64 vs 32 bit OS

Heartlash

Hey all,

I'm currently in the researching phase before buying/building a new desktop this holiday season. Right now I'm wondering about the risks involved with a 64 bit OS (likely Vista). I've found a lot of material regarding hardware/driver incapability, but most of it is from 1-2 years ago and I'd like to get a better idea of where things stand now.

Here are a few of the more demanding things I want to do with my new box:

Use Photoshop w/ Wacom Tablet
Play games
Use Maya
Edit Video (likely Premiere possibly w/ AE)

The Maya and Video editing are what are driving my interest in 4+ gigs of RAM, hence the interest in the 64bit system.

Any experience/insight is appreciated.

saint2e

I have Vista 64-bit version and I have yet to find a problem. Drivers have never really been an issue and I've never had a problem with a 32-bit app on my system. That being said, I pretty well only use the system for working from home, gaming, and standard web stuff. I do not use Photoshop, Maya, or Adobe Premiere.

bowen

There's still hardware incompatibilities with 64bit here and there. As long as you do your research you'll be okay. You can still swap back to a 32bit OS if it becomes troublesome.

embrik

bowen wrote: »

There's still hardware incompatibilities with 64bit here and there. As long as you do your research you'll be okay. You can still swap back to a 32bit OS if it becomes troublesome.

I've been running Vista x64 Business for more than a year now (I think, can't quite remember), and the only application I've ever had trouble with is a corporate instant messaging app. Everything else works flawlessly. Some games even have 64 bit patches (Like Far Cry, Unreal Tournament, etc) to make them perform better. Regardless, as long as you don't buy obscure hardware that doesn't support 64 bit, you should be fine, but you can always load 32 bit if needed.

RainyjayD3

Just out of left field, but with the new Intel i7 architecture just coming out, have you considered waiting a little bit more? I’ve also been researching a possible new build, and if you want to build a media and games powerhouse, you might want to wait.

Right now all the motherboards and processors are quite expensive, but this is the first generation. After a while there will be more options, lower prices, and hey, an upper limit of 24 gigs of triple channel ram has to be alluring. Especially for those complex AE projects.

What type of Wacom are you planning on using?

bowen

embrik wrote: »

bowen wrote: »

There's still hardware incompatibilities with 64bit here and there. As long as you do your research you'll be okay. You can still swap back to a 32bit OS if it becomes troublesome.

I've been running Vista x64 Business for more than a year now (I think, can't quite remember), and the only application I've ever had trouble with is a corporate instant messaging app. Everything else works flawlessly. Some games even have 64 bit patches (Like Far Cry, Unreal Tournament, etc) to make them perform better. Regardless, as long as you don't buy obscure hardware that doesn't support 64 bit, you should be fine, but you can always load 32 bit if needed.

Btw, some .NET apps have trouble with the 64bit environment if compiled on 32bit. They use some sort of auto detect mode to pick the right .NET framework for the right architecture. So I've had to force compile some to say "yeah make sure you use .NET 2.0 at i386"

Dman

There are still compatibility issues however a few key factors made my decision easy:
1. I wasn't worried about compatibility because my usage is fairly basic work stuff and gaming
2. I wanted to be able to use more then 4 gigs of ram
3. I wanted Directx10

Vista 64bit home premium is serving me well. And yes, i can log into my office network (32bit xp) from my vista box at home.

QuarterMaster

I don't know if you're a student or not, but if you have a .edu email address you can get Vista Ultimate x64 for $65 from Microsoft's Ultimate Steal. I believe it goes through the end of December.

theSquid

64 bit has been out for yonks, if not on Windows, and other than 64-bit Java browser plugins you shouldn't run into any issues unless you're using old obscure as fuck hardware or software made by obscure retarded companies. You can do all the things you just listed there, and honestly the less people sticking to 32-bit for the next few years the better to force these companies to wake the hell up.

supabeast

Here’s the deal with the 64-bit RAM dilemma: many apps, 64-bit or not, have a limit on the amount of RAM they can actually use at one time. For example, Photoshop is limited to 3 gigs of RAM (although the Windows version of CS4 might not be). So you’ll need to look at individual apps you use.

Where you will get the benefit of all that RAM is if you use big apps concurrently. If your workflow involves running Maya, Photoshop, and AfterEffects concurrently (people do) having gobs and gobs of RAM is a big plus.