Windows 7 x64 vs x86

[ChipsAndSolder]

I have the 32-bit version of Win7 Home Premium running nicely on my x61T. However I noticed that the system panel says only 2.99GB of the 4GB RAM is available to the O/S.

If I switch to the x64 version of the same O/S, I know all the 4GB will be available. Three questions here:

1) Is the easy to do in terms of getting all the right drivers for 64-bit?

2) I have read that 64-bit addressing mode eats up the memory a lot faster than 32-bit mode. Hence my extra 1GB of space may not be that much extra. Is there any truth to this?

3) Is it possible to add more the 4GB of RAM to an X61T?

Thanks

[ZaZ]

I would expect Windows 7 would already have most of the drivers for you X61t. You can download any missing drivers via Lenovo's web site. If the Windows 7 driver is missing you can try the Vista driver.

That wasn't my experience. For typical usage you probably don't need more than 3GB of memory. The only way you'll need above 3GB is you run memory intensive applications like virtual machines. If you're looking for a performance bump a SSD or the Momentus XT is probably the best path to it.

The max memory on the X61t is 8GB.

[ChipsAndSolder]

A virtual machine is exactly what I had in mine. I copy my work VM onto the X61t every Friday just in case I have to take my work home with me.

The hardware reference manual says 2x2GB for a total of 4GB is the max supported but I have heard other people say 8GB as well. Is there an extra step involved to support the 8GB? Is it just a 4GB DDR2-667 PC-5300 card?

[loyukfai]

I have a copy of Windows 7 x64 installed on a X61T with 6GB (1 x 4GB + 1 x 2GB) of memory. I don't remember having any difficulty obtaining drivers but I don't use any exotic hardware either.

Cheers.

[ChipsAndSolder]

All done. The 8GB of RAM went in no problem and the Win7 x64 install was also easy. I then installed the Lenovo thinkvantage 4.0 tools and updated all the latest drivers.

Everything is working as well as it did in 32-bit with the addition of the extra memory.