http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzY1LDU= << there is less than a fraction of a percent performance difference between the two OSes ... and most of the time the 32 bit OS is leading by that fraction ! So according to these results it seems that 64 bit processors do not make it imperative for gamers to upgrade at the moment , especially those who have powerful 32 bit machines ( like myself) .
Even programs that supposedly are optimized for 64 bit code like The chronicles of Riddick, run several FPS slower !
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzY1LDEw Whats horrible is that windows 64 introduces compatability issues into games that run flawlessly on the 32 bit OS!
I would lay the blame for all of this on the heads of those who develop the software we use , until games are compiled from the ground up for 64 bit processors , and microsoft stops screwing around , there is no reason to go to windows 64 , in fact, for gaming purposes at least, it is better to stay with 32 bit windows !!
What we found isn’t too shocking really, but rather reassuring. In all the 32-bit games tested, we saw overall static performance using Windows XP Pro x64 Edition. The only game in our lineup that had a specific Win64 AMD64 instruction path, The Chronicles of Riddick, actually performed worse in 64-bit than it did in 32-bit Windows.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NzY1LDEx