Vista 64 bit if I have 4GB of RAM to use?

[mwhals]

I am building a PC with 4 GB of RAM and am considering Vista 64 bit to access all the RAM. Is it worth it or should I stick with XP 32 and live with between 3 and 3.5 GB of RAM being available? If I do get Vista, I will still use XP in a dual boot situation.

Mark H

 

[Puffnstuff]

The readyboost and superfetch qualities of x86 vista will let you access your memory. I'm running 2gb sdram and am about to add a single 1gb corsair turboflash thumb drive for readyboost. If it works out I'll get a 2 port extention and add another one to my system. Just remember that vista can cashe your memory so the more the merrier so build it with as much as you'd like. The only reason I don't add more sdram is because after this socket 939 mb I plan on moving up to whatever the standard is at the time and I'm hoping that ddr3 will be affordable by them.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
The readyboost and superfetch qualities of x86 vista will let you access your memory. I'm running 2gb sdram and am about to add a single 1gb corsair turboflash thumb drive for readyboost. If it works out I'll get a 2 port extention and add another one to my system. Just remember that vista can cashe your memory so the more the merrier so build it with as much as you'd like. The only reason I don't add more sdram is because after this socket 939 mb I plan on moving up to whatever the standard is at the time and I'm hoping that ddr3 will be affordable by them.

My understanding is that you can only have one ReadyBoost device/cache per system.

As for the OP; I would do a quick check to make sure all your components have drivers for Vista x64 (not as much of an issue as it was with XP x64), and go for it.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
The readyboost and superfetch qualities of x86 vista will let you access your memory.

Not sure where your getting that, but that is incorrect. As to the OP, try Vista 64, worst case you can downgrade to Vista 32 (IMHO you're unlikely to need XP as a dual boot very long if even now, compatibility has been very good)

Bill

 

[Nothinman]

Is it worth it or should I stick with XP 32 and live with between 3 and 3.5 GB of RAM being available?

It could even be less than 3G depending on the hardware you have in the machine.

If I do get Vista, I will still use XP in a dual boot situation.

Well since you get both versions of Vista why not try Vista64 and see what works and what doesn't? You'll still have XP32 to fall back on in either case.

 

[mwhals]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

As for the OP; I would do a quick check to make sure all your components have drivers for Vista x64 (not as much of an issue as it was with XP x64), and go for it.

I am building it with an Asus P5B motherboard and Sapphire X1950 Pro Ultimate video card. I know it is compatible with my printer and monitors, but am not sure if there are Vista 64 drivers for the Mobo and video card.

Mark H

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: mwhals

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

As for the OP; I would do a quick check to make sure all your components have drivers for Vista x64 (not as much of an issue as it was with XP x64), and go for it.

I am building it with an Asus P5B motherboard and Sapphire X1950 Pro Ultimate video card. I know it is compatible with my printer and monitors, but am not sure if there are Vista 64 drivers for the Mobo and video card.

Mark H

ATI released new official Vista drivers last week, and in my experience they're actually pretty good (of course I'm also using an ancient 9700 Pro ). As for your motherboard, I don't know; but even for my semi-obscure ASRock motherboard, everything was automatically installed and I didn't have to do anything.

Edit: I'm using Vista 32-bit at the moment, but ATI's drivers are available for x64 as well.

 

[mwhals]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
ATI released new official Vista drivers last week, and in my experience they're actually pretty good (of course I'm also using an ancient 9700 Pro ). As for your motherboard, I don't know; but even for my semi-obscure ASRock motherboard, everything was automatically installed and I didn't have to do anything.

Edit: I'm using Vista 32-bit at the moment, but ATI's drivers are available for x64 as well.

I have downloaded the ATI drivers to a USB drive as well as my x-rite dtp94 monitor color calibrator. Now to see if Asus has any good 64 bit drivers for the P5B or if maybe Vista has them built-in.

Mark H

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: mwhals

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
ATI released new official Vista drivers last week, and in my experience they're actually pretty good (of course I'm also using an ancient 9700 Pro ). As for your motherboard, I don't know; but even for my semi-obscure ASRock motherboard, everything was automatically installed and I didn't have to do anything.

Edit: I'm using Vista 32-bit at the moment, but ATI's drivers are available for x64 as well.

I have downloaded the ATI drivers to a USB drive as well as my x-rite dtp94 monitor color calibrator. Now to see if Asus has any good 64 bit drivers for the P5B or if maybe Vista has them built-in.

