E6410 Owner's Thread

32 or 64 bit Windows 7?

I will shortly be purchasin an E6410 with 4 GB RAM and would like to understand whether I should be ordering it with the 32 or 64 bit version of Windows 7. My understanding is that Windows can only use about 3.5 GB with the 32 bit version? Does this mean that the remaining RAM is completely wasted? Or can it be used for other purposes, such as drivers?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

two quick notes:
yes, 32 bit systems can only address a limited amount of RAM (below 4 GB), in reality it is even less, since some addresses are also reserved for system 'stuff' and not for addressing RAM.

but, in 64 bit systems, every address is twice the size of a 32 bit address. therefore you need way more RAM before a 64 bit system is 'faster'/'better' than a 32bit system

(also there are still some downsides with 64bit... hardwarecompatibility, etc.)

so: i would probably also go for the 64bit Win, but 4GB in 64bit is less than 3.5 GB in 32bit!!! so either take more RAM or have a tradeoff between 64bit and 'lots of available' ram.

 

Also go for Win 7 Professional or up. Those support XP mode which should provide a better compatibility with 32bit software. But of course you can always use third party solutions like VMware.

 

i agree: keep in mind, tht XP mode (it is a virtual machine) will be memory hungry

 

XP Mode is only for application (not games). Audio/Video Recording software and a like will also not work under XP Mode.

Windows 7 Home Premium supports up to 16GB of RAM
The Professional edition and higher is 192GB of RAM (Dell sells system with that amount of RAM.. the memory upgrade is the price of a car 22k$ from 6GB)

64-bit CPU supports 16 EB of RAM (that is 16 Exa-Byte, or 16 000 000 000 GB) As ridiculous as it sound (the amount), the exact same reaction was done on 32-bit CPU's with it 4GB limit... and now look, it's not enough.

 

64-bit architecture (idea) supports 2^64 Bytes which is a little bit more than 16*10^18.

But the i3/5/7 (at least mobile versions) use 36-bit address bus.... That gives you 2^36=(approx) 64GB. Don't put more in your laptop .

 

A question for everyone who already has a E6410 with fingerprint reader: now Windows 7 recognice it as Biometric device?
If yes: which fingerprint reader do you have (Upek or Authentec)?
And: did you already tried to install a SW that demands a "standard" fingerprint with Windows 7? (like the Protector Suite QL from UPEK)

Thanks in advance!

 

Thanks for your help and advice.

I would use Windows 7 Professional, although I don't have a need for XP mode.

What I am trying to understand are the actual advantages of 64 bit. I understand that it allows for an upgrade in RAM beyond 4 GB, but I will not upgrade this notebook anyway. By the time the RAM becomes an issue, it will be time to replace it.

If I understand carlaron's comments correctly, the 64 bit version would use more RAM than the 32 bit version, meaning that the 64 bit's ability to use above 3.5 GB is eliminated. Therefore, I should not expect any performance difference with 64 bit at 4 GB RAM.

Therefore, if I am correct in understanding that there is no performance difference, then what advantages are there to the 64 bit version, given a 4GB RAM?

Thanks again for your help.

 

If you use 64bit Software it could be faster (Photoshop 64bit for exampleis a bit faster than the 32bit Version; or a panorama tool (Microsoft ICE) also gets a bit more performance).
If you are sure, that you never will upgrade your RAM and you don`t have special software (another example is video encoding), you could chose 32bit.

But I would always go with 64bit, I don`t think you lose some performane/ram in comparison to 32bit.

 

an honest answer. 64bit systems can be slower (addresses are twice the size...) so for most people 32bit is still very sufficient (in a 2-5 year cycle).

but then 64bit is just as good (with a few drawbacks), its been there for a couple years and it is the direction we are all headed.

decide on what you do. for email/internet/office, it really does not matter.
are you using any SW that specifically improves performance with 64bit?

if not, are you using RAM hungry applications, then 64bit could be the way to got, but then get enough of it!