64 vs 32 bit discussion

[J22]

Ever since i read the cryengine 2 readme i've been thinking is it time for me to go 64 bit? the engine is only supported for 64 bit vista/XP and i am definetly going to learn how to use this new amazing modding tool.

after some research i found that there is some support but it's not mainstream yet. i find that my graphics card for my laptop being a geforce go 7900 gs has really old drivers now. last time the drivers updated was july 2006. there is no drivers for XP/vista 64 bit and none even for 32 bit vista.

i'm not considering it right now but if i did go 64 bit would i have trouble with drivers for my card? since i'm in school now and not working i don't have money to spend on a new rig.

i'm mainly opening this thread for discussion on 64 vs 32 bit. so i can hear more about it.

[null]

I've tried both XP and Vista in 64bit, and I've only ever encountered massive instability. Might just be my poor luck, but I wouldn't bother with it at all, unless, like you, you want to use a specific app that requires it. In which case, I'd go dual boot first, to see how well it runs.

[SharpShooter]

I have been running Vista 64bit since about the start of the summer and have yet to have a problem with it. Sure there are programs that are 32bit that sometimes refuse to install mind you those are few and far between.

I however have never had any instability problems and the fact that you can use 4gig of ram is a huge plus. There are a lot of driver issues with it though they are working on them. The only driver that I am waiting on is my sound card driver to receive a proper update, where my microphone will work. Even then I was able to find an older driver where my microphone worked and now I have no problems.

[DeathSniper]

My mom is already running 64-bit and I'm still on 32-bit

[EyeMaster]

It's only for the memory address space that 64 bits matter. It's just a normal progression to the future. Wether you go now or not, shouldn't matter because both are well supported. In 2 years, you'd be hard pressed to have anything 32 bits only anymore.

[J22]

I've been doing a lot of research on it and tt turns out my Core 2 T7200 processor is only 32 bit and can't run 64 bit windows. Does anyone know which processors are 32 and which are 64? Maybe the new quad cores support 64 bit?

Anyway if I do go 64 bit I was told it's easy to just dual boot and use 64 bit windows for whatever I need to do.

[Mike-KT]

You have a Santa Rosa and it's 32 bit?

[J22]

What's a Santa Rosa?

Anyway after yet more research I've discovered that Intel Xeon processors have 64 bit and that they only use socket 771. Buying a 64 bit mobo with socket 771 and a Xeon processor is really expensive and doesn't justify what I want to do with it.

Eventually I will upgrade to 64 bit but for now I definetly think it will have to wait. And so will CryEgnine 2 editor. I've got my hands full with Source SDK anyway.

[The Killing Joke]

What's a Santa Rosa?

It's a city 55 miles north of San Francisco.

[Crayola]

Anyway after yet more research I've discovered that Intel Xeon processors have 64 bit and that they only use socket 771. Buying a 64 bit mobo with socket 771 and a Xeon processor is really expensive and doesn't justify what I want to do with it.

would that have anything to do with the fact that xeon's are server processors?