XP or Windows 7 / Any point in more than 4GB

[John Rofrano]

[Ben Edwards] “1) Is there a big advantage of running Vegas 10 on Windows 7 over XP.”

Yes, XP limits you to 2GB of memory which might not be enough for some large HD projects. Windows 7 64-bit with Vegas Pro 10 64-bit can use all of the memory your computers has.

[Ben Edwards] “2) Is there any point in having more that 4GB?”

Not for XP because it can’t use it but for Windows 7 64-bit the general rule of thumb is 2GB per CPU core so a QuadCore should have 8GB of memory. This is not true for the Core i7 chips that use triple channel memory, in that case you want to add memory in multiples of 3GB so 6GB or 12GB for a QuadCore.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Ben Edwards]

Thanks for your reply. I was referring to XP 64b bit, does that still have the 2GB for a application limit?

In terms of memory that’s interesting. I have heard several people (I believe on this forum) saying 4GB should be enough. I have 4 and have just got another 2, hopefully that will help. I have 2*2 Xeon 3Ghz cores.

Do you know if 10 is more or less memory hungry that 9?

Lastly from what I can see Windows 7 Home Premium should be all I need. Is there an advantage for me getting Pro or Ultimate.

Regards,
Ben

[Scott Francis]

I have upgraded to Win 7 64 bit and Vegas 10…everything is incredibly smooth and much better…very few issues in the transition from XP…well worth it in my opinion.
I believe the ram limit is 32 bit vs 64, however I feel 7 is the best of XP and anything (however remotely) that was good in Vista.

Scott Francis
Mind’s Eye Audio/Video Productions

[Dave Haynie]

[Ben Edwards] “Thanks for your reply. I was referring to XP 64b bit, does that still have the 2GB for a application limit?
“
No, 64-bit XP doesn’t have the application limits. But it’s also not very well supported. Most 64-bit device drivers, and even some 64-bit applications, are only supported by 64-bit Vista and/or Windows 7.

The reason for this is simple… the Microsoft Logo and certification prograsm. If you buy a PC, every single driver or application (even the crapware) will have passed Microsoft’s certification process. This is guaranteed, simply because MS charges more for Windows if you ship a PC with uncertified software. So no one does it. When you buy a boxed bit of software or hardware, there’s probably a Windows logo on it.

As of Vista, manufacturers had to test with 64-bit operating systems, and they had to release 64-bit drivers, in order to get these certifications, in order to use the Windows logo. But 64-bit XP…. nope, no demand for that to be supported. So in general, it’s not.

[Ben Edwards] “In terms of memory that’s interesting. I have heard several people (I believe on this forum) saying 4GB should be enough. I have 4 and have just got another 2, hopefully that will help. I have 2*2 Xeon 3Ghz cores.”
The 2GB per core is a rule of thumb. But think about it… fully symmetric multiprocessing allows each CPU to run independent code. If one core can use up 2GB, the second can also use 2GB, etc. Obviously, there is some real-world work when this is not the case, and some where 2GB per core would be way too little memory. It’s a pretty good rule for video, though I’ll admit… I only have 8GB and 6 cores, and don’t run into memory issues. I’m also well versed enough in system tuning to realize pretty quickly if I ever do get into that situation. If you’re not, memory’s cheap enough to pretty much follow this suggestion.

[Ben Edwards] “Do you know if 10 is more or less memory hungry that 9?”
It’s pretty much the same, far as I’ve seen. WHAT you do in any given situation (renders, plug ins, number of tracks, etc) will have a dramatically more significant effect on memory use than the difference between Vegas 9 and Vegas 10.

[Ben Edwards] “Lastly from what I can see Windows 7 Home Premium should be all I need. Is there an advantage for me getting Pro or Ultimate.
“
I use Home Premium. The main deal with “Pro” is business features, like the ability to join a domain, host the Windows remote desktop (just get VNC if you need this), run encrypted NTFS, and set and enforce network backup policies. I there’s also a VM-based XP emulation mode that’s not built-in on “Home”.

Ultimate under Vista was touted as the expert’s edition, but I’m not sure if that’s really true. It has everything that’s in all other editions, but seems with Windows 7 to be essentially “Enterprise Edition” for desktops. It includes things like Bitlocker (encryption for memory sticks), Applocker (sets policies for running different applications), some additional VPN-style networking things, and universal language support (eg, you don’t need to buy “German Windows” to get German, that’s “in there” under ultimate).

You’re actually perfectly safe with Windows 7 Home Pro, simply because MS does allow you to upgrade-in-place (for a price) to any greater version. But it’s unlikely most home or small business users will care about these things.

-Dave

[Ben Edwards]

Dave,

thanks for that very complete reply. I have been watching memory usage and my box does not seem to be using swap so does that mean I don’t need more memory. Apart from low memory errors what indications should I look for. I am fairly technical (have build Linux kernels etc).

Regards,
Ben

[John Rofrano]

[Dave Haynie] “No, 64-bit XP doesn’t have the application limits. But it’s also not very well supported”

Let me state that a little stronger. 😉

Microsoft dropped support for XP64 on April 14, 2009. Why anyone in 2011 would install an OS that hasn’t been supported by the manufacturer for 2 years is beyond me. XP64 is dead a buried. You shouldn’t go near it. No one supports it because they cannot support it without Microsoft supporting it. Sony Vegas Pro doesn’t support it. You don’t want to use it especially if you run a business because your business will be unsupported.

Get Windows 7 64-bit.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

[Ben Edwards] “I am fairly technical (have build Linux kernels etc)”

I’ve been using Linux since Slakware back in 1995 when you had to recompile the kernel with the drivers you needed and if you bought a new device, you recompiled again to add support for it. Ahhh… those were the days. lol… 🙂

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[No Vegas]

Hello John,

Sorry to Hi-jack this thread but maybe you can help me out.

I’m using Windows 7 64 Bit Premium with Vegas 10d Pro X64.

Vegas continues to lock up while editing video on the timeline and jogging back and forth on the timeline with 8gb of memory installed.
However, if I pull one stick out and leave 4gb in it runs perfectly smooth with no errors or crashes.

I have tested both sticks or ram and it works perfect on each single 4GB stick. If I put 8GB back in it crashes again.

Any ideas why I can’t use 8GB of ram with Sony Vegas 10 64 Bit on a 64 bit system?

My ram is G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

Intel BOXDH55HC LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80605I5760