What Os And How Much Ram

[h90]

I'll get a new Computer soon.

I don't know what OS I should use

Win7: 32 bit or Win7: 64 bit.

32 Bit can only handle approx. 3 GB Ram

64 Bit can handle big Ram but is much fatter and a bit slower

Any other point that is in favor of one or the other?

[mamypoko]

If your going to use your computer for email, office tasks and web surfing AND budget is a factor consider the lesser RAM / 32bit setup.

However, if you are going to use it for gaming and heavy db apps. then the more memory, the better.

Ie. consider applications first, then build your system around that.

[Grendel]

It really depends on what you want to use the computer for and how long you intend to keep it. If you want to play the latest games you need RAM. If you just want to do some writing, surf a bit and watch the odd movie, you don't need a high end computer. If you intend to keep a computer for a long time a 64 bit alllows you to upgrade the RAM and keep it fast, but you can't upgrade the chip or cache. Buying cheaper and changing your computer regularly is an alternative.

[Daffy D]

What about a Solid State Drive (SSD) that's supposed to speed things up.

[h90]

thanks everyone.....

First: I have already a SSD in my old computer and will put it in the new one (60 GB Agility 3, which gets an old 500 GB WD Black-something as partner).

I always thought the 32 bit Win 7 is better for games than 64 bit...and the games are anyway 32 bit code.....And 64 bit OS makes it slower.....Is that wrong or outdated? I read that somewhere but it might be a longer time ago.

Mostly I use it for office. Currently I have Win7, 32 bit and a core duo E7200 massive overclocked and 4 GB Ram.

Even with email and 10 tabs open, Winword open, Excel twice open and 10 files (larger pricelists) open, firefox open I still have plenty of the 3 GB available.

I don't play much, but sometimes I do and than I love high settings....(more I love to see the how pretty games are than really play them).

I want to buy a Asus P8Z77-V PRO and a Ivy Bridge i5-3570K and hand down my computer down the chain. An old AMD from 2003 will be replaced with my current computer.

I won't buy a graphic card now, I'll use the Ivy Bridge on chip graphic and buy a card somewhen 2-4 month later in the hope I get more for less money.

I would love to try Nvidias 3D thing, but I can not figure out if my screen can be used or not.

[Richard-BKK]

The whole thing of 32 vs 64-bit, with the current CPU's, is a bit misleading. The processors from Intel and AMD have only 64-bit memory addressing. The code they run is actual still 32-bits.

The Intel Itanium processor architecture (also called IA64) is a full 64-bits processor, but is not capable of running 32-bits x86 (also no x86-64 code) software. Currently the Intel Itanium processors have moved to the second generation, but production cost prevents this to be a consumer product anytime soon.

Back to the question 32 or 64-bits operating system, if you use not that memory and you have enough with 3.25GB memory (4GB installed) than run MS Windows 7 32-bits as it's faster at most regular tasks. If you do many big tasks like convert movies to DivX or rip DVD's for a living you maybe want to think about much more memory and a 64-bits version of the operating system (maybe even Linux as that is even faster than Windows in media conversions).

[keeniau96]

You are wanting to buy a (almost) cutting-edge computer, which should be good for some years in the future. Most everybody will agree that includes 64-bit computing, even on consumer desktops. Might as well get aboard that train because it allows for no-problem participation in the future. Many computer pros will go along with: you can never have too much memory. With the price of memory having dropped to very low levels you should get two sticks (dual-channel is faster), at least 2 x 2GB, and 2 x 4GB even better and only a few baht more.

[h90]

You are wanting to buy a (almost) cutting-edge computer, which should be good for some years in the future. Most everybody will agree that includes 64-bit computing, even on consumer desktops. Might as well get aboard that train because it allows for no-problem participation in the future. Many computer pros will go along with: you can never have too much memory. With the price of memory having dropped to very low levels you should get two sticks (dual-channel is faster), at least 2 x 2GB, and 2 x 4GB even better and only a few baht more.

I thought 2x2 GB, and if I later need more I add 2x2 GB.

I read something confusing about triple channel (like 3x2 GB) but didn't find more about that.....I can forget about it, right?

Does 4x2 GB bring an advantage over 2x4 GB on the speed?

Usually my computers become, if working perfect, the office server, (just a file/fax/printer server), after 3-5 years.

[Richard-BKK]

You are wanting to buy a (almost) cutting-edge computer, which should be good for some years in the future. Most everybody will agree that includes 64-bit computing, even on consumer desktops. Might as well get aboard that train because it allows for no-problem participation in the future. Many computer pros will go along with: you can never have too much memory. With the price of memory having dropped to very low levels you should get two sticks (dual-channel is faster), at least 2 x 2GB, and 2 x 4GB even better and only a few baht more.

I thought 2x2 GB, and if I later need more I add 2x2 GB.

I read something confusing about triple channel (like 3x2 GB) but didn't find more about that.....I can forget about it, right?

Does 4x2 GB bring an advantage over 2x4 GB on the speed?

Usually my computers become, if working perfect, the office server, (just a file/fax/printer server), after 3-5 years.

On paper it should not matter how big (in GB's) the memory module is, but from experience the larger the memory module becomes the slower the timing becomes. Yes, you can buy 1600mhz memory modules of 2, 4 or even 8GB but timing often is also going up. And a 1GB module with a 3-3-3-9-12 is faster than a 5-5-5-18-23 (CAS# latency, RAS# to CAS#, RAS# Precharge, tRAS, tRC) module.