As per the title - would moving from XP to Vista 64 Home Premium be a worthwhile move? The price for an OEM disk is good now, SP1 seems to have improved things, and I'm wondering if the 64 bit performance hike will hold off the need for an upgrade until Nehalem is out and reviewed? PC usage is gaming, photo and video editing, rig spec in sig, thanks for looking!
Win XP > Vista 64 Bit - worth it?
- Thread starter Credo
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Really? I can run Doom3 at belting frame rates and my peak memory usage (commit charge) doesn't exceed 700Mb. Can't comment on Vista obviously! I'm loathe to buy more out-of-date RAM - so an upgrade is necessary to run Vista properly it seems? So I buy a current HW upgrade and get DDR2 RAM - which appears to be going out of date too... catch 22!
Soldato
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Not sure on that... it depends what you are doing
I have a friend that was until recently using 768MB and it just about ran games, and several machines at my office only have 256 or 512MB for office work. 1GB + keeps it smooth though, and anything taxing like Photoshop is good with 2GB plus.
Hmmm - seems that may be a plan. Been off the 'hardware scene' for a bit, my rig was pretty damn fast when I built it, how things have progressed! I assume when I build a new system, I'd be daft not to invest in Vista 64? Is 4Gb RAM just adequate or is there some headroom?
Associate
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Thats what I did - junked my Opteron 165 / 2GB / DFI Lanparty setup for the rig-in-the-sig.
Noticed a marked improvement - I would definately reccommend getting 4GB for Vista x64, tbh it rarely uses much above 2GB when in games, but it sometimes does peak above 3GB when Im doing a lot of resource intensive stuff. Gives you some headroom to play with, plus its not actually that expensive to have 4GB anymore.
Noticed a marked improvement - I would definately reccommend getting 4GB for Vista x64, tbh it rarely uses much above 2GB when in games, but it sometimes does peak above 3GB when Im doing a lot of resource intensive stuff. Gives you some headroom to play with, plus its not actually that expensive to have 4GB anymore.
I was more thinking do I need 8Gb rather than being tight!!
I guess this is more for the memory forum, but is DDR3 going to made DDR2 obsolete, as Nehalem platforms are DDR3 only it seems...
I made the change a few days ago and i wouldnt go back to be honest. I wouldnt say Vista 64 is resource hungry, rather that it makes better use of the resources. I done some tests a while ago on a Video Editing machine i built for my dad and and even though it ran a slightly less powerfull CPU (E2180 at 3.3 against E6300 at 3.4) the 4 gig Vista machine smashed the 2 gig XP one at every task i through at it. most noticable was (obviously) video ripping and editing)
Associate
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I love vista in x64
Thing is a lot of people try vista, Then say it's no good etc, When in fact they are running a bare minimal rig that's more aimed at windows 98se requirements lol
It doesnt overly use resources etc, As said it makes better use of them
I am now solely vista ultimate x64 and i love it (always have loved vista)
Ohh i can remember the days my friends said man you mad having that new XP, Lol same ones were saying this about me having vista
Now it seems they're migrating to vista themselves he he after realising their rigs were barely xp spec so have upgraded
Well worth the move with the right goodies
Ciao
Def
Thing is a lot of people try vista, Then say it's no good etc, When in fact they are running a bare minimal rig that's more aimed at windows 98se requirements lol
It doesnt overly use resources etc, As said it makes better use of them
I am now solely vista ultimate x64 and i love it (always have loved vista)
Ohh i can remember the days my friends said man you mad having that new XP, Lol same ones were saying this about me having vista
Now it seems they're migrating to vista themselves he he after realising their rigs were barely xp spec so have upgraded
Well worth the move with the right goodies
Ciao
Def
Associate
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Most things run 5-20% slower (with one or two exceptions), so I dunno.
If you spent £100 on hardware that ran your system 5-20% slower, would you call that an upgrade?
Dx10's nice though if you play Crysis.
If you spent £100 on hardware that ran your system 5-20% slower, would you call that an upgrade?
Dx10's nice though if you play Crysis.
I disagree, Vista on 2GB here is absolutely fine, no issues at all it runs smoothly even with tonnes of stuff going.
Soldato
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Same here, I'm running Vista Ultimate x64, with 2GB ram, and it's perfectly happy.
I've also never found Vista to be slower than XP, the opposite in fact, it's always run quite fast and well for me.
