Dec 22, 2008

Do I need a 64 bit Operating system?

I have been thinking about this for a while. My current work laptop has 4gig of ram and I only get to see 3.5 ( Vista 32 ) and I feel that I would really like to have that extra 512mb ram. Recently I have been using CS4 a little more and I already run CF8 locally, have Flex Builder open 95% percent of the time, when I don't have local access to my dev SQL server I run VMware image of Win 2003 and SQL 2005 and in the past few weeks I have been using Dreamweaver 4 a little more aswell. Even with 4gigs ( 3.5 addressable ) ram I still can hear the HDD thrashing.

So I am wondering should I take the time to reformat and install Vista 64 and what sort of performance increase/decrease will I see and how many of my current every day apps work work as intended. I'll have to think about this and maybey it will be my New Years resolution to start with a 64bit OS.
Posted by Paul Kukiel at 12:28 PM
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4 comments:

  1. Like you, I used to run a Core 2 laptop w/ Vista 32 and 4G RAM. With all server software going in the background, I felt 24/7 underwhelmed by its performance. So, I bought a cheap Core 2 quadcore Dell desktop w/ 64 and 8GB of RAM and cannot even imagine going back. I'm kind of crying a little bit just trying to imagine going back.

    Running CF/IIS/MySQL locally combined with the multitasking I do I usually only end up with about 1.5GB free at any given time (of 8), but with the best responsiveness I've ever even dreamed about on a computer.

    I'm not sure you'd notice incredible gains with just the leftover portion of 4GB 64 frees up though. I say take it to the next level. You can get a ridiculous Core 2 Dell Optiplex 960 (REALLY attractive new design) at http://outlet.dell.com/ with 16GB of RAM for under $1,000, which may be a better decision than upgrading your current system/OS. You'd be one of like 6 people on Earth w/ a 16GB web workstation.
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  2. I do like the idea of 16gig or ram (8 would be fine ;) ) but I already have the laptop and I take it with me everywhere I go. The best ( free ) option at the moment seams to be to goto 64 bit and once the price of RAM drops I'll upgrade to 8gig.
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  3. Yeah, $200 for laptop 4GB sticks is a lot worse than the desktop version.
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  4. Here is my follow up: http://blog.kukiel.net/2009/01/week-with-windows-7.html

    Yes I need a 64 bit os!!
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