Can I go from 32 to 64 bit?

[RedRalph]

I have the disc for 64 bit, what determines if I can upgrade to 64 bit, and is there any point? what would be the advantages?

 

[GVBN]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/32-bit-64-bit-faq.aspx

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

and is there any point? what would be the advantages?

64 bit allows more than 4 gigs of RAM but there's sometimes compatibility problems.

 

[Cutlass]

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/32-bit-64-bit-faq.aspx

Can my computer run a 64-bit version of Windows?

To run a 64-bit version of Windows, your computer must have a 64-bit-capable processor. If you are unsure whether your processor is 64-bit-capable, do the following:

1.

Open Performance Information and Tools by clicking the Start buttonWindows, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type Performance Information and Tools, and then, in the list of results, click Performance Information and Tools.
2.

Click View and print detailed performance and system information.

Would be nice if there was a search box, or if when you typed that into windows search, it actually returned a result instead of finding "none found"

 

[GVBN]

There's one in Win7

 

[Cutlass]

oooooookkk. Do you know of a tool in 32 bit XP that does the same?

 

[Murky]

I have the disc for 64 bit, what determines if I can upgrade to 64 bit, and is there any point? what would be the advantages?

You need a 64-bit processor.

The point is getting more out of your hardware by using 64-bit applications.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I think if you just look up the model of your processor it should tell you.

Also, the Performance Information and Tools works on Vista Poop Home Premium for me.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

You cannot do an upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit.

You need to do a fresh install (Custom Install according to the Win 7 installer)

As for whether or not you have a 64-bit processor, that's easy. If you have any Core 2 Duo or above (Excluding Atom and maybe Celeron) you have a 64-bit processor. If you have a Phenom or any other AM2+ AMD processor, you also have 64-bit.

If you're still unsure, run dxdiag.exe and look up the processor it tells you. (First tab will have an overview of your system)

 

[Mulholland]

You cannot do an upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit.

This is true, but assuming you have a valid XP licence key you can still use the upgrade edition of windows 7 and save yourself about half the sticker price of the retail version. You'll lose all your data unless you back it up and re-transfer it once you've re-installed your programs on the new platform.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Vista Poop Premium

Errr... just noticed this. I think I lost part of my brain somewhere.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

This is true, but assuming you have a valid XP licence key you can still use the upgrade edition of windows 7 and save yourself about half the sticker price of the retail version. You'll lose all your data unless you back it up and re-transfer it once you've re-installed your programs on the new platform.

What I meant is that you cannot do a true upgrade install from a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit OS (Windows that is). The XP -> Win 7 upgrade is not really an upgrade but a fresh install.

 

[RedRalph]

I have Win7 32 at the moment, but I also have the disc for Win7 64. My computer is capable of running 64, but would there be any real point in the upgarde, given that I only have 4mb RAM?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Im gonna go with "no"

An upgrade will result in having to reinstall all the programs, drivers, etc -- not worth it.

 

[Murky]

I have Win7 32 at the moment, but I also have the disc for Win7 64. My computer is capable of running 64, but would there be any real point in the upgarde, given that I only have 4mb RAM?

It depends on what you plan to do with it. If you mostly just do light work like Internet, email and word processing then it's pointless. You wouldn't see much improved performance. If you're doing something more processor intensive that works better with 64-bit then it might be worth doing.

 

[RedRalph]

It depends on what you plan to do with it. If you mostly just do light work like Internet, email and word processing then it's pointless. You wouldn't see much improved performance. If you're doing something more processor intensive that works better with 64-bit then it might be worth doing.

PC gaming mainly. From what I can gather though, the boost only kicks in if you are using more than 4gigs RAM, so would there be any advantage, given that that's how much I have?

 

[Murky]

PC gaming mainly. From what I can gather though, the boost only kicks in if you are using more than 4gigs RAM, so would there be any advantage, given that that's how much I have?

It would depend on the type of PC game. A FPS 3D game typically relies more on the GPU than the CPU for better performance. A more CPU intensive game that has a lot of AI units moving around should be faster with 64-bit.

The game itself has to be built for 64-bit to take advantage of the technology. Most games released before Vista 64-bit came out were built for 32-bit processing. Some are not even 64-bit compatible. I think 4Gigs is plenty enough for most 64-bit applications but more would probably help improve performance.

You might want check out some tech sites that do a lot hardware/software benchmarking. The Tech Report and Tom's Hardware are good sources of info.

 

[RedRalph]

OK cheers man

 

[Quintillus]

I'd wait until the Civ5 specs are released, and see if it will have a 64-bit version. If it does, I'd recommend upgrading. If not, I wouldn't bother.

For gaming, right now, there aren't really any big advantages. You probably actually have slightly less than 4 GB available, as 32-bit Windows can only take advantage of 4 GB minus whatever your video card uses (though Vista SP1 and later will report 4 GB even if it can't take advantage of it), so you'd get some benefit. But not enough that it would be worth it to bother upgrading, unless a really great game that could take advantage of it came out. And while a handful of games reportedly achieve some benefit (such as Crysis) from 64-bit, if you're on this site, Civ5 is the potential one to keep an eye on.

 

[RedRalph]

Good advice, cheers. Yeah I mainly have my eye on seeing how Vicktoria 2 and Civ V perform, if they run OK on 32-bit I'll leave well enough alone.