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Skip Navigation LinksPC Authority > Features > Big Questions: The 64-bit Windows FAQ
Big Questions: The 64-bit Windows FAQ
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FEATURE

Big Questions: The 64-bit Windows FAQ

by Nathan Taylor  on Sep 26, 2008
Tags: 64-bit | 64bit | vista | XP | x86-64 | x64 | AMD64 | WOW64
"Gregmond wrote: I wish this arcticle had confirmed if the 64bit was quicker/slower than the 32bit versions - even in basic things like Office, web browsing etc. if the application you are ..."
 
Is driver support up to scratch with 64-bit Vista?
That largely depends on the kind of hardware you use. If you’re using common hardware with nothing too exotic, you’re probably in pretty good shape. Nvidia and AMD/ATI keep their 64-bit graphics drivers on schedule with their 32-bit drivers, for example.

Intel is, of course, maintaining 64-bit drivers for everything. Realtek, used by so many motherboard manufacturers for audio, also maintains compatible 32-bit and 64-bit sound drivers (though your motherboard supplier may not be passing those on in their official motherboard driver packs). Likewise, Silicon Image, commonly used in RAID products also keeps its 64-bit drivers up to date.

Products that are less core can be a mixed bag, although driver support across the board has improved dramatically in recent months. There are 64-bit drivers for most common printers, cameras, TV tuners (including all the major suppliers, like Leadtek, Hauppauge and DViCO), input devices as well as professional sound cards and RAID controllers. Microsoft’s compatibility database keeps tracks of many of them.

All in all, after a scratchy start, it’s not at all difficult to find 64-bit drivers now. They may not come with the device, but you can usually find them online. Of course, it’s still a good idea to check before you buy, especially if you have older hardware that the vendor no longer sells (and is therefore unlikely to update the drivers for).

Is 64-bit faster?
Yes and no. It does support more memory, so technically you can build a faster system using 64-bit Windows, which is something.

In addition, actual compiled 64-bit programs (of which there are few right now, since most people still run 32-bit Windows) will also be able to take advantage of the extra registers and the larger integer support of x86-64 and get a performance boost from that, perhaps as much a 10 or 20%. So yes, 64-bit programs running on a 64-bit OS actually do run faster.

But for the programs that you’re currently using, including pretty much all released PC games, it’s not going to make a noticeable difference. Being 32-bit programs, they can’t access the advantages of x86-64 and so will only run pretty much the same as they would under 32-bit Windows.

If you want to see some benchmarks on the subject, then we’d suggest hopping over to ExtremeTech, which has performed a decent comparison of 32 and 64-bit Windows. The upshot: there’s very little difference when running 32-bit applications and games.

What’s the difference between IA-64 and x86-64?
One source of confusion, especially when looking at 64-bit versions of Windows XP, is the difference between x86-64 (a.k.a. x64) and IA-64. There are 64-bit versions of Windows for both platforms, and you need to get the one that’s right for your processor. Unless you have an Itanium processor, that means x64. The IA-64 architecture is exclusive to the Itanium.

Despite the similarity in name, IA64 and x86-64 have very little to do with each other, and are not at all compatible (though they do have a shared legacy).

IA64 was first introduced to the world in 2001 when the first Itanium processor was released. The Itanium possesses a radical new massively parallel architecture, wildly different from the traditional x86 PC processors of yore, and it requires a completely different instruction set to run. Intel called the instruction set IA-64 (Intel Architecture 64) because it was 64-bit.

But Itanium failed to have much of a market impact, however, and AMD capitalised with x86-64. x86-64 was almost completely the same as previous 32-bit x86 processors, and was highly compatible with existing programs – it just added a few 64-bit extensions.

This article appeared in the October, 2008 issue of PC Authority.
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Comments: 10
Thoughts on this article? Add a comment below.
.:Cyb3rGlitch:.
Sep 26, 2008 5:21 PM
Nice article. I'd recommend Vista 64-bit to anyone with a new PC, it's the best choice. As with any OS, ensure all your hardware and software is compatible first. This is rarely a problem with new PCs.


Comment made about the PC Authority article:
Big Questions: The 64-bit Windows FAQ?
You've been raising some big questions in the forums about 64-bit. Here's our FAQ to 64-bit Vista vs XP, and whether it's worth the hassle if you're not a workstation user, but a gamer or power user.

What do you think? Join the discussion.
djaef
Sep 27, 2008 9:20 AM
Something to add to the FAQ maybe? Would 64 bit be a better choice if buying a new pc now thinking about the next gen Windows OS? Future proofing has obviously turned out to be a dud concept with computers due to the speed of development, but it does make sense to consider the next version of Windows, especially considering the lukewarm response to Vista.
microUgly
Sep 28, 2008 2:14 PM
For now, I would recommend staying away from NVidia hardware if you want to go 64bit.

Unfortunately I have both an Nforce motherboard and Geforce graphics cards. The latest Nforce drivers have only just allowed me to play audio CD's through a SATA DVD drive. And I've been living with the inability to play a few popular games due to Geforce driver issues--and new drivers are few and far between.

I don't doubt the issues will be fixed eventually, but for now NVidia isn't worth the headache.
.:Cyb3rGlitch:.
Sep 28, 2008 2:55 PM
I know many people who use Nvidia GPUs, chipsets, and Vista 64bit with no issues. Perhaps your combo is a dud.
bbjai
Sep 28, 2008 6:50 PM
Yeh I think I can't stress enough the need for anyone upgrading to Vista 64 to check your EXISTING peripherals for driver compatibility. Because if you don't you might find alot of things that you currently own don't work with it. Simple small things like a PCI Wireless net card for example. Its still a great system but you gotta factor in replacing these peripherals into the cost too.
OZSlayer
Nov 13, 2008 6:18 PM
Cyber did you read the latest edition of PCA? Its proved all my claims when it comes to XP being faster than Vista. lol So how can it be the best OS for new PC when it will run slower than using XP on the same PC.

That like saying a motor bike engine work as well in a car as it does in the bike it came out of.

Seriously mate smell the roses.

Vista in the end is like the DODO, it just going to be extinct soon.

.:Cyb3rGlitch:.
Nov 13, 2008 8:23 PM
OZSlayer wrote:
Cyber did you read the latest edition of PCA? Its proved all my claims when it comes to XP being faster than Vista. lol So how can it be the best OS for new PC when it will run slower than using XP on the same PC.

That like saying a motor bike engine work as well in a car as it does in the bike it came out of.

Seriously mate smell the roses.

Vista in the end is like the DODO, it just going to be extinct soon.


No I didn't read it, I haven't bought it in a while. Slow or not, it's more stable and more secure. If you stick with XP, you're selling yourself short, because Windows 7 is exactly the same under the bonnet. Might as well get used to it now, instead of paying extra for XP. With your reasoning, you could also argue that Windows 3.1 is better than XP, because it's faster.

Get with the times, all I.T. professionals recommend Vista out of all the MS range. Otherwise they go with Linux. XP is the Dodo, like it or not.

Edited by .:Cyb3rGlitch:.: 13/11/2008 08:27:20 PM
Gregmond
Dec 16, 2008 2:41 PM
Now that's an interesting comment Cyb3rGlitch: "all I.T. professionals recommend Vista out of all the MS range."
You base this on what ? If you are quoting a company please let me know where they got their data from.
I would like to think I am an I.T Professional, and I know the guys I work with are. Some of us use Vista personally (I use 64 Home Premium atm) but there is no way we would even consider migrating our 600+ users to Vista at this time and only one of my coleagues (there are 5 of us) would recommend it to anyone.
Why not ?
More stable ? maybe.
More secure ? maybe - we have some fairly solid infrastructure that does most of our protection.
Slower on same hardware ? yes.
Hard to understand if you are familiar with XP ? for many users = YES.
Offers benefits to corporate users over XP ? Only to deploy, not from users perspective.

You may love Vista, I do not. Except that I have a licensed copy of Vista x64 for my home PC and don't have a licensed copy of XP 64bit to try, I would reformat tomorrow.
I have also tried several variations of Linux and much prefer them, alas I am a gamer and sometimes games don't work the best under Linux.
Hopefully Windows 7 will be an improvement (I believe it will be based on Vista, but we can but hope).

I wish this arcticle had confirmed if the 64bit was quicker/slower than the 32bit versions - even in basic things like Office, web browsing etc.
.:Cyb3rGlitch:.
Dec 16, 2008 6:04 PM
That's fair enough, if you have lower end systems, then XP is better.
SirSquidness
Dec 17, 2008 6:14 PM
Gregmond wrote:
I wish this arcticle had confirmed if the 64bit was quicker/slower than the 32bit versions - even in basic things like Office, web browsing etc.


if the application you are running is natively 64 bit, then yes, it will run reasonably faster. Most applications aren't though. A lot of programs freely available on the internet or that put drivers in your system have an option for 64 bit systems hidden away.

However, it does allow you to address a truck load more RAM, and doesn't limit applications to 2GB of RAM each (and 4GB of address space in total), so if you're running memory intensive applications, there is a chance that singel difference will make a big difference.
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