CGTalk - About to Murder Someone - Is upgrading just impossible right now, or what?

View Full Version : About to Murder Someone - Is upgrading just impossible right now, or what?

amv256

12-31-2007, 09:02 PM

I'm pretty much at my breaking point and I'm looking for some good insight.

My computer just died the other day and I need to buy a new one. As long as the hard drives are intact (which I haven't checked yet), I'm actually happy to do it. But upgrading has been one contradition and paradox after another, and I have no idea what to do now.

My old system was an AMD 3.2 GHz with 2GB of RAM, running WinXP. I used it for the following:

- 3D modeling and rendering with 3ds max
- HD Mograf with After Effects
- Sound/music production with Reason and Rewire to a couple other DAWs
- Large-scale (up to poster size, generally) print compositing projects with Photoshop and Illustrator-- basically most of Adobe CS3

Because I was frequently pushing the limits of both RAM and the CPU, I figured I'd get 4GB this time around.

However, you can't access more than about 3+ GB with any 32-bit OS, Vista or XP, because the memory mapped I/O can take up from like 200mb to a full gig of your address space depending on your hardware setup.

So now I basically have to get Vista 64-bit (everyone I know in IT has convinced me to stay away from XP64 for a looot of reasons), but the problem is, I've heard numerous bad things about Adobe CS3 (among other problems) having problems with both Vista and 64-bit in general.

So what do I do? Not only do I want more memory, but I want to buy a system that I can actually grow with-- even if I do confine myself to XP/2 gb yet again this time around, within a year or two, Vista and 64-bit will be a lot more common, and I'll be stuck with an outdated machine even though I just bought it.

On the other hand, if my software isn't going to work out of the box when I get this new machine with Vista64, then what? I can't just wait a year to get back to my job, heh.

So what does someone like me actually do in this situation? I need more memory, I need all my programs to work, and I need a system that isn't sitting right on the cusp of obsolescence the day I buy it.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

DavidStokes

12-31-2007, 09:18 PM

why not go for the WIN XP 64 ?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx

jcbray

01-01-2008, 02:55 AM

I use XP x64 and havn't run into any problems - in fact, I feel it's better than the 32-bit counterpart. It seems more stable, runs a little faster, althought nothing breathtaking and runs the software I want - which includes photoshop - no issues there for me. All my hardware has supported drivers too.

Admittedly, I have one problem. I can't install The Curse of Monkey Island :( but then I can't install that on 32-bit either. It needs directX 5 :(

Anyways, specifically, you'll need to find someone else who has run that software and see if they work on a 64-bit, or check with the software support forums. Unless you don't have a version that has been upgraded in the last.....3? years, may run into issues, but nearly all modern sopftware will work flawlessly.

JohnnyBoy

01-01-2008, 03:21 AM

If your upgrading with modern hardware then it is a wise choice to go with 64bit. Most of the problems you hear are from people upgrading with old hardware, also if you have any software that is 16bit it will not run on a 64bit OS. I would also check a site like http://www.vistax64.com/ for any hardware/software issues.

vfxmunkey

01-01-2008, 09:00 AM

I agree with the others. Win x64 and 64-bit in general is a lot more stable than some make it out to be. I'm using win XP 64 and all my programs work fine, I use Adobe CS3 and Maya 8 mainly. As long as you arent running super old software then you're fine.

Admittedly, I have one problem. I can't install The Curse of Monkey Island :( but then I can't install that on 32-bit either. It needs directX 5 :(

download and install Scumm VM (http://www.scummvm.org/)

ScummVM is a program which allows you to run certain classic graphical point-and-click adventure games, provided you already have their data files. The clever part about this: ScummVM just replaces the executables shipped with the games, allowing you to play them on systems for which they were never designed

amv256

01-01-2008, 09:40 PM

Thanks for the insight guys. The solution I'm gonna go with, though, is a bit simpler. I'm buying all 64-bit hardware, but I'm purposely limiting my RAM to the same 2GB I've been using for a while and will be installing 32-bit XP. Then, in a year or so when Vista64 has worked out some more of its bugs, I'll simply throw in a few more RAM chips and install the new OS. That way it's just software reconfiguration and more RAM; none of my other hardware has to change. So I can still keep everything expandable without screwing up my workflow in the near-term.

Signal2Noise

01-01-2008, 10:16 PM

As long as you don't 'murder' somebody then we're all happy with your solution. :thumbsup:

enygma

01-02-2008, 12:48 AM

However, you can't access more than about 3+ GB with any 32-bit OS, Vista or XP, because the memory mapped I/O can take up from like 200mb to a full gig of your address space depending on your hardware setup.
I do know that with normal MMIO for 32bit support, your graphics card will use generally 256MB alone. One of the workstations I've been building and testing has 6 graphics cards in it, and Windows will only see 1.75 GB of the 4 GB available.

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