Mark H

The place to look for P5B chipset drivers is the maker of the chipset. Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility, looks like Vista is in there. Or did you mean for stuff like audio?

 

[mwhals]

Audio and the micron controller (non-raid) as well as anything on the board not by Intel.

Mark H

 

[ebeattie]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Is it worth it or should I stick with XP 32 and live with between 3 and 3.5 GB of RAM being available?

It could even be less than 3G depending on the hardware you have in the machine.

If I do get Vista, I will still use XP in a dual boot situation.

Well since you get both versions of Vista why not try Vista64 and see what works and what doesn't? You'll still have XP32 to fall back on in either case.

Wait a minute, if I get the full retail vesion of Vista Ultimate, Ill get BOTH 32bit AND 64bit Vista? Tell me this is no joke!

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: ebeattie

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Is it worth it or should I stick with XP 32 and live with between 3 and 3.5 GB of RAM being available?

It could even be less than 3G depending on the hardware you have in the machine.

If I do get Vista, I will still use XP in a dual boot situation.

Well since you get both versions of Vista why not try Vista64 and see what works and what doesn't? You'll still have XP32 to fall back on in either case.

Wait a minute, if I get the full retail vesion of Vista Ultimate, Ill get BOTH 32bit AND 64bit Vista? Tell me this is no joke!

Both DVDs are in the package. If you have a retail-boxed version other than Ultimate, the 64-bit disc isn't in the box, but you can order it.

 

[mwhals]

If I get Vista Ultimate, I will just intstall it and see what is missing. I have some drivers downloaded already and Vista might have some of the others. Due to costs, I might skip Vista until SP1.

Time to decide.

Mark H

 

[ebeattie]

Any idea how long it will take for the Vistas to drop in price? Or will it be high for a year or two? I want Ultimate and I dont want the hassel of an upgrade disc, so Ill be getting the full retail Ultimate when I upgrade. But DAMN..... $400 for the new OS is still steep for me.

 

[Canterwood]

Originally posted by: ebeattie
Any idea how long it will take for the Vistas to drop in price? Or will it be high for a year or two? I want Ultimate and I dont want the hassel of an upgrade disc, so Ill be getting the full retail Ultimate when I upgrade. But DAMN..... $400 for the new OS is still steep for me.

$400, lol. Count yourself lucky.

In the UK ultimate retail is selling for £352, which at todays rates converts into $690.

Talk about a rip-off! :disgust:

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Canterwood

Originally posted by: ebeattie
Any idea how long it will take for the Vistas to drop in price? Or will it be high for a year or two? I want Ultimate and I dont want the hassel of an upgrade disc, so Ill be getting the full retail Ultimate when I upgrade. But DAMN..... $400 for the new OS is still steep for me.

$400, lol. Count yourself lucky.

In the UK ultimate retail is selling for £352, which at todays rates converts into $690.

Talk about a rip-off! :disgust:

OEM version in UK is only £129,buying two OEM Ultimate versions is cheaper then one retail version.

My experience with x64 Vista on drivers is very good,only had one driver missing ,Winfast DTV USB tuner,there was no Vista x64 or x68 driver for that at the moment so nothing I can do about that on whatever Vista version I went with,all the other 64 bit drivers it had,infact Vista installed them all except one(Audigy 4) however there was a beta driver for that so no real problems driver wise.

No colorVison Spyder2Express USB driver ,but I saved ICM to CD so installed that to Vista as default colour setting.

Personally go with x64 version.

 

[Shawn]

Anyone know if Vista x64 has nforce 570 drivers? I'm debating whether to try the x64 version. I just upgraded my computer so this is the first time I'll have a 64bit processor.

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Anyone know if Vista x64 has nforce 570 drivers? I'm debating whether to try the x64 version. I just upgraded my computer so this is the first time I'll have a 64bit processor.

Looks like native support by Vista.


Link.

 

[Puffnstuff]

This is what the vista help file says on readyboost.
Windows ReadyBoost can use storage space on some removable media devices, such as USB flash drives, to speed up your computer. When you insert a device with this capability, the AutoPlay dialog will offer you the option to speed up your system using Windows ReadyBoost. If you select this option, you can then choose how much memory to use for this purpose. However, there are some situations where you may not be able to use all of the memory on your storage device to speed up your computer.

Some universal serial bus (USB) storage devices contain both slow and fast flash memory, and Windows can only use fast flash memory to speed up your computer. So if your device contains both slow and fast memory, keep in mind that you can only use the fast memory portion for this purpose.

