Windows 7?

[Ender]

Hey,

So, I'm re-building my PC with a lot of nice new parts and was wondering which version of Windows 7 I should purchase.  I know that XP doesn't support more than like 3Gb of RAM and I want to make sure I get the most out of my hardware.  I'm pretty sure that I want to get 7 Pro, but I didn't know if I should go with the 64-bit or 32-bit version.  Does anyone have any opinions on which I should go with? What about compatibility with Steam and games on the 64-bit version, does everything still work OK?

Thanks everyone,

Trace

[V.I.P.]

32 bit vista and 7 both support 4GB of ram.  My laptop has 4gb of ram on vista home 32, so I can vouch for that.  I think the student deal for download is still available until a few days into January.  If not, I have an extra disc for Windows 7 Pro that I will sell you. 

I have Windows 7 Home 64 on my main rig at school which does all my heavy gaming and does a great job.  I just installed Windows 7 Pro 64 and I can't tell a difference.  I think the main difference lies in the fact that you can link more computers into a network, similar with XP.  I haven't had any problems with either verson of Windows 7, but I'd definitely get 64 bit.

[crazydog]

@VIP: When you go to your System Information, does it say 4.00 GB of RAM? I was under the impression that it would say something like 3.60 GB of RAM.

Anyway, I'm running Win 7 Ultimate x64 with 6GB of RAM, and everything I use works just fine.
The only issues I've seen with comparability were a sound card not having drivers BEFORE Windows 7 was officially released, and a 3 year old sound card not having drivers, so a new one had to be bought.


Besides that, everything works great. Steam works, all the games I have work.

There's a nice, really in-depth comparison chart of all the editions here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions#Comparison_chart


My ruling is that the only real reason you'd want to go with a 64-bit version is if you have at least 4 gigabytes of RAM. I'm not sure there's any other practical reason.

[Luggage]

Do NOT get 32 bit OS if you want to future-proof your PC.  All 32-bit OS are limited to max. RAM of 4GB (including video card memory) so go to 64-bit.  At this point, 64-bit has become quite widely accepted and almost everything you have should work well with it.

[Mustard]

There's another issue with the 32bit versions. If you have 4GB of RAM and 1GB VRAM, the operating system only ends up getting access to 3 or less GBs of RAM.

They explain this phenomena here:
http://lifehacker.com/5431284/the-lifehacker-guide-to-64%20bit-vs-32%20bit-operating-systems

I'm having some deep seeded issues with 7 when doing certain tasks that makes my system slow to a crawl doing things that should have no effect on the system, but that's a complex issue that only a minority of people are having.

Whatever version you get, get the 64bit one, the days of 32bit are numbered.

[Ender]

Thanks guys.  I figured as much about 32-bit OS's going out soon, I just wanted to make sure.  I will probably purchase 64-bit Pro since it has a built in program that allows compatibility with some older XP programs.  So I think I ended up getting a decent rig.  I am currently running a new AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 3.4Ghz with 4Gb of OZC Black Edition RAM @ 1600Mhz exclusively designed for the 790FX Motherboard on Win XP Pro 64-bit edition which I had laying around.  I will just use it until I can get a copy of Win 7 Pro 64.

If you guys have any more ideas on an ATI card I should get let me know too.  I'm looking to spend about $150-$200 on a new one since I'm still running a Radeon x1650xt.

Thanks again,

Trace

[Mustard]

I got a 4890HD for $215. Make sure you have good airflow for that one, it has the potential to get quite hot. Haven't had trouble running anything on it so far.

[Ender]

I was thinking of going with the 5K series that way I will already be set with DX11.

Trace

[Mustard]

Wow the 5 series has really come down in price since I looked at it not even a month ago.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150464

[crazydog]

I always go for any card that's around $180. That seems to be the sweet spot of price and performance.

[Fraggle79]

I don't knoiw about the digaal versions, but if you buy the box from a store you can install either one or both.
 I recommend both. Install xp onto 2 seperate drives or partitions , then upgrade 1 to 32bit and 1 to 64 bit.

Reason I do this is b/c not everything out there has 64 bit compatibility yet.

[Mustard]

That makes no sense Fraggle. First of all, I haven't had a single program have issues running on my Win7 Pro 64, it's got a compatibility mode built in. Most programs are in 32bit but the OS is built to run both. Also, running XP for any reason at this point is just wasting system resources, specially if you want to experience gaming beyond DX 9.0c, which if he's buying an ATI 5 series, he does.

And also, you don't want to do upgrades, for a variety of reasons. Buy the full version, put it on a fresh drive, you'll thank yourself later. 

[crazydog]

The only reason you'd want to keep a 32 bit OS around is for 16 bit programs, which won't run on 64 bit systems. But you won't see many 16-bit programs made after 1995

[Ender]

I would never do an Upgrade.  It always seems to bog everything down.  I will def be doing a fresh install.  Just waiting on getting a copy of Win 7 Pro now!!!  VIP, if you have a copy let me know what you want for it.

Trace

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