Am I gimping my unibody with my version of windows?

[juliancs]

Hi folks,

I've ordered a unibody 17", and am looking forward to playing some games. However, I have Windows xp 32 bit. Will the 32-bit part limit performance on games?
Thanks

 

[kasakka]

Most games are still 32-bit so essentially no, but if you have 4GB or more memory, your OS can only see about 3 GB of it. Since a single program on a 32-bit OS can be assigned max 2GB memory it might be a bit slower in some really intensive games.

You're also missing out on DirectX 10, although it's not really fully utilized in most games at the moment.

You could always install the Windows 7 beta 64-bit. It's fast, stable and just plain solid.

 

[juliancs]

So I should take windows 7 64 over xp 32? It won't take up more RAM to run?

 

[tersono]

Stick with what you've got unless you have software that requires 64-bit windows or DX10

 

[juliancs]

Stick with what you've got unless you have software that requires 64-bit windows or DX10

Well that exactly why I'm asking - I don't know if any of the games I play can benefit. With the previous reply saying it was more stable etc, as well as my unibody going to have 4GB. I want it all to be recognised.

 

[Neil321]

Well that exactly why I'm asking - I don't know if any of the games I play can benefit. With the previous reply saying it was more stable etc, as well as my unibody going to have 4GB. I want it all to be recognised.

If you want the full 4GB to be recognised it's gonna have to be 64 bit

 

[TheSVD]

If you want the full 4GB to be recognised it's gonna have to be 64 bit

yeah but 32 bit recognises about 3.3GB of it, and that should be fine
i use 32 bit for gaming, and its fine
with vista you spend more ram on system resources so i think it levels out about the same
hence, with most common games
"XP, RAM required: 1GB
Vista, RAM required: 2GB"
etcetc.

 

[alphaod]

I would get Vista x64 simply for DirectX 10 support

 

[Neil321]

yeah but 32 bit recognises about 3.3GB of it, and that should be fine
i use 32 bit for gaming, and its fine
with vista you spend more ram on system resources so i think it levels out about the same
hence, with most common games
"XP, RAM required: 1GB
Vista, RAM required: 2GB"
etcetc.

So why bother asking ? & yes thanks,I'm aware of RAM requirements/resources in both XP & Vista

 

[juliancs]

So why bother asking ? & yes thanks,I'm aware of RAM requirements/resources in both XP & Vista

...I was asking, not him

I dunno. I've downloaded windows 7 64 bit, and will give that a go. Worst comes to worst I re-install xp. Now I just have to figure out glossy or matt