Can I squeeze more out of this system?

gdugan


Hey experts!
Here are my machine specs:

Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
Asus P5BE motherborad, 4 G DDR2-800 memory
Windows XP sp 3, 32 bit
Sonar 8.3.1

Here's my questions: I'd prefer to be running Win 7 64 bit to be able to use all 4 G of memory and maybe even expand the memory. Is it worth my while to install Win 7 on this machine and dual-boot, or is my hardware just too outdated to gain anything by doing so? Will I gain a performance advantage just by going to 64 bit?

Thanks so much!

Win7 is a more bloated OS (happens with every new OS)... that runs best on the latest generation hardware.
The main advantage of x64 is to address more RAM.
Unless you're specifically running out of RAM on current projects, I think you're best off sticking with what you have.
Once you make the move to new hardware... then (also) move to Win7 x64. 
  
Note:  If you use a 64Bit host DAW with all 64Bit plugins, you'll likely see a slight performance boost.
But it's not a night vs. day difference...

I'm running a quad core with 8 gigs of ram and don't notice a difference between 32 and 64 bit, other than 64 bit being more likely to crash. Have to know what plugins not to use.  There is a huge difference in this system and my last system though ( p4 3.2 with 2 gigs of ram ).

FWIW, If the additional RAM is unused, it won't benefit performance.
IOW, If you have a system with 8GB of RAM... and your projects are only using ~3GB, having the extra free 5GB doesn't itself increase performance.