The recommended amount of memory to use for ReadyBoost acceleration is one to three times the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed in your computer. For instance, if your computer has 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM and you plug in a 4 gigabyte (GB) USB flash drive, setting aside from 512MB to 1.5GB of that drive will offer the best performance boost.


The limitation is on the fast flash memory portion of a standard usb memory stick. If you get a device like the corsair turboflash which is vista certified you can use all of it. In the description above ms states drives which is plural meaning more than one. I haven't seen an actual limitation to this capacity so if you know where it is please share with the group. Thanks.

Edit: I found this at ms which talks about the 4gb ram limitation and how to get around it in an x86 machine.
MORE INFORMATION
A 32-bit operating system can address memory that is relocated above the 4 GB boundary if the following conditions are true:? The computer is in Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode.
? The computer has 4 GB of RAM.
In this case, the operating system correctly reports how much memory is installed.

Additionally, some x64-based operating systems can address up to 2 terabytes (TB) of RAM. For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web page:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2/overview.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2/overview.mspx)
To enable PAE mode, add the /PAE switch to the Boot.ini file. The Boot.ini file is in the root directory of the system drive.

You can read the whole article here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929580/en-us

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
This is what the vista help file says on readyboost.
Windows ReadyBoost can use storage space on some removable media devices, such as USB flash drives, to speed up your computer. When you insert a device with this capability, the AutoPlay dialog will offer you the option to speed up your system using Windows ReadyBoost. If you select this option, you can then choose how much memory to use for this purpose. However, there are some situations where you may not be able to use all of the memory on your storage device to speed up your computer.

Some universal serial bus (USB) storage devices contain both slow and fast flash memory, and Windows can only use fast flash memory to speed up your computer. So if your device contains both slow and fast memory, keep in mind that you can only use the fast memory portion for this purpose.

The recommended amount of memory to use for ReadyBoost acceleration is one to three times the amount of random access memory (RAM) installed in your computer. For instance, if your computer has 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM and you plug in a 4 gigabyte (GB) USB flash drive, setting aside from 512MB to 1.5GB of that drive will offer the best performance boost.


The limitation is on the fast flash memory portion of a standard usb memory stick. If you get a device like the corsair turboflash which is vista certified you can use all of it. In the description above ms states drives which is plural meaning more than one. I haven't seen an actual limitation to this capacity so if you know where it is please share with the group. Thanks.

Edit: I found this at ms which talks about the 4gb ram limitation and how to get around it in an x86 machine.
MORE INFORMATION
A 32-bit operating system can address memory that is relocated above the 4 GB boundary if the following conditions are true:? The computer is in Physical Address Extension (PAE) mode.
? The computer has 4 GB of RAM.
In this case, the operating system correctly reports how much memory is installed.

Additionally, some x64-based operating systems can address up to 2 terabytes (TB) of RAM. For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web page:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2/overview.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsserver/sp2/overview.mspx)
To enable PAE mode, add the /PAE switch to the Boot.ini file. The Boot.ini file is in the root directory of the system drive.

You can read the whole article here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929580/en-us

4GB is ReadyBoost limit at the moment,more info on ReadyBoost can be found here at Anandtech's Vista guide.

 

[Nothinman]

$400 for the new OS is still steep for me.

$400 for something that will last you at least 5 years is steep?

 

[mwhals]

I have decided to the retail version of Vista Ultimate. This way I can install the 64 bit version and see if everything works great. If not, I can switch to the 32 bit version since both disk are included in the package.

If I end up using the 32 bit version, I can use it until drivers become available and then I will switch to the 64 bit OS.

Mark H

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Canterwood

Originally posted by: ebeattie
Any idea how long it will take for the Vistas to drop in price? Or will it be high for a year or two? I want Ultimate and I dont want the hassel of an upgrade disc, so Ill be getting the full retail Ultimate when I upgrade. But DAMN..... $400 for the new OS is still steep for me.

$400, lol. Count yourself lucky.

In the UK ultimate retail is selling for £352, which at todays rates converts into $690.

Talk about a rip-off! :disgust:

Ultimate retail sells for MX$8000 in Mexico, which is roughly $790. Home Premium retails for MX$5000, roughly $490.

 

[Tegeril]

Hardware in my sig only had 3GB visible to Vista out of 4GB in 32bit.

 

[LBTRS]

Originally posted by: Tegeril
Hardware in my sig only had 3GB visible to Vista out of 4GB in 32bit.

So my Windows Vista Ultimate will only see 3GB of the 4GB RAM I have in my machine? I'm running the 32bit version of Vista. If this is the case, why?

Thanks,