Win 7 32 or 64 for Media Center? - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

ilyo · 2009-08-13, 06:38 PM

I have just finished building a HTPC. I am using it for Media Center exclusively. I have read all the great posts on the improvements in Windows 7 MCE and have decided to make the jump. However, I am trying to decide between using Win 7 32 or 64. I ran Vista 64 MC and it sucked. I had nothing but codec issues getting downloaded video to work. Is that still the case? I would like to use 64 because of the memory and processor I have.

Here are my components for reference:

ASUS M4A78-EM

AMD Phenom X4 9650 Quad Core Processor

450watt Power Supply

2 x 1TB Seagate SATA 7200 32mb cache Drives

4GB DDR2 800mhz Crucial Memory

LG DVD Burner
Haupagge WinTV2250 Tuner Card (Rogers analog cable connected)
(In future Hauppauge HD-PVR)

Any advice or personal expereince appreciated!

TorontoColin · 2009-08-13, 06:41 PM

If you want to future-proof use the x64

pnear · 2009-08-13, 08:51 PM

I recently decided try Windows 7 x64 RTM on my primary media center. While my experience was much better than when I did the same with Vista as it relates to drivers and codecs, the overall experience wasn't great. Granted, my hardware's not as beefy as yours - I have a dual-core Athlon and 2GB of RAM. I found that the overall responsiveness of the computer (dedicated to media center) in both native and extender modes to be sluggish. I went back to x86 yesterday, and my media center is back to being snappy again. Based on that experience, I'd recommend x86 for media center.

For the record, I am running Windows 7 x64 on my laptop which has 4GB of RAM, and I'm seeing about the same performance as I did x86 on the same hardware.

That's not definitive I know, but gives you another real-world data point.

Pete

dajota · 2009-08-13, 08:59 PM

In my experience the OS functions work great in x64, 3rd party apps sometimes behave in strange ways. There are some great 3rd party apps that extend the function of the mediacenter that may not work under x64. You only have 4GB of ram, so your wasting less than 1 GB with x86 anyway.

lunear · 2009-08-14, 03:45 PM

You may use x64, with K-lite-codec package 64bit, and the system should work fine. However, configuring the codecs and filters might be difficult if you have no experience.

Another problem is WIN 7 still doesn't support HDTV OTA in Canada. And cracking it seems too difficult. So I would like to suggest you stick with Vista.

If you wanna play movies, XBMC is best choice. No need to configure much, and you may play almost all popular format media files.

redzone · 2009-08-14, 03:52 PM

i use win 64 bit without any issues. just set your regoin to the US and the Media center works without any issues.

TorontoColin · 2009-08-14, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lunear

Another problem is WIN 7 still doesn't support HDTV OTA in Canada. And cracking it seems too difficult. So I would like to suggest you stick with Vista.

Actually, Peter Near's latest method of ATSC in Windows 7 is arguably easier than any previous OS.

2009-08-13, 06:38 PM	#1
ilyo Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: GTA, Canada Posts: 369	Win 7 32 or 64 for Media Center? I have just finished building a HTPC. I am using it for Media Center exclusively. I have read all the great posts on the improvements in Windows 7 MCE and have decided to make the jump. However, I am trying to decide between using Win 7 32 or 64. I ran Vista 64 MC and it sucked. I had nothing but codec issues getting downloaded video to work. Is that still the case? I would like to use 64 because of the memory and processor I have. Here are my components for reference: ASUS M4A78-EM AMD Phenom X4 9650 Quad Core Processor 450watt Power Supply 2 x 1TB Seagate SATA 7200 32mb cache Drives 4GB DDR2 800mhz Crucial Memory LG DVD Burner Haupagge WinTV2250 Tuner Card (Rogers analog cable connected) (In future Hauppauge HD-PVR) Any advice or personal expereince appreciated! __________________ Sony Bravia \|Bell 9241w/1TB EHD \| Rogers Home Phone/Extreme Internet \| Sirius Radio \| XBOX360,PS3

2009-08-13, 08:59 PM	#4
dajota Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 182	Stay with x86 In my experience the OS functions work great in x64, 3rd party apps sometimes behave in strange ways. There are some great 3rd party apps that extend the function of the mediacenter that may not work under x64. You only have 4GB of ram, so your wasting less than 1 GB with x86 anyway.

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2009-08-13, 06:41 PM	#2
TorontoColin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Wind Mobile, Rogers Cable, Teksavvy Extreme Cable Posts: 3,229	If you want to future-proof use the x64

2009-08-13, 08:51 PM	#3
pnear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Milton, ON Posts: 662	I recently decided try Windows 7 x64 RTM on my primary media center. While my experience was much better than when I did the same with Vista as it relates to drivers and codecs, the overall experience wasn't great. Granted, my hardware's not as beefy as yours - I have a dual-core Athlon and 2GB of RAM. I found that the overall responsiveness of the computer (dedicated to media center) in both native and extender modes to be sluggish. I went back to x86 yesterday, and my media center is back to being snappy again. Based on that experience, I'd recommend x86 for media center. For the record, I am running Windows 7 x64 on my laptop which has 4GB of RAM, and I'm seeing about the same performance as I did x86 on the same hardware. That's not definitive I know, but gives you another real-world data point. Pete

2009-08-14, 03:45 PM	#5
lunear Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 128	You may use x64, with K-lite-codec package 64bit, and the system should work fine. However, configuring the codecs and filters might be difficult if you have no experience. Another problem is WIN 7 still doesn't support HDTV OTA in Canada. And cracking it seems too difficult. So I would like to suggest you stick with Vista. If you wanna play movies, XBMC is best choice. No need to configure much, and you may play almost all popular format media files.

2009-08-14, 03:52 PM	#6
redzone Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1,026	i use win 64 bit without any issues. just set your regoin to the US and the Media center works without any issues.