How much RAM will Vista or XP 64-bit support? And what about Sonar video support?

Pretty straight forward question: How much RAM will Vista or XP 64-bit support?

Here is my situation- I write alot of music and produce a heavy amount of sound design for various projects. I often run out of memory because I'm using a high number of East West samples (from both the NI and PLay samplers). I'm looking for a situation where I can bump up my RAM from 3 GB to at least 10 or so. I'm running XP (32-bit) on an ADK computer with a SPS 660 audio interface and a decent video card.

Side note: If Sonar could incorporate better video support (which I've brought up in this forum many times) then simply getting a stronger OS and more RAM would completely solve my issue and I'd be a happy customer. However, both this forum and Cakewalk have replied that video support isn't much of an important feature for Sonar. While I'm all for finding one's niche, I hope that Cakewalk understands by ignoring their TERRIBLE video support means they're losing ground in the film-animation and game visuals markets. People that do my line of work rely heavily on video-based tools and Sonar is simply very outdated and out performed. (Before the haters come out and flame me- I've done extensive research and have experience working with Sonar since 2000, and have also worked with these other programs: Pro Tools 6 HD, Pro Tools 7 LE, Logic 6 Pro, Logic 8 Pro, Digital Performer 5, Soundforge 8, Finale 2006, Reason 4, Cubase SX 3 and Cool Edit Pro 2). I know there are many things that Sonar does VERY, VERY well which is why I've used it for so long. However, once I moved into the visual media (due to changes in jobs) I began to see how out of touch Sonar is with this skill section.

My side note may seem unrelated to my main question- but in fact it isn't. Since Cakewalk has responded with a "we don't care" type of response- I'm trying to show them that I (along with many others I'm sure) would see better video support as a great selling point for Sonar. I'm also trying to show them that they may lose customers that are forced to move to a platform that supports better workflow for video. (Perhaps they already have?!) If I get a better OS and stronger RAM and better video support- my studio will be complete. This will also save me the hassle of having to purchase a Mac Pro (which can go up to 32 gigs of RAM) and already has three programs that offer everything I need as an audio professional. My only problem is it would be VERY expensive to change over to Mac. Now I'm not trying to start a Mac vs. PC war. Personally, I find those stupid and a waste of time- especially since I can produce high quality audio on BOTH. So can Vista support up to 32 gigs of RAM? What about XP 64-bit?

So can I stick with Sonar Producer 6 for right now, or would it be best to upgrade to Sonar 7 then upgrade my OS and RAM? And does anyone else feel my pain about video support- or do most here not mess around with that much? Since it is my full time job, I do it everyday, which is why I feel it is a major issue.

Thanks,

Nathan

The types of improvements needed are pretty basic:

1) Better video support- right now Sonar doesn't work with many video formats and often has a hard time exporting video as well. (Just this morning the other audio tech I work with had major problems exporting the video.)

2) Better workflow- It is possible to score videos in Sonar- however it isn't very fluid or intuitive. I just finished up a 7 minute indie film last week and it took me about 4 times longer than it would with my other apps. (I had to use Sonar because this was outside of work and Sonar is what I have at home.) One such issue: I had to push "+" or "-" to move through the frames. This film was shot at 30 frames per second, which is typically the industry standard. For seven minutes of footage- this was ALOT of + and - to be pushing. Sure I would watch several parts in real time, but I'd go back to make sure I had the correct timing and not missing any of the smaller actions frame by frame.

3) Better video visuals- If you're using the thumbnails, it requires you to be super zoomed in to be able to see anything with any kind of accuracy.

4) Better technology behind exporting- there have been several bugs reported, like the class "Disk if full" bug even though you may have several 100 gigs of storage space free.

The entire video side just cries for attention and TLC. If Sonar wants to be the premiere DAW for PC- then Cakewalk seriously needs to address the video side of things.

Thanks,

Nathan

You should have AT LEAST 4G of RAM. That's the minimum addressing space for a 64 bit processor running in 64 bit mode. If it doesn't see enough physical RAM to satisfy the need, it will use virtual memory to make up the difference. The end result is constant swapping in and out of the page file and endless hard disk activity.