Help! Was shipped 32 bit Win 7 instead of 64 bit...

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twangbuck

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Ok, so this falls under the mantra "you get what you pay for." I bought a computer for cheap online. The company had great customer feedback reviews so I figured I'd take a chance. They shipped the machine. Didn't boot up. Turns out after some research, I likely had a fried motherboard (an epidemic problem with that particular model). So I shipped it back and they sent me a replacement (different model), claiming the replacement was installed with 64 bit Win 7.
It's not. It's running 32 bit Win 7.
Do I once again pack up a machine and ship it back, or do I suck it up and stick with the 32 bit? I'll be running Cubase LE 5 on it with a focusrite 2i4. My goal is to record audio with a tad bit of midi work with a drum machine.
I used to record audio on an ancient Win 98 Pentium III machine with a soundblaster sound card. My main purpose in switching was I wanted greater sound quality (more clarity).
I'm not looking to do extensive loops or sampling, but I did want to use at least some VST plugins.
Am I screwed? Should I ship it back? Or will the differences between 32 bit and 64 really not be that a big a deal considering what my goals are? I know 64 bit can handle greater amounts of data faster, but I'm not sure what that really means in practical terms with audio recording.
Any thoughts?
 
You should get what you paid for. If you bought 64bit, make them give it to you.

Or download the 64bit and install it yourself. I think you can use the same product key for both 32bit and 64bit.
 
First...is that PC hardware capable of supporting a 64 bit OS...?

Second...how much do you really need a 64 bit OS...?
If the apps are not optimized for it....it will make little difference.
More is not always "better".

I'm running a full-tilt DAW on a 32 bit XP system....and I haven't noticed I'm missing anything not having a 64 bit system.

That said....I agree with Chili, if you expected something for the money you paid, you should get it, and nothing less...but I mean, if you can get a partial refund or something and keep what you have...you may not really need the 64 bit OS.

First rule of choosing/building a computer....find out what you plan to use it for and what the hardware and apps will run optimally on, and use that as your guide.
There are still a lot of DAW apps/plugs that don't thrive on 64-bits...and there are even some potential issues with compatibility. IOW...I would not run a 64 bit OS unless everything...hardware, apps, plugs, the works...are optimized for 64 bits.
 
I'm running a full-tilt DAW on a 32 bit XP system....and I haven't noticed I'm missing anything not having a 64 bit system.

Similar here. I have Windows 7 professional 64-bit, but I installed the 32-bit versions of SONAR and Vegas Video because I rely on several VST audio plug-ins that are 32-bit only. I had installed the 64-bit versions initially, then removed them and re-installed once I saw the problem. I don't see any difference. I know that 32-bit apps can't access all 8 GB of RAM I have, but again that hasn't been a problem. Especially not for audio programs, versus video that deals with multi-GB files.

--Ethan
 
To the best of my knowledge only dual-core (or greater) CPUs can run 64bit OS. Having said that I've noticed a LOT of budget dual-core boxes shipping with 32bit OS. It should only be a problem if your software absolutely needs that second core (as I understand Ableton Live 9 does).
 
Or download the 64bit and install it yourself. I think you can use the same product key for both 32bit and 64bit.

That wasn't true for XP (I have a student copy of XP that came with both disks and separate keys), so I suspect it's won't wwork for 7 either.

There's a variety of small performance issues that people have alluded to that might mean that 32 bit is not the right solution.
32-bit software will run on a 64-bit OS. The opposite is NOT true. If you have 64-bit software, it just won't install on your 32-bit system.
If you have more than 4 GB of RAM, a 32-bit OS will not be able to access the excess, so you'll have wasted hardware.
I believe that Win 7 was optimized for 64-bit, so there might be other performance issues that aren't as well-documented.

As wheelma said, you need a 64-bit CPU to use the 64-bit OS. It doesn't have to be a dual core CPU to be 64-bit compatible; it's just that both of those technologies came in to vogue simultaneously, so there's a lot of overlap.
If you don't have a 64-bit CPU, and they promised you a 64-bit OS, then definitely send it back. Getting a mediocre product for cheap is one thing. Getting a different product from what you bought is a very different issue!
 
That wasn't true for XP (I have a student copy of XP that came with both disks and separate keys), so I suspect it's won't wwork for 7 either.

I have the 3-license family pack for Win7 Home Premium with discs for both 32 bt and 64 bit and the one key works for both versions. That's why I think it might work.
 
I used to record audio on an ancient Win 98 Pentium III machine with a soundblaster sound card. My main purpose in switching was I wanted greater sound quality (more clarity).
Does the soundblaster add coloration to sound or something? Or you mean since you can hook up monitors to your interface? Anyways you should for sure get the correct OS, that's not acceptable and they probably should give you some kind of compensation for all your time and the multiple failures on their end. I know its a pain in the ass probably to send it back again but there's no reason to settle for 32 bit when you purchased it with the understanding it'd be 64 bit.
 
I have the 3-license family pack for Win7 Home Premium with discs for both 32 bt and 64 bit and the one key works for both versions. That's why I think it might work.

Alright. I stand corrected.
 
Besides the "get what you pay for" aspect, I know some DAW manufacturers are planning to move to 64 bit only over the next few years. You'll need to make the change if you want to future proof yourself.
 
That wasn't true for XP (I have a student copy of XP that came with both disks and separate keys), so I suspect it's won't wwork for 7 either.

There's a variety of small performance issues that people have alluded to that might mean that 32 bit is not the right solution.
32-bit software will run on a 64-bit OS. The opposite is NOT true. If you have 64-bit software, it just won't install on your 32-bit system.
If you have more than 4 GB of RAM, a 32-bit OS will not be able to access the excess, so you'll have wasted hardware.
I believe that Win 7 was optimized for 64-bit, so there might be other performance issues that aren't as well-documented.

As wheelma said, you need a 64-bit CPU to use the 64-bit OS. It doesn't have to be a dual core CPU to be 64-bit compatible; it's just that both of those technologies came in to vogue simultaneously, so there's a lot of overlap.
If you don't have a 64-bit CPU, and they promised you a 64-bit OS, then definitely send it back. Getting a mediocre product for cheap is one thing. Getting a different product from what you bought is a very different issue!

This is all correct. A CPU doesn't HAVE to be duel-core to run a 64 bit OS, it simply has to be 64 bit compatible. Pretty much every CPU sold over the last few years is.

As was said, 32 bit versions of Windows can't access more than 3.5 gigs of RAM. However they have greater compatibility with older software, including drivers. As an example some Dell Optiplex PCs that I support are not Win 7 "compatible" in that Dell simply doesn't support them with Windows 7. But we use them with both 32 and 64 bit versions - 32 bit for most employees, 64 bit for developers and others who need to use more memory. Under Windows 7 32 we can get the onboard sound driver to work by loading an older Win XP driver in "compatibility mode". Under Win 7 64, we cannot get the sound to work at all. So which is better to use really depends on your environment and hardware.
 
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