64-bit OS with 2GB RAM
TripleDesi
New Member
I understand that if I have 4GB+ RAM then a 32-bit OS likely will not be able to see all the RAM. Therefore, one should install a 64-bit OS. My question however is a little different.
I have 2GB RAM right now in my computer. But someday I hope to be able to go to 4GB. So my question is should I install 64-bit OS right now with the 2GB RAM I have? I’m sure it will install, but I wanted to know if my computer will run slower.
Just trying to figure out if I should wait and reinstall 64-bit OS after I upgrade to 4GB or save myself the trouble right now.
Thanks in advance.
FordGT90Concept
«I go fast!1!11!1!»
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A Cheese Danish
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EviLZeD
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I remember my cousin had vista on his laptop with 1gb ram my pc had 4 at the time and vista used around 1.3gb of my ram but I think vista recognizes if you computer lacks memory and somehow lowers its usage because he could play few games fine on his laptop like fear and wow even with 1gb ram.
I don’t remember if it was vista x64 or x86 tho but I don think it would use up much more.
Rexter
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No, no, no, no! Never XP x64! If you want an OS not supported by microsoft any longer, and shit driver and hardware support, fine.
If you want to roll a 64bit OS, use windows 7, and it will work just perfectly fine with 2gb ram, heck you wouldnt feel a difference between xp, xp x64, win7 32bit and win7 64bit.
If you know you are going to get 4gig ram soon’ish, just install windows 7 64bit now. Even if you dont have 4gb ram yet, you can still enjoy the wonders of 64bit computing, like crysis in 64bit, insane speeds in 64bit winrar, or super smooth performance in photoshop cs4 64bit etc.
Anyway, dont get scared by windows’ ram usage, windows 7 uses ram just like vista does, just not as aggresive. (turbofetch and what have you).
If i had a computer with 2gb ram, heck even 1gb ram, i would STILL install a 64bit OS if possible.
Mussels
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Just to clarify what these guys are saying:
If you plan to upgrade the ram, definitely go x64 now. 64 bit doesn’t have any real downside over 32 bit, so go x64 from the start.
However, be aware that 2GB is the minimum you want to run with vista (its decent for 7). So try and do the upgrade to 4GB ASAP
Also, XP 64 is basically unsupported and has many issues with games. Despite its lower memory footprint, you’ll definitely run into hardware and software compatibility problems.
Sensi Karate
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somebody
New Member
What sort of HW do you have? If your running with something like a 945 you’ll still be limited to less than 4GB of RAM.
You shouldn’t notice any speed difference running 32-bit on x64 unless perhaps your running benchmarks.
Frick
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I have 2GB and I don’t really understand why it’s supposed to be minimum. I don’t think I’ve seen RAM stutterings once.
It’s still good to have more (because you can never have to much of it) though.
btarunr
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Black Panther
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Install 7 x64 for the same reasons Sensi Karate posted above.
I have Vista x64 on my desktop, originally had 6GB DDR2 RAM. Now that I’ve ended up with only 2GB (gave some to brother, put some at work pc etc) I feel the difference. Not that you’d be seeing a slow computer far from it, but compared to what it was before it takes longer to load the OS and probably games would suffer too compared to before.
If (I assume?) you never had more than 2GB in your pc you wouldn’t see it as slow, especially if you do get 7 and not Vista.
DaveK
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TripleDesi
New Member
More details on my question
First of all, thanks to all of you. If I had known of this forum before I would have more hair on my head today.
I didn’t think to provide more details before. Rectifying that problem now.
I have an Athlon 2.01GHz sitting on a ASUS A8N SLI with 2GB RAM and a 128MB NVidia 7800 video card with a Windows 7 recommended resolution of 1650 x 1050 (or something like that) on a 20inch Flat Panel Monitor. I am running Windows 7 32-bit on it right now. I am not sure when I’ll go to 4GB RAM; I want to but it could be 3-4 months till I wrangle up the money. I am already in possession of both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 OS so that’s not an issue.
If I understand correctly, one opinion is that 64-bit Windows 7 takes up a lot of RAM right of the bat and therefore one shouldn’t install it with just 2GB RAM unless the change to 4GB+ RAM is impending. That means stick with 32-bit and re-install with 64-bit only AFTER 4GB+ RAM is available in the computer.
Another opinion which I like 
is I will not experience any perceptible slowness if I install 64-bit OS right away. This I’m hoping will also be the final conclusion subject to more information I’m providing below.
I guess part of the answer depends on the rest of my hardware — details on which I provided above — and part on how I’m going to use the computer. I definitely expect to use the computer for audio/video encoding / processing. Creating home videos, encoding to different formats to play on different devices etc. However, I am no Gamer. In fact I don’t even expect to install any game whatsoever on this computer.
So with this information, would those recommending I do not go 64-bit Windows 7 right now, change their opinion? As an aside, does 64-bit OS make the computer heat up more or something? Sorry if this is stupid question.
Thanks much. 
