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Thread: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

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    Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    I was just wondering with memory very cheap atm whether I would see much performance gain with 2gb over 4gb?

    thanks

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    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Can't speak from personal experience but my best guess i that for most applications 2 Gig is enough.
    64 bit allows you to use more memory, but you will only benefit from it if the application (or OS) uses more than 2Gig.
    Something like adding lots of filters to RAW photos in Photoshop is often used as an example of this.

    If you just want general office, email, music & video playnig stuff, i wouldnt bother.
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Second MSIC comments.
    Deo Adjuvante non Timendum

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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    I'd say you'd want at least 4 gigs to make it worthwhile, toms hardware did a very interesting artcile about Vista 64 and RAM.

    Vista Workshop: More RAM, More Speed | Tom's Hardware

    Quote Originally Posted by article
    The explanation is very simple: all of the variables are no longer only 32 bits long, but 64 bits instead. Typically, this makes applications between 20% and 40% larger, which consequently results in a higher memory footprint as well. File formats such as music files or videos are not affected by this.

    The upshot is that it doesn't make sense to install a 64-bit version of Vista in order to better utilize 4 GB of memory simply because the 32 bit version would only recognize 3.5 GB. The problem is that while it is true that you would "gain" the missing memory, you would also immediately lose it to the system due to the 64-bit version's larger memory footprint. Thus, using a 64-bit version really only makes sense with larger memory sizes.

  5. #5
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    I'll have to have a read of that article later, but I suspect it may well only serve as a reminder as to why I don't visit THG any more...

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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    WTF?!?!? They put 8GB of RAM in a machine. Say 'oooh look it's got 8GB RAM', tell you you can turn the swap file off if you like. Show you the 'Test spec' and just when I was about to see some benchmarks....

    They don't do them. At all. Their conclusion seems to be 'windows will reserve more memory if you put more memory in, so you should'.

    Oh dear.

  7. #7
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Ah, I forgot about this thread (got sidetracked yesterday) so will have a read of the article now. What d032sh says suggests it might well be a typical THG story though.

    EDIT - ok, I've had a quick shufty and while the majority of it seems reasonable I'm fairly certain that you could apply the same logic to ANY 64 bit Windows OS. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.
    Last edited by Splash; 10-03-2008 at 09:14 AM.

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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Windows Vista seems to use a "pro rata" amount of memory, I.E the more you fit the more it will eat.
    I am running 64 Bit Vista because 32 Bit can only see a total of 4Gb of ram. This may sound OK at first, until you realise that it is a "Total" of 4Gb of ram, this includes any graphics memory or any other board you may have fitted as well.
    I had 2x 8800 GTXs and a Physx card and my 4Gb was down to 2.1Gb Available to the OS and of coarse I wasn’t really using my other cards to their potential either.
    The only things to remember are that 64Bit Vista has no 16Bit compatibility at all.
    But it is far better at running 32Bit applications (Games) than 64Bit XP ever was.
    After prolonged use of 64Bit Vista I would recommend any gamer going over to it and using at least 4Gb of Ram.
    Enjoy
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    I think the main reason for fitting 4Gb over 2Gb at the moment is because it's so cheap that you can!
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Quote Originally Posted by digit View Post
    I'd say you'd want at least 4 gigs to make it worthwhile, toms hardware did a very interesting artcile about Vista 64 and RAM.

    Vista Workshop: More RAM, More Speed | Tom's Hardware
    TomsHardWare is the last place to look for reliable information.

    Basically, 2gb is plenty.

    As you say though, memory is so so cheap, you may aswell get 4gb anyway. It certainly wont hurt or have an adverse effect.

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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    I disagree - 64bit definitely is more memory hungry as compared to my 32bit partition. I'm ordering more memory for my work PC because I run out of memory with a few large(ish) apps open.
    Crosshair VIII Hero (WIFI), 3900x, 32GB DDR4, Many SSDs, EVGA FTW3 3090, Ethoo 719


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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Quote Originally Posted by dangel View Post
    I disagree - 64bit definitely is more memory hungry as compared to my 32bit partition. I'm ordering more memory for my work PC because I run out of memory with a few large(ish) apps open.
    it's more memory hungry by design. a bunch of things that took up 32 bits of memory previously now take up 64

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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Quote Originally Posted by directhex View Post
    it's more memory hungry by design. a bunch of things that took up 32 bits of memory previously now take up 64
    Yup - and that's why 64bit downloads are much larger than their counterparts too..
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    i had 2GB and upgraded to 4GB in my laptop - i did notice that games would basically never slow down enough that i would have to quit and go back in or sometimes reboot. Overall speed difference, barely perceptible, but was there. See more of a difference when the HD is empty - fill it up and it crawls.

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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Quote Originally Posted by Salazaar View Post
    I think the main reason for fitting 4Gb over 2Gb at the moment is because it's so cheap that you can!
    That and the fact that, for example, Supreme Commander (RTS game) requires access to more than 2GB when playing a large skirmish.
    My only concern is should I hide my true identity? A costume maybe?

    0iD: Plus weeing in it every now & again does it good
    scaryjim: 10" is just a little large to hold comfortably in one hand, which makes it a lot harder to tap, swipe and generally interact with.

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    It's good to be bad pauldarkside's Avatar
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    Re: Is 2gb enough for Vista 64-bit?

    Quote Originally Posted by dangel View Post
    Yup - and that's why 64bit downloads are much larger than their counterparts too..
    Eh! You're leg-pulling right?

    Virtual PC 2007 (32-bit) = 30.4MB
    Virtual PC 2007 (64-bit) = 30.5MB
    My only concern is should I hide my true identity? A costume maybe?

    0iD: Plus weeing in it every now & again does it good
    scaryjim: 10" is just a little large to hold comfortably in one hand, which makes it a lot harder to tap, swipe and generally interact with.

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