Only issue I have with x64 Vista is that there are no codecs that work with Media Centre for x64, all codecs appear to be for 32bit, which means whilst lots of my apps will run my videos properly, MC won't.
InvG
No, you compare 2GB with 4GB and you will notice a difference.
Ok, if you are only doing one thing or your are not using the full power of your PC then maybe 2GB might be fine for you, but if you are going to use your PC properly, then 4GB is a must for Vista.
I have one Vista32Prem Setup upstairs and thats got 2GB on it, but then, thats only ever used for my 10 year old daughter to play Little Mermaid etc on... I would never dare be as nasty as to drop her RAM to 1GB - Im not that spiteful, but I also see no need to up her RAM to 4GB either.
On the other side of the coin, my 9 year old son is running Vista64 and he has 4GB... Originally, he too had only 2GB and his PC ran just fine on that, until I ran a few tests and found the extra 2GB really did make a bigger difference, so for my 9 year old son, I would never be cruel and force him to only use 2GB on a vista machine again. No, its not vital but when you compare them, then, providing you are using your PC properly, then you too will find 4GB to be better than 2GB - even though you think that 2GB is fine now.
I myself have now opted for 8GB in my main box and 4GB in my No2 box and the only reason Im still on 4GB on PC2 is that the Mobo wont do more.
Ok, if you are only doing one thing or your are not using the full power of your PC then maybe 2GB might be fine for you, but if you are going to use your PC properly, then 4GB is a must for Vista.
I have one Vista32Prem Setup upstairs and thats got 2GB on it, but then, thats only ever used for my 10 year old daughter to play Little Mermaid etc on... I would never dare be as nasty as to drop her RAM to 1GB - Im not that spiteful, but I also see no need to up her RAM to 4GB either.
On the other side of the coin, my 9 year old son is running Vista64 and he has 4GB... Originally, he too had only 2GB and his PC ran just fine on that, until I ran a few tests and found the extra 2GB really did make a bigger difference, so for my 9 year old son, I would never be cruel and force him to only use 2GB on a vista machine again. No, its not vital but when you compare them, then, providing you are using your PC properly, then you too will find 4GB to be better than 2GB - even though you think that 2GB is fine now.
I myself have now opted for 8GB in my main box and 4GB in my No2 box and the only reason Im still on 4GB on PC2 is that the Mobo wont do more.
Soldato
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I have 2GB and am constantly using a lot of apps and lots of which are intensive and need resources and it's fine. 4GB would give more head room and be nice, but I really don't need it.
The whole 'you need x amount of ram for vista' really, in my experience is complete bull. A friend has 4GB and it doesn't make a noticeable difference over 2GB.
InvG
The whole 'you need x amount of ram for vista' really, in my experience is complete bull. A friend has 4GB and it doesn't make a noticeable difference over 2GB.
InvG
This is true.
My Ultimate box set here has 32 and 64 Bit Vista Ultimate upgrade.
This means that since its an upgrade, it is also a downgrade too, and since its free of any tie downs, lock-ins, or whatever you want to call it, I am free to install, or uninstall it to and from any PC that I may have in my arsenal!!! - Only limit I have of course is that I can only actually have one installation installed at any one time.
I have NEVER had to install anything onto any PC either in order to upgrade it to Vista... I have only used these disks, so I dont need to install twice as many people seem to assume that the upgrade needs to do.
This makes the Upgrade editions superior to even the retail editions if you ask me.
My Ultimate box set here has 32 and 64 Bit Vista Ultimate upgrade.
This means that since its an upgrade, it is also a downgrade too, and since its free of any tie downs, lock-ins, or whatever you want to call it, I am free to install, or uninstall it to and from any PC that I may have in my arsenal!!! - Only limit I have of course is that I can only actually have one installation installed at any one time.
I have NEVER had to install anything onto any PC either in order to upgrade it to Vista... I have only used these disks, so I dont need to install twice as many people seem to assume that the upgrade needs to do.
This makes the Upgrade editions superior to even the retail editions if you ask me.
I've been running vista x64 for about 6months and had no problems at all on 2GB, and I use photoshop regularly!
Saying that literally about 20mins ago I did just install another 2GB since it was so cheap. I'll be interested to see if there are any noticeable improvements.
Saying that literally about 20mins ago I did just install another 2GB since it was so cheap. I'll be interested to see if there are any noticeable improvements.