Does a 64bit OS have better gaming performance than 32bit???

[MUff1N]

I was wondering if 64 bit was better for gaming as far as performance is concerned.
Those of you here that do use the 64bit OS & do gaming on their system could you clue me in on this question.
Because I'm considering moving to the Windows 7 64bit edition once it goes final & on sale.

Edit:
I'm currently researching & reading up on this & finding out there really isn't any performance gain such as FPS at the current time except for a few game titles
& those that use the "Large Address Aware" in their game builds which make use of better detail textures, larger streamed data caches, or whatever else would never have fit into the limits of a standard 32-bit application
That & just having more memory overhead in games in general. This reading is very interesting...Here's some of what I've been reading.

For consumers, 4, 6, or 8 GB of RAM is pretty cheap these days. And without Windows x64 you really have to stick to about 3 GB of RAM total. While the number of x64 native games is still small, the acceleration in the market of Windows x64 driven by memory sizes makes it more interesting over time. LAA-enabled titles right now typically give a more stable experience when running on Windows x64 because they have much more headroom in the very tight 2 GB address space environment for modern AAA titles. But developers can also deliberately throw in more content in this situation when enough users have the systems to support it.

Recent data is showing a strong uptick in the numbers of Windows x64 systems out there, and game developers have wanted to get past the pains of the 2 GB limit for some time now. In today's market, it is a difficult pitch to make a x64 native-only game, and making both a 32-bit and a x64 native version of the game is more work and risk than many teams are wanting to take on right now. Game content is getting more detailed every year, and if your game is going to stand out, you'll want to be on the high end of that curve. The game industry has also been making more and more use of third party middleware solutions for their titles, and it's been a difficult process to get all the various companies providing these solutions to really engage on providing x64 native support. This is starting to accelerate as well, which should enable more developers that are otherwise stuck deciding between writing their own technology solutions that support x64 native or shipping on time.

I'm a total nub when it comes to 64bit as I've Never used a 64bit OS.
I'm going to keep reading on, but I would appreciate any input you would have on this OK.

Edit: I've found another good reason to go to a 64bit system, Hacking of game bin.exe to use Large Address Aware.
Games like STALKER are supposed to get a big gain in memory performance from this!
Enthusiasts are modifying game executables by adding the /LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag, thereby improving the stability of a 32-bit application that might have otherwise been prone to crashing. (STALKER has done this to me a number of times because it ran out of memory when loading a new level)

[Pitch]

In a blanket statement, no. Most game engines are coded primarily for use in 32 bit enviroments. GPU driver revisins also tend to deviate in performance across 32 and 64bit.

Far Cry, more specifically CryEngine 1 was a 64bit engine if I remember correctly, however, when played in a 64bit enviroment, all it did was add in a couple of nicely detailed textures, which were later added in a 3rd party mod.

Crysis might be a good benchmark however. Testing 32bit and 64bit in both DX9 and DX10.

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by Pitch

In a blanket statement, no. Most game engines are coded primarily for use in 32 bit enviroments. GPU driver revisins also tend to deviate in performance across 32 and 64bit.

Far Cry, more specifically CryEngine 1 was a 64bit engine if I remember correctly, however, when played in a 64bit enviroment, all it did was add in a couple of nicely detailed textures, which were later added in a 3rd party mod.

Crysis might be a good benchmark however. Testing 32bit and 64bit in both DX9 and DX10.

That's what I've been reading as well & I'd like to see what Crysis does with 64bit.
Anyways I've already downloaded & burned a 64bit copy of Window 7 build 7057 to install & try out,
so I'll post back on my results once I've got the basic drivers, security programs & Firefox installed.

I'm also going to checkout the /LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag hack on STALKER to see how that works.
Of course I'm going to backup the original bin.exe before doing it.

I'll be back with my results of the experience.

Edit: Now running Windows 7 x64 Ultimate v7057!
Now to start installing drivers, software & of course a game or two to test out on this puppy!

[MUff1N]

I was very pleased with how fast the new W7 x64 OS installed! It only took 12 minutes total to do a clean installation!
I also liked how fast & responsive the system was overall, but was disappointed overall by the gaming performance which is what I mainly use my system for.

Well, its confirmed (I had to see for myself) that there isn't any performance increase at all using a 64bit system for gaming!
So everything I read about this was correct.
As a matter of a fact, I got lower FPS using 64bit than 32bit by 5 FPS slower.
I do like the fact that the system now sees all my RAM installed & the system overall is very quick in response times.
But I use my system primarily for gaming, so I'm going to go back to 32bit.

I tested using the Crysis benchmark with the same settings running Windows 7 x64 build 7057 under 32bit & 64bit with the screenshot results below...

I'm sure one day the game makers will finally start developing games optimize for a 64bit system, but until then there is no benefit gaming on a 64bit system.

[PorPorMe]

In your looking around see if folding improves with x64. Either XP or Vista.

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by PorPorMe

In your looking around see if folding improves with x64. Either XP or Vista.

