We require 64-bit binaries

Allspice1232 wrote:

TanyaRubirose wrote:
I also notice you haven't named a single computer game that takes advantage of 64-bit systems, and yet are demanding that EA rework the source code of Sims 3 (which would take a minimum of five to ten years) to be 64-bit, while ignoring all of the reasons why that would be a very bad idea (chief among them being a memory leak that rivals the hole in the side of the Titanic). Or the fact it might not actually be possible to convert this to 64 bit.

Crysis, Indigo Prophesy, WoW and Half Life 2 are the only major ones I can think of off hand and I'm pretty sure Crysis was the only one that was a native 64-bit game rather than being patched later.

I didn't say there weren't any; I was giving her a chance to name them so we could discuss the various problems of porting games between 32-bit and 64-bit. Plus, I wanted to give someone a chance to score a point against me; I don't mind it when I'm proven wrong, after all :P

Crysis had 32-bit and 64-bit versions (the first is the standard version that shipped with Steam). Some people have noted the 32-bit version crashes on 64-bit platforms, which reinforces what I said about potential compatibility issues between 32-bit applications and 64-bit OS's.

Half-Life 2 actually had its 64-bit mode removed back in 2009 (not certain if they ever added it back; it was still missing in 2010) due to bugs.

WoW is an MMO, and has actually had its complete source code rebuilt at least three times that I know of.

Indigo Prophesy I admittedly know nothing about, but everything I found about running it on a 64-bit system brought up having to use emulators, in some cases having to play tricks with OS-installs, and a few other oddities that pretty much made me not want to touch the game with a ten-foot pole. I'm seriously hoping that info is all wrong.

Cinebar wrote:
I beg to differ with those that think there aren't games out here for 64bit machines. I see Allspice has named several. And I have to say if anyone out there is still trying to use a 16bbit system then I have a few old 32 bit machines from ten years ago I would donate to them since 16bit would be like what? Windows 3.5? or something. Even XP SP1 doesn't use 16bit and MS refuses to support even it anymore.

Nudge is the word. MS tried their best to 'nudge' people into accepting Vista but people including myself wouldn't give up XPSSP3 but you won't see many PCs these days with it on them. If you do your are getting ripped off for the price.

A 32bit machine can not utilitize even 4GBs of RAM. It can only utilize 2.5 of RAM. Take a good look at your 32bit machines next time you are playing a game..you will see the the machine can not access nor even utilize the entire amount of RAM installed. A 64bit machine can.

It is a waste of money to try to add more RAM to a 32bit machine if you are adding over 4GBs. Because it can't use it anyway. It helps slightly but Windows 7 doesn't have the memory leaks XP SP3 had though I like it's set up better than Windows 7 but it is still much faster in the long run to use Windows 7 64bit over 32bit or XP.

Many haven't changed over because one, they like XP and MS will soon stop even supporting XP SP3 and two, they don't know what they are buying when they settle for a 32bit machine. It's dated. No matter how many bells and whistles it comes with..it is still outdated.

Just as much as last weeks new video card on the market will be outdated by next month.

ETA: Fact, a 32bit machine can only handle the RAM it's motherboard will allow and the motherboards installed into a 64bit machine can and will allow more RAM, much more, than any motherboard in a 32bit machine. People that continue to buy 32bit machines have no idea..(my apologies for this) what they are doing. Ask a geek what the difference is, they will tell you in no uncertain terms how misinformed you are, I should know. :wink: because geeks are the people that taught me everything about PCs that I know..I didn't say I retained all their parted knowledge but I kinda of understand much better than when I first started buying and using PCs. :lol:

You did just highlight two important items. The first is that people don't know what they're buying; I chose my machine as 64-bit after a lot of research... but most people just go out a buy a cheap pre-built (in some cases, they literally can't afford better, so it's not always by choice). Not everyone will do what I did, in saving up a thousand bucks to plop down on carefully-chosen components and then put the components together (it's actually cheaper to build it yourself, since then you can get a $3,000 computer for as little as $1000 if you shop right).

Unfortunately, it's the people who don't know what they're doing that make up the majority of computer users, and in turn who are the majority of EA's customers. If they go 64-bit, they potentially lose a lot of customers who simply have not upgraded their machines to a better processor. And, yes, they would lose people; a lot of people who don't know what they're doing would try to run a 64-bit game on a 32-bit OS.

The second issue: 32-bit only uses up so much processing power. Why is that important? Because Sims 3 has a number of memory leaks, and it will keep eating up a computer's processing power until it gets to its maximum. As a 32-bit, this means it has a cut-off point that is far below your computer's processing power; as a 64-bit, it wouldn't have that cut-off point, and would eventually cause your computer to crash. That's part of why a lot of 32-bit applications are not being converted to 64-bit; doing so would actually be a crash potential for a lot of computers due to the lack of limit, while the 32-bit limit prevents them from causing those problems.

Finally, a lot of 32-bit systems are also being used because of that limit for another reason: The artificial limit helps workplace productivity in some fields by limiting the amount of playing around an employee can do; they can only do so much before they exceed the processing power of their machines, which prevents them from running games and other such programs (in fact, this is why some computers on the market don't have sound cards, and often only have very cheap video cards). Thus, those limits are, to some businesses, actually a benefit of the 32-bit platform, and typically they don't even go beyond a 4 GB RAM setup anyway, simply because they don't want employees to have access to that kind of processing power.