and I've never seen memory usage go over 2GB, even with FTX running (and FSX runs very smoothly). To go to Win7 I'd have to do a fresh install of everything, which is a major undertaking. I'd rather spend the time flying than messing about with a new O/S. Next PC upgrade would be a better time. The only reason I even use Windows is because of FSX. Other than that I'd stick to Ubuntu, which I have on another partition. But I appreciate your comments. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skypilot Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Yes I too if it were not for FSX would be using MINT7 64bit. And indeed to each their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chumley Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 Thank you all for your comments. I have downloaded both the 32 and 64 bit versions. As far as I can see the only shortcoming will be that my laser printer doesn't have any 64 bit drivers written for it so it will become redundant unless there is a workaround. Time to check out Goggle for the workaround. Cheers Aybe No, you will be able to load and use 32 bit printer drivers - at worst use the default win 7 drivers. I have a networked lexmark 1855 laser, USB Epson 915 and USB epson 530rx multifunction and all are working using the propriety drivers - I can even use epson scan for which I had to remove a read only flag on a particular folder. Don't forget also you can install driver and apps using the compatibility mode too. (you can also look for VISTA 64 bit drivers to use - they will probably work) Not so - I have Konica Minolta printer and none of the Win 7 drivers does the job and the 32 bit drivers will not load. Back to the drawing board or treasurer for new funding proposal. I wonder if Wayne Swan has anything left in the kitty from the infrastructure fund Aybe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolter van der Spoel Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 I have a samsung laser printer and W7 found it without any problem, also you can install 32 bit drivers for any other thing that you may need it just works without a problem. As for fsX, I've also downloaded the latest DX9 updates so to make sure nothing is missing there and again works a treat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flylow Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Hi Chumley,Checkout Virtualisation Technology..I have new Epson photo V500 scanner which i could not get working on Win 7 RC. 64 bit. Installed the Virtual XP computer to Win 7.Works great.Will use this until Epson puts out a new driver. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skypilot Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Did you try the compatibility mode to do the install? Right click on the file you are trying to install then go to properties/compatibility. And to get my epson scanner to install I had to remove the read only flag on one particular folder, do not remember which one it was and now epson scan works well on my system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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