I have 2gb Ram, W7 X32 bits. Most of my plugins are old plugins (I noticed I have less issues working with x32 bits w7, dont know why).
Now I´m upgrading Ram, and i´m thinking of x64 bits (so my PC will recognize more than 4gb of Ram).
So, my question is:
 
-should I keep x32 and upgrade up to 4 gb Ram wich could be enough?
or
-should i move to x64 and upgrade to MORE than 4 gb Ram?
 
I know it´s all depending on the rest of my stuff, but I´m asking for a suggestion or an opinion.
Will be a big difference? Maybe i can reach 6 or 8 gb ram... but not a lot more.
thanks a lot!
 
 

I haven't upgraded to x64 yet cause I'd have to load and configure sooooo much.  I'm sure most everyone will tell you to upgrade to x64 with at least 8Gb of ram. (two sticks of 4Gb is common and inexpensive) I've been running x32 with 4Gb (the max win 7/32 will handle), but when I did my last rebuild I bought 8Gb of ram cause I got a deal on it, so I'll be ready to go x64 when Win 9 comes out.

thanks for the opinion, actually I know that more ram and x64 its better, but reality its that i use a lot of too old synths and x32 with 2 gb its at least working not bad, we´ll see

Just know that in order to keep x64 stable, you may have to leave behind some 32 bit VSTs. You can use them but I have found in 32/64 VST environment, crashes and other issues seem to surface. An all x64 environment is recommended from one who has tried it the other way.   

Middleman hit the nail on the head.  If you choose to go to 64 you will definitely be leaving behind some if not all of your 32-bit vst's.  I had nothing but problems when I first switched to 64, especially with vsti's.  I lost a lot of work.  Finally said hell with it and dropped all my 32 bit plugs.  Problem free ever since.  

P.S. Dont waste your time with Jbridge and Bitbridge either.

This is my opinion: Don't bother upgrading to Windows 64 unless you have 6GB or more RAM. I don't believe you are realizing any benefit running Win64 on just 4GB RAM, and in fact, may be operating with less effective resources than with Win32.

MetalTeK


If you choose to go to 64 you will definitely be leaving behind some if not all of your 32-bit vst's.  I 

It all depends on the VST. I have been using M-Tron Pro, Korg MonoPoly, MiniMonsta, Native Instruments B4 II extensively all without issues using bitbridge. I also run Kitcore via JBridge. (M-Tron Pro and MonoPoly have had 64 bit updates released very recently).
 
I have found problems mostly occur with VSTi that load samples. I have only had one or two that I had to give up on and 64 bit versions are being released all the time.
 
But remember you can install both 32 and 64 bit Sonar on a 64 bit OS so you can move in both worlds.
 
In my opinion, even if you are running 32 bit Sonar on a 64 bit OS its worth getting 8 GB ram. That way Sonar can use all the 3.6 GB available to a 32 bit application and the OS and other services can have the rest.
 
 
 

When you don't have many problems, don't change anything.

I run 4 gigs, but it is very slow...I would bump up to 8 if you can...certainly won't hurt! Just make sure you get good reputable and matching RAM!

thanks to all! Actually I had 2 gb and I have now 4 gb ram but win x 32 can only recognize 3 gb ram... so between 2 and 3 there´s not a big difference. I´ll keep everything x32 with 4gb (even if win x32 only recognize 3 gb ram). I´ll move up later after I finishing next album and projects.
My goal it´s to have everything x64 with 8 gb ram or higher. It´s not easy to leave all those x32 synths...