O/S question: 64bit worth it?

[Lethill]

Hi, just looking for opinions here.

I decided to buy some upgrades for my computer (a new graphics card and 2gb more RAM to be precise) and was just wondering if it would be worth making the jump to a 64bit O/S as well.

With the new RAM I'll be on 4gb which is more than my current 32bit O/S can make use of, but the Windows 7 student upgrade copy I bought several months ago has no option to install a 64bit version.

I can pick up an OEM copy of Windows 7 for £75, which should include both 32 and 64 bit versions, which I'm willing to do should the performance gain justify it. I also have a copy of Vista which I can install as 64bit, but I don't really want to go back to Vista unless I have to.

So, what so you think would be the best choice in terms or performance/cost?
Stay with Windows 7 32bit, switch to Vista 64bit or shell out £75 for Windows 7 64 bit?

[Cilraaz]

What's the new video card? Specifically, how much video RAM?

[Lethill]

ATi HD 5770 - 1gb.

[vesseblah]

You'll get nearly as good performance out of the 64bit Vista as you would from Win7 but you'd lose all the nice UI improvements. Depends really on if you want to blow that £75 for comfort. 32bit OS is somewhat usable option but you might want to switch it to 64bit in year or two when software support grows. Then you have to make the decision anyway, but you can easily delay it until then.

[khalpone]

In 32bit, you're capped at Video card RAM + X system RAM = cap of 4gb. So you'd only have 3gb of system memory. Depending on your game of choice, that's on the border line. Depending on your finances, I'd say it's worth it.

[vesseblah]

Games today wont hit memory limit running with 3GB only in Windows7. But that 3GB can be limiting on heavy multitasking or video editing or stuff like that.

[Vicxas]

Go for it, i have 32bit vista and x64 W7 on dual booting, and you notice a distinct difference in load times and processing times.