The pros and cons of downgrading to Win 7 32bit from 64bit

[staylorist]

I can't decide whether I should downgrade from Windows 7 64bit to 32bit. I am having a lot of unfortunately program specific problems with the 64bit version. I also only have 4gigs of ram so I don't know if a 32 bit version would work any differently other than relieving me of my issues.

They are specifically:
A few unsigned drivers I would like to use like ATI Tray Tools
Dragon Age: Origins crashes constantly (known issue)
Nikon Capture NX2 does not support 64bit OSs and will continually crash
Nikon's NEF(RAW) Codec is not compatible with 64bit OSs (actually only a minor annoyance)
Bugs with ViewNX
I think I am forgetting one or two others atm.

So my real question is, what would I be losing if I am running Windows 7 32bit instead of 64bit on this machine?

Gigabyte GS-X38-DS4 board with E8400 and 4 gigs of Ram

 

[buwish]

Driver wise, you'll probably see an improvement in terms of more compatibility and just being able to find them. Depending on your RAM and MOBO, you'll be able to use roughly 3-3.5GB with 32-bit, so not a major down fall. If worse comes to worse and you prefer 64-bit, you could do a dual boot with say Vista or XP 64 bit.

 

[staylorist]

Dual boxing Vista 64 is exactly what I am doing now. Especially because it seems that Red Faction Guerrilla will never work correctly with Windows 7 (it runs in hyper speed and Volition disgustingly refuses to support Win 7).

Other than the Memory bit, is there anything else that the 64bit version would hold over the 32bit?

Thank you.

 

[Jonmor68]

You have to look at YOUR needs. Seeing that programs and devices which you use are not supported by 64 bit, I suggest you install the 32 bit version.
If and when you replace or upgrade the devices and programs to 64 bit complient versions, then you can install a 64 bit OS. Chances are that by that time Windows 8+ may be released and you may be ready for a new computer.
I'm running the 32 bit with 3 GB of ram, from the Beta through RC to RTM without any problems.
I do a lot of video editing and record 3 FTA channels at the same time without any problems, the 3 GB handles it fine.

 

[GTFsr]

I am using an HP, AMD processor computer running WIN7 64 bit with 4 gig of memory and NX2 since WIN7 was first released. I also use VIEW NX and both run without crashing.
In two days I will have 8 gig. Hopefully it will run a little faster.
Don't see the need to switch to 32 bit version. Something else must be wrong.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey