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Windows 7, Bootcamp, and Quad Core i7 Question

N

NateDaGreat

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 31, 2012
6
0
Hi,

So I'm planning on running Windows 7 64-bit via bootcamp in order to maximize performance for gaming and was wondering which version of Windows 7 would utilize all of the Macbook Pro's system resources. I've heard that the most cost effective gaming option would be the 64-bit "Home Premium" edition, but have read (Correct me if I'm wrong) that this edition can only utilize one socket of a processor while the "Pro" and "Ultimate" editions utilize the whole processor.

My question is, will the "Home Premium" 64-bit edition of Windows 7 utilize all of my quad core intel i7 processor?

Macbook Pro 15" (Mid 2012)
2.7 GHz Intel Quad Core i7
8gb 1600MHz RAM
128GB SSD
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1GB VRAM
 
Yeah, this is completely false. If you want the real-difference, check out this: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare

Migrating from Home to Professional only really makes sense for businesses / corporations due to some networking specific features. Migrating from Professional to Ultimate, really only make sense for a handful of users IMHO, because the "additional features" are laughable at best ( I'm a Software Engineer by the way and I've been working on / with Windows since the early 90" when I was just a little kid )... Again, Professional and Ultimate is fine for businesses / coporations that might want score some additional points for on a dumb certification or because they need some of the additional network specific features, but to simple / normal users, neither of the versions offer features that would justify the extra cost compared to the Home edition.

That being said, the only thing that you should indeed do as a user, is get a 64bit version of Windows since it can utilize more RAM ( memory ) than the 32bit version. You can read some useful articles describing the differences between 32bit and 64bit systems in more details, here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...and-64-bit-Windows-frequently-asked-questions ( they mainly compare 32bit Vista to 64bit Vista, but the same things apply to newer versions too )
 
Last edited:
ScholarsInk said:
If your Boot Camp partition will be for gaming, Windows 8 Pro might be an option to consider.
Click to expand...

The gaming industry is quite pissed at Windows 8 and Microsoft at the moment, mainly because of the new publishing model and the crap / license agreements / cuts / etc. that come with it ( Windows Store ). This might of course change in time ( depending on how Microsoft actually tackles the situation ), but at the time of writing, I can not recommend Windows 8 to anyone. Business / corporations in general have also clearly showed their lack of interest since it doesn't offer anything significant over Windows 7 ( in a business scenario of course )... they might / will eventually upgrade, but it makes no real sense for them ( most of them I mean ) to do it right now.

Windows 8 in my opinion, is the most messed up version they have released up to date ( and NO, I'm not talking about performance - then Vista would take the trophy ). Beside the fact that it's ugly ( I'd rather switch back to Windows 95 or even earlier versions ), counterintuitive, it really brings nothing significant ( if anything ) to the table for users compared to Windows 7... the list could go on, but those are IMHO, the most bothering things about it.

PS: I'm not sure what the current state of Bootcamp drivers is. A few weeks ago at least, I was unable to install Windows 8 on my 13" rMBP. It did go through the installation process, but at the end ( when I should have been shown the ugly Welcome slides and it should have booted into the OS ), the entire screen got distorted and I could only see a scaled portion of Windows 8 taking up 1/5 of the entire display ( unfortunately the scaled portion was not the scaled version of the entire Windows 8 screen but a part of that - so I'm not even sure if maybe some error messages were displayed or anything at all ). I've spend hours trying to make it work, but it was simply not playing along, so I have just installed Windows 7 instead ( which worked / is working fine )... that being said, I could install Windows 8 on my late 2011 15" cMBP without problems though.
 
Last edited:
Spetsnazos said:
this is so false my head hurts just from reading this misinformation.
Click to expand...

My eyes are also bleeding. OP, whoever told you that is an utter idiot.

Anything 64-bit will use your computer to it's maximum capabilities, and that's that.
 
snaky69 said:
My eyes are also bleeding. OP, whoever told you that is an utter idiot.

Anything 64-bit will use your computer to it's maximum capabilities, and that's that.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the help! Thanks for clearing this up for me.
 
Barna Biro said:
The gaming industry is quite pissed at Windows 8 and Microsoft at the moment, mainly because of the new publishing model and the crap / license agreements / cuts / etc. that come with it ( Windows Store ). This might of course change in time ( depending on how Microsoft actually tackles the situation ), but at the time of writing, I can not recommend Windows 8 to anyone. Business / corporations in general have also clearly showed their lack of interest since it doesn't offer anything significant over Windows 7 ( in a business scenario of course )... they might / will eventually upgrade, but it makes no real sense for them ( most of them I mean ) to do it right now.

Windows 8 in my opinion, is the most messed up version they have released up to date ( and NO, I'm not talking about performance - then Vista would take the trophy ). Beside the fact that it's ugly ( I'd rather switch back to Windows 95 or even earlier versions ), counterintuitive, it really brings nothing significant ( if anything ) to the table for users compared to Windows 7... the list could go on, but those are IMHO, the most bothering things about it.

PS: I'm not sure what the current state of Bootcamp drivers is. A few weeks ago at least, I was unable to install Windows 8 on my 13" rMBP. It did go through the installation process, but at the end ( when I should have been shown the ugly Welcome slides and it should have booted into the OS ), the entire screen got distorted and I could only see a scaled portion of Windows 8 taking up 1/5 of the entire display ( unfortunately the scaled portion was not the scaled version of the entire Windows 8 screen but a part of that - so I'm not even sure if maybe some error messages were displayed or anything at all ). I've spend hours trying to make it work, but it was simply not playing along, so I have just installed Windows 7 instead ( which worked / is working fine )... that being said, I could install Windows 8 on my late 2011 15" cMBP without problems though.
Click to expand...

I've been running it on my 15" Retina for half a year now. It's on discount right now and the drivers all work; if you're only gaming, you needn't worry about running into the OS otherwise.
 
No one was lying to you and you're actually correct in that the lower end Windows will only use 1 socketed processor vs 2+ in higher end versions. This isn't a concern for you regardless because consumer computers use multicore single socket CPUs. That means there's a single CPU chip with 1-8 cores onboard. Some workstations and servers have expensive motherboards that have multiple CPU sockets.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/system-requirements
PCs with multi-core processors:
Windows 7 was designed to work with today's multi-core processors. All 32-bit versions of Windows 7 can support up to 32 processor cores, while 64‑bit versions can support up to 256 processor cores.

PCs with multiple processors (CPUs):
Commercial servers, workstations, and other high-end PCs may have more than one physical processor. Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate allow for two physical processors, providing the best performance on these computers. Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium will recognize only one physical processor.
Click to expand...
 
Daniel L said:
No one was lying to you and you're actually correct in that the lower end Windows will only use 1 socketed processor vs 2+ in higher end versions. This isn't a concern for you regardless because consumer computers use multicore single socket CPUs. That means there's a single CPU chip with 1-8 cores onboard. Some workstations and servers have expensive motherboards that have multiple CPU sockets.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/system-requirements
Click to expand...

Glad somebody pointed this out. All the BS posts above seemed to read right past the word "socket".

So while what you read was true, it makes no difference since the MBP only has a single socket.
 
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