4GB Ram Advice for Vista

[slypie]

am I right in thinking that if I install 4GB RAM in Vista it would have to be the 64bit version and not the 32bit version as 32bit OS's don't support this much RAM. Am I also right in thinking that if I opt for a 64bit OS that none of my current software and games will work or is Vista 64bit backwards compatible.

[nickp8]

Yes you will need the 64 bit version for 4GB RAM.

The main problem with 64 bit OS is the availability drivers. Check to see if 64 bit drivers are available for your hardware. Most of your apps and games should be ok.

[Craig321]

am I right in thinking that if I install 4GB RAM in Vista it would have to be the 64bit version and not the 32bit version as 32bit OS's don't support this much RAM. Am I also right in thinking that if I opt for a 64bit OS that none of my current software and games will work or is Vista 64bit backwards compatible.

Most of, if not all of your current games and software should work with 64bit.

You'll just need to check for 64bit drivers.

[Cornholio]

some of the games are a bit of a bitch to get working, IE if you play BF2 you may have problems with punkbuster and you have to run as administrator, a friend of mine would get booted every 5 minutes for inadequete OS priviliages, we tried everything we could find on the net and had no joy, we reinstalled XP on his pc and it picked up 3.25gb of the 4gb, thats with an 8800gtx installed also...check your manufactures of components for issues/drivers with vista X64, he has the asus striker extreme and had numerous problems with the audio.

[mycarsavw]

some of the games are a bit of a bitch to get working, IE if you play BF2 you may have problems with punkbuster and you have to run as administrator, a friend of mine would get booted every 5 minutes for inadequete OS priviliages, we tried everything we could find on the net and had no joy,

http://www.tma.dk/punkbuster.asp

That worked for me.

Now back to the topic....

[Blitzen]

am I right in thinking that if I install 4GB RAM in Vista it would have to be the 64bit version and not the 32bit version as 32bit OS's don't support this much RAM. Am I also right in thinking that if I opt for a 64bit OS that none of my current software and games will work or is Vista 64bit backwards compatible.

All your games (at least the ones less than 4 years old) should be fine.

Also, the driver support is fine and there are no problems that i can think of no matter what others say.

I have been using it since its release on MSDN and i did encounter problems with drivers at first.
Now though, and for at least the last 6-8 weeks, all the main players have got their act together and sorted the drivers properly.

Get the 64 Bit version and enjoy.

[Agent]

am I right in thinking that if I install 4GB RAM in Vista it would have to be the 64bit version and not the 32bit version as 32bit OS's don't support this much RAM. Am I also right in thinking that if I opt for a 64bit OS that none of my current software and games will work or is Vista 64bit backwards compatible.

You can run 4GB on 32bit, but its just far less hassle, easier (and in some cases) cheaper to use 64 bit (plus the gain would be much greater).

The driver situation purely depends on your hardware. If you are using recent stuff, you will largely be fine. There is still the odd bug, but on the whole they are non-critical.
Apart from if you're running a creative card, which still have poor drivers.

Also, the driver support is fine and there are no problems that i can think of no matter what others say.

Ugh

Driver support is fine for the hardware you are using. Using a blanket sweeping statement like that across all devices just isn't fair . Many company's still have drivers that are fairly immature, it is purely down to what is in your system as to if it'll work successfully or not

[slypie]

Ahh that just goes to show my lack of knowledge on 64bit systems I thought software including games had to be 64bit compatible and didn't think 64bit was backward compatible. I was worried that none of my games and appz would work. Cheers guys for the advise I was going to buy a 32bit copy of Vista but now I'll opt for the 64bit as my equipment is pretty new.

[markbrown83]

Ahh that just goes to show my lack of knowledge on 64bit systems I thought software including games had to be 64bit compatible and didn't think 64bit was backward compatible. I was worried that none of my games and appz would work. Cheers guys for the advise I was going to buy a 32bit copy of Vista but now I'll opt for the 64bit as my equipment is pretty new.

Post your spec and we could maybe let you know how it runs in Vista x64 if we have the same components?