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    Windows Vista 64bit on Macbook Pro

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by Pale Mantis, Jul 3, 2008.

  1. Pale Mantis

    Pale Mantis Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am buying a 15.4inch Macbook Pro Specs:
    2.6GHz Processor
    4GB RAM
    250GB HDD
    512MB Nvidia 8600M GT

    I plan on using Leopard for Graphics, (Blender, 3DS MAx, Maya etc) and Windows for Gaming and media (The Sims 2 and Expansions, Crysis, Oblivion and Expansions, etc Windows Media Player and Microsoft Office to name a few) I here that 32bit Vista can only see 2GB of RAM but 64bit vista can see all 4.

    I plan on buying Vista Ultimate 64bit with service pack 1 for my Macbook Pro. Will I be able to play all my games in windows vista with a 64 bit version. I'm thinking games especially Crysis would benefit from the extra 2GB of RAM. Also I here the latest BootCamp 2.1 fully supports 64bit Vista does this mean Vista supports all the Macbook Hardware and Drivers?
     
    Pale Mantis, Jul 3, 2008
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  2. Khris

    Khris Yes I am better than you!

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    I've got a Black MacBook with 4gb of RAM and Vista x64 sees all 4. 32bit versions of XP and vista will only see between 3 and 3.5gb.
     
    Khris, Jul 3, 2008
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  3. Pale Mantis

    Pale Mantis Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yes but the games?
     
    Pale Mantis, Jul 3, 2008
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  4. Bog

    Bog Losing it...

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    I can only speak for Crysis, which reportedly benefits significantly from running on x64 Vista.
     
    Bog, Jul 3, 2008
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  5. stealthsniper96

    stealthsniper96 What Was I Thinkin'?

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    Don't get ram from apple.
     
    stealthsniper96, Jul 3, 2008
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  6. shoelace_510

    shoelace_510 8700M GT inside... ^-^;

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    Well actually Vista SP1 can see 4 GB of RAM and utilize 3.2 GB with Vista 32 bit. :)
     
    shoelace_510, Jul 3, 2008
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  7. shoelace_510

    shoelace_510 8700M GT inside... ^-^;

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    Also, Vista will support the macbook hardware, but drivers I am not sure.

    I know that a friend of mine has the older G4 macbook and he runs Vista 32 bit just fine, drivers and all. :D

    Hope this helps!
     
    shoelace_510, Jul 3, 2008
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  8. Khris

    Khris Yes I am better than you!

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    Actually Vista SP1 32bit will DISPLAY that there are 4GB of RAM, however it still will only utilize 3.2gb.
     
    Khris, Jul 3, 2008
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  9. Khris

    Khris Yes I am better than you!

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    Games will be running under Windows, so whatever memory Windows has available, will be available to whatever game you're playing.
     
    Khris, Jul 3, 2008
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  10. shoelace_510

    shoelace_510 8700M GT inside... ^-^;

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    Heh that's exactly what I meant. XD We are on the same page. :)
     
    shoelace_510, Jul 4, 2008
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  11. Pale Mantis

    Pale Mantis Notebook Enthusiast

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    And apperantly 3.2GB vs 4GB is not a significant enough jump. Its better for me to get a 32bit without going through all that trouble to find drivers. ButI am confused. With Bootcamp 2.1 I thought Apple fuly supported Vista 64 meaning all the Hardware is compatible (Backlit keyboard, shortcut keys, Mighty mouse) If I install 64bit Vista on My Macbook Pro will all my hardware be able to function properly? Because since Bootcamp 2.1 fully supports vista 64 then all the drivers for the macbook pro hardware should be already within bootcamp? Also I have a list of games that I need to know If they work in 64bit Vista.
     
    Pale Mantis, Jul 4, 2008
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  12. shoelace_510

    shoelace_510 8700M GT inside... ^-^;

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    Well I can't tell you for certain about the hardware Bootcamp issues, I do know that Vista 64 bit can run really anything Vista 32 bit can. That being said, Vista in general can run somewhere in the high 90 percentile of games that XP can...
     
    shoelace_510, Jul 4, 2008
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  13. Pale Mantis

    Pale Mantis Notebook Enthusiast

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    I also here about problems running vista with Sp1 is this people already with vista who download Sp1 and have problems with their Mac or the new retail DVDs with Sp1 on them? Or both? Is this also with both 32bit and 64bit vista?
     
    Pale Mantis, Jul 4, 2008
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  14. shoelace_510

    shoelace_510 8700M GT inside... ^-^;

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    What problems are you talking about? I have had Vista since last July and upgraded to SP1 as soon as it came out and have had 0 problems...

    In fact, I think SP1 has made Vista quite a bit better :)
     
    shoelace_510, Jul 4, 2008
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  15. Pale Mantis

    Pale Mantis Notebook Enthusiast

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    something about EF1... maybe its a vista on Mac only thing
     
    Pale Mantis, Jul 4, 2008
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  16. iw2012

    iw2012 Newbie

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    older G4 macbook :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: and he runs Vista 32 bit just fine, drivers and all. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

    your friend is so f**ing weird... :D :D :D :D :D
     
    iw2012, Jul 4, 2008
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  17. Pale Mantis

    Pale Mantis Notebook Enthusiast

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    Pale Mantis, Jul 4, 2008
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  18. shoelace_510

    shoelace_510 8700M GT inside... ^-^;

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    ??? :rolleyes:
     
    shoelace_510, Jul 4, 2008
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  19. DFI Fan

    DFI Fan Notebook Evangelist

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    No offense but that MacBook doesn't have a G4 if it's running Vista. Only Intel based Macs can run Windows (or any other x86 based OS) natively. G4 CPUs were IBM PowerPC based and will not run Windows natively. Also I do not think that the MacBook ever came with a G4 CPU. Your probably thinking of a iBook G4. Either way a G4 can not run Windows natively. So either it's a MacBook with an Intel CPU or it's a iBook G4 running Windows virtually.
     
    DFI Fan, Jul 4, 2008
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  20. shoelace_510

    shoelace_510 8700M GT inside... ^-^;

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    Hm... I am no Mac expert so you could be right here. All that I know is that it is a Macbook but I don't believe that it is the latest lineup. I may have mistakenly called it a G4, so my bad. lol
     
    shoelace_510, Jul 4, 2008
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  21. circa86

    circa86 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    any 64bit Intel mac should be able to run vista x64 just fine, as long as the proper drivers are installed, just installing the drivers included with the system, then updating to bootcamp 2.1 if necessary, no major issues at all. Honestly though, for gaming or really anything else, I would recommend using a lite install of XP SP3, which will use more than 70% less space for the operating system, and get rid of all the garbage you don't need, windows media player, loads of random sounds, photos, etc. etc. etc. I have recently switched from vista x64 on my MBP to this method and I will never go back, I don't use windows as a main os, so I have no reason to have all the other features that vista offers, I just need an OS that can run the games I want to play every once in a wihle, and do nothing else. I have actually moved to using the same system on my PC and the performance increase and boot time is extremely substantial.

    I believe masterchef will agree with me ^_^
     
    circa86, Jul 4, 2008
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