Benefits of 64 bit?

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freshbuilder

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Sorry for the noob question but I'm new to the whole building my own rig and realized I'd have to get my own OS pretty soon. Now my question is simple as stated by the title of this thread. Also where can I get a copy of windows 7? I saw some on Tigerdirect and newegg selling for $99 which is cheaper when compared to here in my country. My dad is about to go to the US and was wondering if buying there would be a good idea as I live in the Philippines. Also the ones I saw are OEM and say that its for one PC use only. Whats OEM and does one time installation mean I can't reinstall the OS again in the event my hard drive crashes and I have to reformat it or something?

Thanks in advance to those who'll respond.
 
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64bit OS is the way...
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duxducis

duxducis

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For regular use all that 64bit means is ability to use more then 4GB of ram
you can install on your computer
[strike]"one time installation" think you talking about license copies, since they do sell 3 pack for example.[/strike]
 
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spasmolytic46

spasmolytic46

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I always recommend Newegg to people. It's usually cheaper than retail stores in the U.S. although I don't know about getting shipping to the Philippines. My partner has family in the Philippines and usually her family orders stuff and has it sent here in the U.S. and then we check it and repackage it then send it ourselves to the Philippines to save on shipping.

OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturer. Basically it means you get no support from Microsoft and there are more restrictions about installation. I'm not good with the legalese, so somebody else is probably better to explain the technicalities.
 
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jitpublisher

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OEM is the exact same as retail except for 2 things.
1. You can only install it on 1 PC. The install is tied to the motherboard specifically. You can do any type of hardware upgrade/change except change the motherboard. You can never install it on another PC. There is an exception here though. For instance if a system failure require you to change the motherboard by no fault of your own, you can call Microsoft and plead your case, and if you are persuasive enough, they will give you a new 1 time activation to get you up and going again.
2. There is no Microsoft support. If you need to call Microsoft about help with your notepad app not working correctly, they are going to charge you for any assistance.

Retail does allow you to format an install on a PC, and reinstall again on the same PC after a hardware upgrade or basically any reason, even to another completely different PC. You can never have 2 working versions of a single license install going at the same time, but you are not limited to the number of times you may reinstall it and activate. After a certain number or installs, I think it is 5, even a retail version will not reactivate and you must call Microsoft and get a new activation string, after explaining why you need to reinstall so many times.
 
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bwrlane

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64bit OS is the way to go. It only has one real advantage, which is that it can use more than 3.25GB of RAM, which 32bit can't. RAM is cheap these days and more gives you a faster, smoother experience. Most enthusiasts tend to reckon 8GB is the sweet spot these days.

Why (you might) ask do people bother with 32bit Oses at all then? Well, early 64bit drivers were initially unavailable for some hardware devices and their quality was suspect. Also, some processors were not 64bit compatible. Neither of these is true any more.

I can't really advise re Philippines or the US as I live in the UK, but here, Windows licences fall under the following categories:

Retail: Expensive, but you can install as many times as you like on different hardware (ie you can upgrade your PC without limit). Only one installation is allowed at one time of course.

OEM: Cheap, but you are tied to the original hardware. You can do minor upgrades like RAM and hard disks, but for fundamental hardware upgrades, your original licence is invalid. I run lots of computers (I run about 11 PCs in my home, all of which have Windows 7 64 bit). Also I do like to tinker with with the hardware and upgrade it when I can. Given that I only buy OEM copies, I am probably technically violating my licence when I upgrade the hardware, and I have been asked on occasion to re-activate (which worked without issue). But practically speaking, a retail copy for this many PCs would be prohibitively expensive, especially as I always upgrade the OS each time a new one comes out. Reinstalling from an HDD crash is no problem at all and is not a licence violation.

You also have to consider which version of windows 7 to get. There are mainly three main ones: Ultimate, Professional and Home Premium. Home Premium is enough for most people and is far, far cheaper than the others. Some of my computers run Ultimate, some Professional and some Home Premium. I always forget which though, as they are pretty much identical in general use.

So my advice is to get Windows 7 64bit Home Premium, OEM licence. You probably can get that in the Philippines, but if you can't, yes, get it in the US.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Also, the malware infection rate for 64 bit windows 7 is significantly lower.
One partial explanation is that 64 bit users might be more technologically savvy and careful.

But there are other security safeguards that are possible to be built into a 64 bit system.

http://www.winrumors.com/windows-7-malware-infection-rate-significantly-lower-than-windows-xp/
 
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cadder

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We have had problems with getting 64 bit drivers for professional video cards. Also we have some old proprietary apps that are 16 bit and will not run on the 64 bit OS. Most people wouldn't know the difference between the 32bit and 64bit OS.
 
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freshbuilder

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Retail: Expensive, but you can install as many times as you like on different hardware (ie you can upgrade your PC without limit). Only one installation is allowed at one time of course.
Click to expand...

Where can anyone suggest I get the home premium 64 bit? BTW there's no compelling reason for me to get an ultimate version right?
 
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