64 bit Vista vs Gaming - what's the truth?

[dadzilla]

So from the reading I've done, it seems that some games won't work in 64 bit Vista - is that correct? I would love to run 8 GB of ram, but 32 bit Vista can only see 3 GB. But there is no use of having 8 GB of ram and 64 bit Vista if the games I want to play (FarCry 2 mostly) won't run.

What is the real story with 64 bit Vista - game or no game?

[Eldonko]

I havent heard of any games that dont work in Vista 64. What happens with a 32bit game is Vista just runs it in 32bit, essentially the OS is both 32 and 64 bit. There might have been 64bit issues a year ago, but not now.

[Squeetard]

It's a flop for me. I have vista x64, XP x64 and XP pro on my machine. First x64 drivers are no where near as optimized as the 32 bit, second I have yet to play a game that makes use of more than 2gb or ram. even with tweaks. Games I've tried on vista x64:

Witcher
CoD4
Source engine games, HL2, DoD, Team Fortress 2 etc..
Mass Effect
Bioshock
Hellgate London
Crysis(64 bit), Crysis warhead.
Stalker.

Every one of these ran better on XP 32. Some cases almost twice as fast.
Hopefully by Windows 7, someone will write a native dx10, 64 bit game. Until then x64 is a second thought and poorly optimized.

Edit: The games all played fine, with the exception of Crysis Warhead, had crashes.

[Eldonko]

I think that is a pretty misleading statement. What do you mean by better and twice as fast, you dual booted 32bit and 64 bit and ran the same game on both and got double (or significantly higher) FPS on 32 bit?

Originally Posted by Squeetard

Every one of these ran better on XP 32. Some cases almost twice as fast.

[MpG]

Originally Posted by Eldonko

I havent heard of any games that dont work in Vista 64. What happens with a 32bit game is Vista just runs it in 32bit, essentially the OS is both 32 and 64 bit. There might have been 64bit issues a year ago, but not now.

C&C:Generals
Galactic Civilizations II

I have yet to find a solution that will let me run the former (yeah, it's dated, but still fun), and yet to determine the reason the latter consistently crashes on my Vista x64 machine, despite both being rock solid on two different XP machines. Granted, since I don't know the exact problem in each case, it's not necessarily Vista. But after trying two different cards, one Nvidia, the other ATI, and getting the same response, I can't help but be suspicious.

And even if it is the fault of Vista, the blame could also be attributed to the game developers for failing to ensure compatibility. But strictly speaking, I don't really care who actually deserves the blame. From my consumer point of view, going back to XP is letting me play whatever games I want.

But having said all that, if the game worked on Vista x64, it generally worked with minimal problems or slowdowns.

[Cptn Vortex]

Generals works for me in Vista 64 bit. I havent tried CIV II.

Apart from that everything seems to work fine, but, I am thinking of getting back to XP 32bit cause vista really doesnt give me anything different. Theres no real reason to have it for me.

[Squeetard]

Originally Posted by Eldonko

I think that is a pretty misleading statement. What do you mean by better and twice as fast, you dual booted 32bit and 64 bit and ran the same game on both and got double (or significantly higher) FPS on 32 bit?

That's just it. same computer, latest drivers for each OS. Same game settings.

Hellgate London 64fps-x64, 93fps-XP32
HL2 benchmark 132fps-x64, 167fps-x32
All the Unreal engine games (Bioshock, mass effect, CoD4) were 20-30% faster in XP32.

Witcher, using the Bioware Aurora engine, was a dog in x64, almost twice as fast in xp32 and noticable stuttering lag in x64.

[Eldonko]

Interesting, I am going to run some tests myself when I get a few mins and will report back.

[tzetsin]

I'll give you some honest advice, IF your planning on upgrading your operating system anyway, there is really no honest difference in performance between the 32 and 64 bit vistas. Now i say "honest" because there are tons of factors that can make one or the other better for different things, and its not really the operating system itself that makes these changes, so, just go with whichever you want, you really cant tell if your experience is going to be better with one or the other unless you try both. but if you want to err on the side of caution, i'd go with 32. not cause its better, but because its old tech and better supported, and when something goes funky you wont have to say "ah this 64 bit crap.." you'll just say "damn vista"

Im using vista 64 on my computers and not 32 because i'm an avid flight simulator fan and my ram usage regularly gets into the 6 gig range when running alot of add ons and weather simulation, i also game alot with other games but i've yet to see ram usage break a couple gigs.

EDIT: i gave false info here, edited it just in case someone read it and didnt read the next couple posts ;)

i dont think 64 bit is going to be "must have" software untill windows 7 or even 8 so right now i dont think you'll loose no matter which way you go.

[Thund3rball]

Originally Posted by tzetsin

I'll give you some honest advice, IF your planning on upgrading your operating system anyway, there is really no honest difference in performance between the 32 and 64 bit vistas. Now i say "honest" because there are tons of factors that can make one or the other better for different things, and its not really the operating system itself that makes these changes, so, just go with whichever you want, you really cant tell if your experience is going to be better with one or the other unless you try both. but if you want to err on the side of caution, i'd go with 32. not cause its better, but because its old tech and better supported, and when something goes funky you wont have to say "ah this 64 bit crap.." you'll just say "damn vista"

Im using vista 64 on my computers and not 32 because i'm an avid flight simulator fan and my ram usage regularly gets into the 6 gig range when running alot of add ons and weather simulation, i also game alot with other games but i've yet to see ram usage break a couple gigs.

crysis has a 64 bit .exe and will break the 2 gig limit and benifits from it, and crytek is making far cry 2 so i'm going to go out on a limb and say that it will also benifit from 64 bit

i dont think 64 bit is going to be "must have" software untill windows 7 or even 8 so right now i dont think you'll loose no matter which way you go.

Excellent advice and exactly how I feel. I like to err on the side of caution. I would not see any big improvements in 64 bit OS at this time. Gaming is finicky enough as is, no need to throw that into the mix if you ask me. ;)

On another note... Far Cry 2 is being made by Ubisoft using their own engine. Crytek has nothing to do with it at all.