I have 4 gigabytes of OCZ Platinum DDR2 RAM, 2x 2gb sticks. I just upgraded to Windows Vista 64 after running 32 for a couple of weeks.

I can certainly afford to go get another 4 gig of RAM at current prices; my question is, will I see any real performance difference? I've seen several claims that most games and applications only address the first 4 gig of RAM and ignore the other 4.

Assuming I stick with 4 gig of RAM, am I better off with Vista 64 or 32? Or, I suppose, XP 32, though I'm happy enough with Vista currently.

I upgraded from 4 to 8 and, unlike the article Tom's did, I notice no difference in day to day operation from 4GB under Vista 64. YMMV.

i would go with x64, eventually (soonish) app will be programmed to run in x64, and eventually you will get 8Gb. also becase x64 is programmed to be x64 wiuth enough ram (2Gb+) it is a snappier OS.

Oh, I've already upgraded to x64. No problems with it so far but due to my work schedule I haven't really gotten to play around on it. My only issue was whether I'd see benefit from 8 gig of RAM instead of 4 gig (currently have 4).

I've been having some crashes playing The Witcher on regular Vista and can't figure out what the issue is. I'm hoping it's a RAM issue and the extra RAM available in Vista 64 will help.

You might as well take the plunge and go for Vista 64bit. Unless you run old software and equipment, chances are everything will work just fine. 32 versus 64bit is a trade 32 bit doesn't utilize all 4gigs and 64 has a larger footprint, that aspect is a wash. I still think 64 is a better investment. 32 will become less relevant in the coming years. 4GB versus 16TB max memory, it doesn't take much to figure out where OS's and applications are headed.

Well if its a RAM issue causing your game to crash then adding memory isn't going to help that. You need to find the problem with the RAM you have first. Have you ran Memtest to check the RAM you currently are using?

Let me clarify. I've heard the Witcher requires a lot of RAM, and I was afraid it was having issues because the memory available through Vista 32 wasn't sufficient at the settings I was running (maxed settings, Q6600, EVGA 9800GTX video card, 1680x1080 resolution). I'm going to run memtest, probably this weekend when I have the opportunity to get the computer set up for it and actually spend some time on it.

OK, your subject says one thing (Vista 32 or 64) and your question is another (4GB or 8GB). That's not helpful.

About the Witcher crashes: I suggest checking that you have the latest patches for the Witcher and running memtest for a night.

Check Task Manager from time to time to see how much RAM you are actually using. If it's never even close to 4 GB you can save your $100 or so and stay with 4 GB. if it's close to 4 GB by all means upgrade to 8 GB.

In anyway most programs (read games) are 32, bit so they can only use 2GB of memory by themselves at this moment... So in this aspect of having 32 bit wista is making our life much more complex... New games are made for Vista, but they are made for 32bit vista, so they can not use more than 2Gb of memory... *sigh* we are in this loophole at least as long as the Vindows 7 comes out, and even that has 32 bit version of it, so we don't see 64 bit games in large scale until windows 8, or what ever that is called...
If you are using some real 64 programs (read professional programs), the 4 or 8 Gb is just great to have...

I know. I realized that a while ago myself; originally the question really had been whether it was really beneficial to go from 32 to 64 with 4 gig of RAM, but has shifted since then.

I don't believe it's possible to edit thread titles, and I'm pretty sure this particular topic has officially been done to death at this point, so I figured I'd let it drop.

I do appreciate the responses from everyone, though.

*Edit* Wow, okay, you can edit thread titles. Cool. Guess I'm used to forums where you can't do that. Sorry for the confusion.

If you are mainly concerned with gaming would not more Video Card Ram be of more use than system ram?

I've got the same system as you. q6600, 9800gtx, 2x2 ddr2 800 Mushkin, I have xp 64 bit right now its miserable! No programs work with it, anti virus is impossible to find, as is anti-spyware/adware. Is Vista just infinitely better?

Honestly, I never tried XP64. Vista 64 has only caused issues with one game, The Witcher, which apparently has problems with Vista in general. Even then the issue went away when I rolled my 9800GTX drivers back from the beta ones to the 174.74.

Witcher does have this problem.
Stalker has the same problem it will memory dump because for some damn reason the Vista 32bit only lets Witcher or Stalker use 2gb of VM no matter what you do with any windows setting. Seems this only happens when either game is on max settings There are a few tricks you can do with CFF Explorer to change this but its not very fun although it does fix it. But... x64bit does not have this problem on either game from my experience from switching from 32bit to 64bit. I run E6300@3.06, 3GB Corsair DDR2 800,EvGA 750i mobo, 8800GT SLI.

Playing The Withcer, World in Conflict, Age of Conan beta on my new pc, no problems at all with The Withcer as of yet.

My only issue to date are the 'rare' black screens but from my research that appears to be an Nvidia driver issue.

Have you tried the new version of AVG?
I am running Vista Home Premium 64bit and for teh Anti-Virus i am running AVG 8.0 FREE. it is running just fine.

Anti-virus is actually quite easy to find... AVG, NOD, Panda... those 3 right off the top of my head run on 64-bit Vista. If you're only looking at Norton / McAffee... then it would be no surprise that anti-virus is "impossible" to find.

64 bit ftw
I as well have played the witcher, world in conflict, and supreme commander, no problems, I even play Air Rivals, which is xp specific no prob
Oh and Avira Antivir works on 64 bit to

Hello people
i just plugged 8 gigs A-data ram s 800 mhz into my striker II formula asus mother board and i m runnig vista x64
and i must just addmit that all of you who are saying that ther is no fu**ing difference between 4 an 8 gis just talk a whole lot of ****!
Exspecially if you turn the page file off.
Its a very high difference on how runs vista 64 !!!
And in cod 4 online there is a way of difference between loading times and how the game rolls with 4 and then with 8 gis!
I just recommend buying 8 gigs as long as it is cheap !!!
There is a difference in preformence in any way!

Best regars Raider.