question on 64bit vista

I have a Dell xps420 q6600quad core,4gb ram,if I upgrade to 64bit would 4gb
ram be sufficient or do i need 8gb ram,is the 64 bit faster then 32 bit,what
are the draw backs between 32 & 64 bit.Thanks

4Gb should be fine unless you are planning to run some particularly ram
intensive programs. Note that for a single programs to be able to use 4gb or
more ram it also needs to be 64bit. I personally run 8Gb but that was
because I was using lots of virtual machines for a while, however for normal
use 4gb would be plenty.

64bit can be faster than 32bit if you are using 64bit programs but if what
you are running is only a 32bit program (most are) then you will see no
improvement or possibly even a slight decrease in performance as 32bit
applications are emulated on 64bit operating systems.

The biggest draw back would have to be that most of the industry it still
using 32bit so there are issues with drivers for older hardware (mostly
printers and scanners) and the occasionaly program that doesnt run
correctly. Oh and 16bit applications are no longer supported by Vista 64
(read don't work because microsoft were lazy when I say not supported).

Overall I would say that if you have drivers available for all your hardware
go for it, unless you simply cant afford to have this computer out of
operation while you sort out any issues in which case stay with your current
32bit OS.


"pacca" wrote in message
...
I have a Dell xps420 q6600quad core,4gb ram,if I upgrade to 64bit would 4gb
ram be sufficient or do i need 8gb ram,is the 64 bit faster then 32
bit,what are the draw backs between 32 & 64 bit.Thanks

pacca wrote:
I have a Dell xps420 q6600quad core,4gb ram,if I upgrade to 64bit would
4gb ram be sufficient or do i need 8gb ram,is the 64 bit faster then 32
bit,what are the draw backs between 32 & 64 bit.Thanks

Vista 64 doesn't require more RAM it can just use more.

Bob

Outstanding response to the question. On my XPS 420 I have 8gig of memory
and noticed some of a drop in performance. However, as mentioned most of my
applications are 32bit.

"Robert McMillan" wrote in message
...
4Gb should be fine unless you are planning to run some particularly ram
intensive programs. Note that for a single programs to be able to use 4gb
or more ram it also needs to be 64bit. I personally run 8Gb but that was
because I was using lots of virtual machines for a while, however for
normal use 4gb would be plenty.

64bit can be faster than 32bit if you are using 64bit programs but if what
you are running is only a 32bit program (most are) then you will see no
improvement or possibly even a slight decrease in performance as 32bit
applications are emulated on 64bit operating systems.

The biggest draw back would have to be that most of the industry it still
using 32bit so there are issues with drivers for older hardware (mostly
printers and scanners) and the occasionaly program that doesnt run
correctly. Oh and 16bit applications are no longer supported by Vista 64
(read don't work because microsoft were lazy when I say not supported).

Overall I would say that if you have drivers available for all your
hardware go for it, unless you simply cant afford to have this computer
out of operation while you sort out any issues in which case stay with
your current 32bit OS.


"pacca" wrote in message
...
I have a Dell xps420 q6600quad core,4gb ram,if I upgrade to 64bit would
4gb ram be sufficient or do i need 8gb ram,is the 64 bit faster then 32
bit,what are the draw backs between 32 & 64 bit.Thanks

On Nov 11, 4:31*am, "pacca" wrote:
I have a Dell xps420 q6600quad core,4gb ram,if I upgrade to 64bit would 4gb
ram be sufficient or do i need 8gb ram,is the 64 bit faster then 32 bit,what
are the draw backs between 32 & 64 bit.Thanks


The response by Robert McMillan killed it; as another
poster says, it's an outstanding response. I back every
single word. I'd like to just say it again: you don't really
need more RAM to run the 64-bit, while you *can* use
more with it. The 32-bit Windows systems can only use
around 3 Gb or RAM. So if you plan to need more in the
future (which is a reasonable thought, then you will need
a 64-bit system at one point.

Also: if you do software development, or play with a lot
of new software, you will see (some) improvement with
the 64-bit system (I do). Otherwise, there is no fault in
using the 32-bit one.