3ds Max 2009/2010 - 32bit vs 64bit?

[Maverick2002]

I've been looking for a while to find performance data for 32bit vs 64bit 3ds Max 2009 (soon 2010) but haven't come across anything. We're slowly migrating to 64bit XP (hopefully 64bit Windows 7 sometime next year) at work due to RAM requirements. With regards to Max, does anyone know of any performance data that compares these 2 versions?

 

[Nothinman]

If you're moving to XP64 for more memory wouldn't it make sense to use a version of Max that can use the memory too?

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Maverick2002
I've been looking for a while to find performance data for 32bit vs 64bit 3ds Max 2009 (soon 2010) but haven't come across anything. We're slowly migrating to 64bit XP (hopefully 64bit Windows 7 sometime next year) at work due to RAM requirements. With regards to Max, does anyone know of any performance data that compares these 2 versions?

They perform exactly the same except 64 bit has access to all the memory.
The only thing you need to double check is that all plugins you use have a 64 bit version. You cannot mix plugins between the versions.

 

[Maverick2002]

I figured that. I was just wondering if there's anything else besides the memory limit between the versions. It hasn't been a problem thus far (our limitation is CPU speed with Max right now), but since we'll hopefully be moving to Windows7 next year (currently any new systems get xp64), we might as well switch to 64bit max ... but yea I"ll have to check and make sure the plugins work with 64bit (Vray mainly, but we have a few others).

 

[wwswimming]

i use Max 9, changed from 32 bit to 64 bit in October 2008. actually i bought the
copy of XP64 i'm using now about 2 years ago, it's just that the first time i tried
to install i ended up finding incompatibilities between XP64 & some legacy hardware
& software i was really attached to.

the one difference i do notice (i also have Maya 8.5 & have noticed the same thing
there) is that there are fewer codecs for rendering with 64 bit. this might be just
a matter of me going out & finding a plug-in, or simply asking the questions.

overall, i can just "do more stuff" with XP64 than with XP32. e.g. studying how
to handle UV layout, from Max or Maya, to ZBrush (to create a diffuse map or
displacement map), then back to Max or Maya.

the computer with 4 GB RAM (using 3GB) hits "the wall" sooner than the one
with 8 GB RAM.

as far as Vista 32 vs. Vista 64 - i have a laptop with dual-boot for both OS',
but not enough flying time with the combination of Vista + Max to answer
the question (for Vista).

i find that it's handy to have the 32 bit system around as a backup. occasionally
i experience a glitch with XP64 (e.g., getting Quicktime installed). so then i can
just use the 32 bit system until i get things worked out on the 64 bit system.