Sorry PPM, but I'm not feeling that ambitious in doing even more researching on this...
The research I did do by the time I was done my neck was burning on fire & my eyes hurt!
I've already backed up my W7 x64 installation & reinstalled my W7 32bit image.
So I'm not even in 64bit anymore.

Took me 4 hours to download the 64bit OS, then burn the ISO to DVD, then install it, then
download & install all the 64bit drivers, then install the major programs needed
& by the time I did my first bench I was already tired & by 3PM today had a neckache, backache & slight headache.
So I was ready to call it a day on 64bit testing.

Maybe next month after I get my next refill of meds I'll reinstall the x64 image & continue on with some more testing
now that the major work of installing it is over.
I still want to try out the C++ /LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag Hack on STALKER-Shadow of Chernobyl to see how
the memory usage is then in the game.

[ccperf721p]

I didn't get a chance to respond earlier, but I would have said that for most apps and purposes there either isn't any difference or 32 bit is a little faster. Plus 32 bit doesn't come with near as many issues.

Same holds true for linux, which is why I still use 32 bit..

[bonesaw]

a few games have a 64bit option. not until all games only have 64bit mode do i think that 64 will be better

[PorPorMe]

Originally Posted by MUff1N

Sorry PPM, but I'm not feeling that ambitious in doing even more researching on this...
The research I did do by the time I was done my neck was burning on fire & my eyes hurt!
I've already backed up my W7 x64 installation & reinstalled my W7 32bit image.
So I'm not even in 64bit anymore.

No problem, I wasn't suggesting you research it for me, just that if ran acceoss a tidbit to pass it allong.
I think that if there was something major-someone would have cought on to it.

[MUff1N]

I decided to give the 64bit OS some more of my time & do some gaming on it and such to really test it out as my regular OS.
So far even though this is a beta all my programs & games with the exception of a few games are working rather nicely on it!
Games play very smoothly on it being able to have all the memory they want at 32bits a piece.
So more of the game is in RAM instead of going to pagefile so gameplay is very smooth.
I think I like it! I'm going to keep using this for a week or so to see if I want to go to the 64bit OS full time or not.
But so far, so good!

[MUff1N]

I really like the speed & performance of W7U x64 build 7057 on my system but....
Yea, there's always a BUT...
There's no problem with Windows 7 Ultimate x64 at all & I really love this OS.
It's extremely fast for one (much faster than x86 on "MY" system's HW) & has better security as well, (here's where the but comes in) but unfortunately all my games are not compatible with it!!! RRRR
They either won't run at all or, there will be video problems with the screen flashing & lines running through it!

Every single program I wanted to install on this has worked perfectly with the exception of games so the only drawback I see with running x64 is not being able to play all my games that I want to on it.

I really wish game developers would start making all their games x64 compatible so that I could run this full time as my everyday OS, but the way things are now if I want to play all my games I have to run x86...

Too bad because I really like the speed, having it able to use 1.28 Terabytes of RAM or more
& having more data processed per clock cycle with better system security running a 64-bit system.

Btw PPM, this build 7057 x64 installed flawlessly in 12 minutes flat doing a clean installation!!!

[Gizmo]

There's no inherent reason that 64-bit Windows should be running any faster than 32-bit Windows, except for those situations where large memory spaces are being used, or very large numbers are being crunched.

I would tend to be suspicous of any claims that Windows 64-bit is faster than x86 ON ITS OWN.

Now, it may very well be that, for whatever reason, the 64-bit drivers for particular hardware are better optimized than their 32-bit counterparts.

Guess what I'm trying to say, Muff1n, is that while I'm pleased as punch that you are delighted with your 64-bit Windows installation (after all, we buy our computers so we can use them, right?), I'd be hesitant to suggest to people that they EXPECT performance improvements SIMPLY by going to 64-bit Windows.

As for your issue with games, I'm a bit surprised there, as I was under the impression that the 32-bit WOW layer would handle running the 32-bit apps just fine.

[MUff1N]

On "My" system with the drivers I have installed on it, x64 is noticeably faster. Now in general this may not be true for everyone but it is for me on my systems HW. ( I edited that in the post above that this is fast on "My" system!)
It boots up much faster & program loading times are a blink of an eye or less whereas on x86 it may take a second or so.
For the normal person this time is nothing, but I'm OCing my system & graphics card & every single bit of performance gain I can get is welcome...
One reason for the performance increase I'm sure of is that W7 because the x64 OS see all of the 4Gbs of installed RAM
it caches more of the OS into the RAM instead Pagefile, thus faster response times with the OS.

ALL the 32-bit software programs I installed on it work perfectly fine, BUT not all my games do.
They either won't install at all, or there will be flashing on the screen with horizontal lines running though it from bottom to top like an old CRT TV.
I have no idea what causes this, but it's there & I can't play with the screen like that.

Now all of this may be fixed when the final version of Windows 7 x64 comes out as I'm still running a beta OS.
I hope so...
I'd really like to run x64 all the time as my everyday system.

[danrok]

Not just faster because it is a clean install?