Thinking about switching to Vista

[Atlantean]

I am thinking about switching over to vista, my current build only has 1gb of ram. I have been playing with vista on my laptop, and 1gb doesn't seem like its enough. So I am wondering if I should add 2gb more ram. Everything else about my system is good enough to run vista as I just built it in the fall, but I only bought 1gb at that time as ram was expensive at the time and I didn't really need it. Also should I go with 32 bit or 64 bit vista? I can get either of them, doesn't matter too much to me which I get as long as its compatible with everything. If I get 2gb more of ram I would be getting the OCZ PC2-6400 Platinum XTC rev. 2 kit. So should I upgrade to 3gb from my current 1gb for vista? Or should I do something else, from what I hear 3gb seems to be the sweet spot for vista.

 

[bwatson283]

I don't like Vista, but yes you should upgrade your ram!

 

[InlineFive]

I am a moderate multitasker and I don't notice a difference between 1GB and 2GB most of the time. Try it out first and see how it feels.

 

[Nothinman]

I've used Vista with 2G and it's fine, hell it would probably be fine with 1G once it finishes it's initial indexing crap too.

 

[Griffinhart]

3GB is overkill. 2GB became the new sweet spot a while back, even in XP where there is a noticable performance increase for gaming with 2GB over 1GB. If you've got your heart set on getting more RAM I'd go with 2GB total. As far as RAM and Vista goes, I only have 1GB in my Dad's PC (an amd64 3000+) and it is plenty even without readyboost. As Nothingman said, once it finishes all it's initial indexing and self tuning it's quite snappy.

For 32 vs 64-bit, today I recommend 32-bit for maximum compatibility. Not that 64-bit is bad. You'll just run into more compatibility issues due to driver support. I've been chosing on a case by case basis. My Media Center is running 64-bit because everything that attaches to it has drivers and I'm really just using it as a media server and a basic workstation in the Kitchen for the family. It's not a gaming machine and doesn't require anythng special. The other 3 machines in the house are running 32-bit. I'm planning on revisiting 64-bit on my gaming rig later this year once more drivers have been released and have had a chance to mature.

 

[BD2003]

It depends on what you need. 1GB is perfectly fine for most tasks. I wouldnt use anything but 2GB for gaming on XP or Vista. Vista can use the extra RAM more effectively than XP so it certainly won't hurt to have 3gb, but it certainly isnt necessary unless you want to be on the bleeding edge.

Regarding 32/64, unless you have a specific need for it, stick with 32 for another year or so, until 64 has matured enough that theres less compatibility issues.

 

[KeypoX]

i can't tell a diff from 1gb to 2gb

 

[Griffinhart]

Originally posted by: KeypoX
i can't tell a diff from 1gb to 2gb

There is a noticable difference in games like Battlefield 2 and EverQuest 2. For general windows use, I think anyone would be hard pressed to notice a difference.

 

[Atlantean]

I currently use 1gb of ram, hate waiting for games to load in xp. I want the games/maps/whatever to load faster, so I will be adding more ram, should I add 1gb or 2 then? Also which ram should I get for it?

 

[Nothinman]

There is a noticable difference in games like Battlefield 2 and EverQuest 2.

Because those games are huge, the OS is largely irrelevant in that aspect.