Will 64 bit work for me?

[Stuh505]

Hi I know there is a lot of general discussion on whether or not 64 bit is ready yet...I'm more after the question, is it ready for ME yet.

The reasons I am thinking about going to 64 bit is because

a) I've got 4 gigs and windows is not letting me use it all, and the 2/3 gigs it lets me use is not sufficient for ZB2 so if I went to 64 bit I could go up to 8 GB ram.

2) Max 9 will be 64 bit and probably have performance increases

3) To be cool

As I understand it the biggest problem is the drivers. I don't use printers, so that's not an issue. I'm using an AMD chip and my motherboards drivers are all going to be compatible...I am not sure if my Gamesurround Fortissimo II will work or not, that is one of the things I need to know...because that does need to work.

Other than that it's things like my Microsoft USB mouse and Logitech USB keyboard....will these thigns work?

What about a digital camera, will there automatically be drivers that can handle that? And a Wacom tablet, and a USB drive?

 

[mikeblas]

Understanding Address Spaces and the 4GB Limit

 

[Stuh505]

mikeblas,

Your name is very familiar...I wonder why.

I have read many articles on PAE in the past which is why I said "2/3" instead of just "2". As I recall, when using PAE the address translation scheme is also a little bit less efficient...

Many applications, from Microsoft SQL Server and all its tools, to Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, have a bit set in their executable image which tells the operating system that the program can load in high address ranges, and be expoesed to high memory values

Do you know how to check this? It's not the kind of thing that's on a product's webpage.

 

[mikeblas]

Point is, the problem isn't Windows not letting you use it. It mostly comes down to your hardware.

LARGEADDRESSAWARE is a bit in the executable's header. If you have the SDK installed, you can look at it with a few different tools; DUMPBIN or EXEMOD. I think Process Explorer from SysInternals will show it, too; if not that one, I'm sure one of their other tools must dump it.

I can't think of a way to show it without a tool, though. And you already need the program installed.

Your name is very familiar...I wonder why.

Do you watch Cops?

 

[obviouslytom]

Am I correct in assuming that ZB2 is Z Brush 2? Since you use Max I am guessing so. How much ram does it require that 3gb is not enough?

The biggest inprovement that you will see in Max 9 from what I have been told is the amount of polys you can have in the model. It will support "millions" instead of a few hundred thousand for when your modeling and rotating the model around

 

[Stuh505]

Do you watch Cops?

Hahah I was thinking more like you had written some tech articles or something.

Point is, the problem isn't Windows not letting you use it. It mostly comes down to your hardware.

Ah...did you mean to say SOFTware? I think that is what you mean. However, that would only apply to 32bit software that was being run on a 64bit architecture. I'm talking about software specifically designed for 64bit.

How much ram does it require that 3gb is not enough?

ZB can use as much or as little ram as I want, but more ram = more detail. The pros are often using 8 GB.

 

[mikeblas]

Hahah I was thinking more like you had written some tech articles or something.

Several books, many articles, lots of conference presentations, and so on -- yes.

Ah...did you mean to say SOFTware? I think that is what you mean.

Nope; I mean hardware. Some boards can't map over the 4 gig line; some can. Some cards don't like to have their memory mapped over the 4 gig line; some do. Software plays a role, too: you have to enable the feature in your BIOS, you need drivers that deal with it correctly, and so on. But it if the >4GB mapping isn't in your hardware, it is a non-starter.