Windows -- 32 bit/ 64 bit question

[butta]

Would there be any good reason to switch to a 64bit version of Windows? Are there downsides, like program incompatibility etc? If I will see performance gains, and a fix to this "windows doesn't like all that ram you have" problem it might be worth the trouble as I have been thinking of reformatting here anyways.

Thanks in advance

-butta

[Chorizotarian]

The main benefit is that you can address > 4 GB of RAM, which means that if you have 4+ GB installed you don't lose any of it to legacy crap that steals the addresses. The downside is that device driver and other compatability for 64-bit can be spotty. I'm personally happy with what I get from the 64-bit nVidia drivers, but I do have some lingering issues with multiple GPUs that might go away if I reverted back to Vista x32.

[Anahka]

You have to make sure there's 64-bit drivers for all your hardware. If it's all fairly new kit they should be available. The major brands have them available...if you have some old crappy no-brand cheap scanner you might run into problems though.

I haven't run into any issues with programs not wanting to run so far. They'll just run in 32-bit mode.

[Djarid]

Not having played with Vista64 since its first release I was pleasantly surprised when I was forced to install Vista64 on my new System... all the chipset drivers worked, my ATI 1950XT, G15 and X-keys etc all have decent drivers

[Nisch]

I'm running Vista Ultimate 64bit on my new system and it runs flawlessly. And just for clarification, it's not MORE than 4 gigs, its even if you want to run 4 gigs period, you need to have 64 bit to utilize all of it. With my latest system, a 512MB video card, and everything else, my 32bit OS would only recognize 2.75GB out of my 4. So actually if you're running more than 3GB, you're better off with a 64 bit setup to utilize all of your RAM.

[Maxion]

My 32 bit windows xp recognizes 3.5 gig of my 4.

[Chorizotarian]

You see the full 4 GB on a 64-bit system because physical RAM can be assigned to adresses that do not conflict with legacy devices. So it really is important that you can address > 4 GB on a 64-bit system, even if you only have 4 GB installed.

[Nisch]

My 32 bit windows xp recognizes 3.5 gig of my 4.

Yeah my dual Xeon 2.8GHz machine with a 512MB AGP card sees 3.5 as well. For some reason something no my new system is taking up more that throttled me back to 2.75GB when I had 32-bit installed. ?(

[Suvega]

If you want a 64 bit operating system get vista.

Driver issues etc, are going to be addressed in VISTA first, windows 64bit second.

[Wilbur]

If you want a 64 bit operating system get vista.

Driver issues etc, are going to be addressed in VISTA first, windows 64bit second.

Suvega just got a bonus

But seriously, what hes saying is right, Manufacturers are far more likely to address driver issues in Vista before they address them in other OS's