What would you do?

[Zadock]

Afternoon all, this is coming up time and time again and now I find myself in the same frame of mind... I want to upgrade my ram, which means getting a 64bit OS but I can't see the point of getting another copy of vista when Windows 7 is around the corner.

I'm going to max out my motherboard and get 8Gb, OTT perhaps but I just though "sod it".

I understand there is going to be an offer to upgrade to windows 7 that will come with some copies of Vista?

Any advice?

[GheeTsar]

You could buy the 8Gb now and use the 4.5Gb the XP32 can't use as a ram drive for your swap/page file and then buy W7 64 when it arrives.

[Grey M@a]

Afternoon all, this is coming up time and time again and now I find myself in the same frame of mind... I want to upgrade my ram, which means getting a 64bit OS but I can't see the point of getting another copy of vista when Windows 7 is around the corner.

I'm going to max out my motherboard and get 8Gb, OTT perhaps but I just though "sod it".

I understand there is going to be an offer to upgrade to windows 7 that will come with some copies of Vista?

Any advice?

Only on machines bought from June onwards that come with Vista pre installed from the documentation I have read.

[Zadock]

You could buy the 8Gb now and use the 4.5Gb the XP32 can't use as a ram drive for your swap/page file and then buy W7 64 when it arrives.

I didn't think that XP would identify even that much? I was under the impression that it would see around 3.2Gb tops?

I may just go ahead and buy before the prices start to creep up on DDR2 again. Probably go for some Corsair XMS2 like I have already, its gonna leave me with some spare 1Gb DIMMS, may have to find a use for those

I'm not going to experience epic boRkage if I use 8Gb on a 32bit OS am I?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I didn't think that XP would identify even that much? I was under the impression that it would see around 3.2Gb tops?

I may just go ahead and buy before the prices start to creep up on DDR2 again. Probably go for some Corsair XMS2 like I have already, its gonna leave me with some spare 1Gb DIMMS, may have to find a use for those

I'm not going to experience epic boRkage if I use 8Gb on a 32bit OS am I?

I would first check that your motherboard will not have issues with 8gb of RAM .In many cases if you are overclocking it can mean a decrease in the maximum overclock.
TBH I would not install the extra 4gb yet in case XP throws a hissy fit. Just install it when you have Windows 7 installed.

[Zadock]

Sorry that caused some confusion there, GheeTsar mentioned XP so I then queried XP. I'm actually using vista though I would imagine the limit would be similar.

I'll look into the board issue, cheers. I am an overclocker, not extreme... well you can see from my sig. Be googling "IP35-e 8gb" for issues later.

[floppybootstomp]

Buying 8Gb of memory right now is a good idea cos it's relatively cheap atm and you'll then be ready for Win7 when it's released.

Memory prices are usually volatile so if you're definitely going to have a future use for it I'd say go ahead.

Mind you, memory might be cheaper come August, but I doubt it.

[Grey M@a]

Sorry that caused some confusion there, GheeTsar mentioned XP so I then queried XP. I'm actually using vista though I would imagine the limit would be similar.

I'll look into the board issue, cheers. I am an overclocker, not extreme... well you can see from my sig. Be googling "IP35-e 8gb" for issues later.

Just thinking here doesn't MS offer a service where you trade in the 32bit for a 64 bit version for a small fee?

[Zadock]

I think that only applies to retail versions? I have OEM (Vista Home Premium)

[Warpy1]

I don't know what other people think but I wouldn't be touching a brand new operating system until a service pack is released for it. You are basically testing MS software and reporting back the errors for fixes however much you might not think. It is a difficult phase to be in, if I were you try getting Vista OEM and then at least when you get to the stage of moving to Windows7 you can move over at the right time.

[scaryjim]

Well, you could take the option of putting a real operating system on it!

I assume you game a lot so Linux isn't an option?

OK, so you could choose to buy the RAM later in the expectation that DDR2 prices will continue to fall or, at worst, stabilise (a slightly risky strategy!), or buy that RAM and either a) leave it all nicely wrapped up until Windows 7 gets released (a very frustrating strategy), or b) see if anyone has a Windows 7 Beta iso that you can borrow, do the upgrade and take the slight risk that something will go horribly wrong while you're using the beta. Obviously, that last one is the riskiest! There are plenty of known and published issues with 7 Beta now though, so a good google trawl should give you plenty of information (just for a starter, I can tell you now that TAGES DRM-protection doesn't work with 7, so if any of your games uses that it's probably not an option).

[Zadock]

Well, you could take the option of putting a real operating system on it!

I assume you game a lot so Linux isn't an option?

OK, so you could choose to buy the RAM later in the expectation that DDR2 prices will continue to fall or, at worst, stabilise (a slightly risky strategy!), or buy that RAM and either a) leave it all nicely wrapped up until Windows 7 gets released (a very frustrating strategy), or b) see if anyone has a Windows 7 Beta iso that you can borrow, do the upgrade and take the slight risk that something will go horribly wrong while you're using the beta. Obviously, that last one is the riskiest! There are plenty of known and published issues with 7 Beta now though, so a good google trawl should give you plenty of information (just for a starter, I can tell you now that TAGES DRM-protection doesn't work with 7, so if any of your games uses that it's probably not an option).

I use Linux for day to day stuff in fact, using Mint at the mo I like to chop and change... I expect I'll finnally make a decision on which one to keep some time soon. My intention is to install a really cut down windows OS (use vlite) for games and do everything else under Linux eventually.

I will most likely wait I think... I actually have a copy of the windows 7 beta (64bit) but the lan port on my motherboard doesn't seem to work no matter what I do or what drivers I try. So I gave up, I'm hoping that it won't be an issue with the full release.

[scaryjim]

I actually have a copy of the windows 7 beta (64bit) but the lan port on my motherboard doesn't seem to work no matter what I do or what drivers I try. So I gave up, I'm hoping that it won't be an issue with the full release.

That's a shame, I was impressed at how easily it installed *everything* on my computer (see my spec for details) - I didn't have to go for a single driver disk or download anything. I'm even using a cheap generic USB wifi stick, and that worked fine with the Vista drivers supplied with the stick. So far I'm full of glee with Windows 7...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I use Linux for day to day stuff in fact, using Mint at the mo I like to chop and change... I expect I'll finnally make a decision on which one to keep some time soon. My intention is to install a really cut down windows OS (use vlite) for games and do everything else under Linux eventually.

I will most likely wait I think... I actually have a copy of the windows 7 beta (64bit) but the lan port on my motherboard doesn't seem to work no matter what I do or what drivers I try. So I gave up, I'm hoping that it won't be an issue with the full release.

I think that is what I am going to do eventually too. For gaming and image editing I would probably stick to Windows and use a Linux distro for everything else. I could use Wine to run MS Office too unless OpenOffice improves to the point that even this is not needed anymore.

[Blitzen]

when Windows 7 is around the corner.

Its months away and i would be willing to bet that decent retail version (that works correctly) will not be around til January/February.

The beta testing doesnt finish until August.
Then the RC's will be released.