Gaming On Vista 64
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JudgeUK




Posts: 62
Location: England
PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 00:22    Post subject: Gaming On Vista 64
The question is really in the title but in several parts...

1 - I want to install Vista 64. I currently have Vista 32 Ultimate. Is it possible to just install "over" my current install or will I lose all my data? The only thing i'm bothred about is photos, videos and music. I dont mind losing everything else.

2 - Whats gaming like on 64 compared with 32? Is there much of a difference? I know it will recognize 4gb of RAM but how are graphics drivers for 64 these days - in particular NVIDIA ones.

3 - Whats GTA IV like on 64 compared to 32? I havent been able to find any direct comparisons. Anybody here got any experience of it?

Hope you guys can sort me out with some info... Wink


Sometimes your the pigeon....sometimes your the statue.
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LeoNatan
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Posts: 73196
Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 00:32    Post subject:
1 - Impossible to install Vista 64bit over 32bit. Trust me, I tried every possible way, it is impossible. No need for a format though, you can just install over the 32bit installation, and it will even move your old installation files into a "Windows.old" folder.

2 - No difference, everything works as it should (even better, because there is support for more RAM).

3 - It works bad on all systems, as the game is pretty much bla-optimized, but it is the same across all versions of all operating systems.

Conclusion: Don't listen to DV2 when it comes to Vista, he'll probably say that because 64bit pointers are larger, 64bit instead of 32bit, there is 1MB extra overhead to applications, and it unacceptable for his archaic XP 32bit expectations. Laughing Install it, and you won't look back, especially with 3.75+GB RAM. That said, if you have less RAM, it isn't worth it. Smile


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Last edited by LeoNatan on Fri, 30th Jan 2009 00:34; edited 2 times in total
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Mortibus




Posts: 18053
Location: .NL
PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 00:33    Post subject:
1. all your data will be placed in Windows.old folder, why not back it up and install fresh with format

2 .u won't see any huge difference, except for os will be more responsive and u will get advantage to use more ram rather than crippled 3.5 gig

3. gta4 needs pc from ze future to run it on max anyway, swaping OS won't change anything

dv2 is a troll Laughing
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VGAdeadcafe




Posts: 22230
Location: ★ ಠ_ಠ ★
PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 01:15    Post subject:
Well, in 64-bit there's gonna be a whole lot of zeroes in your memory that's for sure Smile

In this age of gigabytes of system memory you can certainly afford to be an ignorant blind user. Everything will be fine ...

But why don't you try Win7 ?
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JudgeUK




Posts: 62
Location: England
PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 01:32    Post subject:
I was thinking about windows 7 but I adopted Vista early also and got sick and tired of the piss poor driver support - especially from creative.

I guess it's a good oppurtunity to start backing some stuff up as it's only when you lose it all you realise what a moron you've been all this time for not doing it! lol

Anybody dual booting Vista64 & Win7? Any pitfalls to look out for if I did that?


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LeoNatan
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Posts: 73196
Location: Ramat Gan, Israel 🇮🇱
PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 01:35    Post subject:
The only possible "pitfall" is running out of HDD space (because you have to split it into two partitions). Very Happy

Windows 7 is really great, but it is still beta, so some apps don't work properly (interestingly enough, drivers actually work fine, I haven't heard of one Vista driver that doesn't work in 7). Smile
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sabin1981
Mostly Cursed



Posts: 87805

PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 01:38    Post subject:
JudgeUK wrote:

Anybody dual booting Vista64 & Win7? Any pitfalls to look out for if I did that?


I was. The only issue I had was with the Vista Loader 2.1.2 bootloader. When I installed Win7, it installed it's own bootloader and wiped the cracked one .. rendering my Vista "unactivated"

I simply had to just reinstall the 2.1.2 loader and all was gravy.






Then I uninstalled Vista and have stuck to Win7 as my primary, hehe. What worked/works in Vista, will work in Win7 (except SPTD) - and you can even use WinVista drivers.
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JudgeUK




Posts: 62
Location: England
PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 01:50    Post subject:
Quote:
What worked/works in Vista, will work in Win7 (except SPTD) - and you can even use WinVista drivers.


Daemon used SPTD doesnt it? Does that work ok?

Thanks for the replies guys - I think I'll try dual booting and see which one takes my fancy after a fortnight or so.


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sabin1981
Mostly Cursed



Posts: 87805

PostPosted: Fri, 30th Jan 2009 01:58    Post subject:
No, sorry. Nothing that uses SPTD works (DTools and Alcohol, most notably)
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Pajerty Pete




Posts: 21

PostPosted: Tue, 3rd Feb 2009 01:06    Post subject:
1 - As what 2nd post says, you can't do this. Anyways you should dual boot.

2 - Gaming is by far better on Vista x64 in almost all cases for me. Example, try running Faust on XP, its just not going to happen. You will get the worst sound studder at best. Now try it on Vista x64, it runs perfectly smooth, lip sync as well. Sanitarium (original version) is the same, its going to crash on xp, on Vista x64 its perfect, you dont need to slow down your machine like you do in xp. There are many more examples, I gave older games running as a lot of people ask about this.

3 - GTA IV will run better if you have the system for it (more than 4gigs of ram), but not by much compared to x86 Vista. You do need the latest patch or its just horrid on any machine. Mine is running great now and I tried both x64/x86 so I can make this comparison.

I do suggest you dual boot, keep your gaming system on x64 (photoshop is an exception) and applications on your x86. You will find games run great on x64 but your applications are a gamble if they will run properly. The drivers for Vista, being both x64/x86 are working great now, you really have no worries. I would even recommend trying the new windows 7 beta for gaming, I am hearing good things.
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