32-bit OS vs. 64-bit OS

georgemancer

Besides the RAM limitations in a 32-bit OS, are there advantages to using a 64-bit OS with programs like Max?

Just to give you an idea of my hardware:

Q6600 2.4ghz
4GB DDR2 RAM (currently less due to x86)
GeForce 8800GTX


I'm using Vista x86 right now. I've been planning to switch to Vista x64 once it gets more stable but I'm considering going to XP x64 for a while if I can really benefit from it.

Advise/discuss.

dejawolf

from what i've heard, compatibility issues is the big bug-eyed monster of 64-bit OS, although a friend of mine switched to vista 64 bit, and he says its working like a dream on steroids, using max 2008,
and mudbox.
if the program isn't configured for 64 bit, it'll probably work slower than on a 32 bit OS.

georgemancer

dejawolf wrote: »

if the program isn't configured for 64 bit, it'll probably work slower than on a 32 bit OS.

Yeah, thats what scares me. I've heard of countless driver issues, problems with 32-bit programs and 16-bit programs that won't even work in the current Vista x64.

Psyk0

Even if the apps dont, 64bit OS makes use of the 4 cores. thats a significant boost since the app can take up much of what the first core offers whilst background tasks in XP can use the others.

For me, no complaints with XP x64 and max 9 x64 so far, i'm staying away from vista.

IxenonI

I´m on Vista 64 and can only recommend it for working. Programs seem much faster and stable then before.... Especially Zbrush Performance is awesome!

Junkie_XL

I love 64-bit for the reason alone of allocating more than 2GB of ram to an application. It is reason enough for me to stay away from 32-bit forever now.

I'm not a fan of displacement maps. I like to actually see my detail in viewport so I know what/where to project over when I process my normal maps in max. With an x64 setup and 8GB of ram, I can import much higher poly detail into max that I've first sculpted in zbrush. And once you reach your 8GB threshhold, 64-bit can still go beyond that and allocate virtual memory as well.

32-bit is limited to 2GB ram + virtual memory for applications no matter what. So if you max 2GB ram importing a dense .obj, you're screwed. The app cannot grab beyond that 2GB and borrow from virtual memory like it could in 64-bit.

Although x64 being able to use all 4 cores is news to me. I assumed 32-bit could read all 4 cores too.

Illusions

64 Bit Windows Vista here and now problems so far. Some random fatal errors in Maya are all I've experienced, but I am unsure if this is where my 32 bit laptop would've just locked up in Maya and not done anything more (as they are just as frequent).

Psyk0

Junkie_XL wrote: »

Although x64 being able to use all 4 cores is news to me. I assumed 32-bit could read all 4 cores too.

My bad, you are correct:
Under 32 bit, if you Run msinfo32 you should see the 4 cores and when checking task manager you should see activity for all 4 cores as well.

Blaizer

I work under vista Ultimate 64bits, and it's excellent for work. Dx9 Games goes 20 or more fps less.

When i was with modo in xp, when rendering all was errors due to memory management. Now with Vista 64, there aren't such problems. Also, with Zbrush, i haven't got the problems i had with XP, when a Zbrush tool got corrupted when saving.

There aren't too many programs in 64bit versions, the only one i use is max 2009. The rest i use are all 32 bit versions. Multicore, is another thing programs do not take benefit of.