Calling all techheads! UPGRADE ADVICE!! !

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I’ve got an i7 system with 3 GB ram running vista 64.

My budget will allow a ram upgrade of 6 GB for a total of 9 GB OR an upgrade of 3 GB for a total of 6 GB and an OS upgrade to windows 7.

My question is which is the smarter upgrade and why?

what are you doing with that machine?
gaming or mostly office work?
what processor?

6gb of ram is quite enough in most cases.
i don't use windows that much, so i can't tell if win7 is worth the monay.
ever tried Linux instead?

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz, 2667 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

I use it mostly for gaming.... I despise vista so if windows 7 is any improvement I'm willing to try it. BUT if I only upgrade 3GB, my next memory upgrade (if needed) would be costly and wasteful-- I'd have to pay for 6GB to gain 3, hence my questions.

I just built an i7 rig.

If you want 6 GB of RAM, you need the 64-bit version of Win7, but you knew that.

RAM (in my opinion) is overrated. If you have double of what the OS recommends, you likely are NEVER using all of it. 3GB should be plenty, but if you're going 64-bit, (and the i7 can use triple channel memory), might as well have 3 x 2GB strips for that edge.

SO, I SAY GET ONLY 3 GB more RAM and UPGRADE TO WIN7. If you're running Vista, moving to Win7 should be a big improvement.

I tested a movie making program the other day (didn't know if it was 64-bit compatible, but I want to use it under Win7). I threw together some clips, told it to run, and the thing rendered at what seemed to be 1/10th of real time (20 minutes of video in 2 minutes). In all this time, I watched the CPU monitor gadget on the desktop and the CPU didn't even break 50% of what it could handle. That's more tasking of the PC than games are (which put more load on the GPU).

I doubt you will exceed the need for 6 GB of RAM anytime in the foreseeable future. Heck, they still haven't make a lot of software certified to be stable in a 64-bit OS configuration and they're maybe now just starting to make software that exploits the quad-core CPU.

I've run the Windows Seven Beta and RTC versions and ran the 64bit version with 4GB RAM, that was more than enough.

I notice many computers are being sold with 3GB RAM instead of 4GB... I wonder why that is

I'd say 4GB is enough as many games are designed to run with 32bit instructions. They will not fill up 3GB as some of that will be reserved for some of the OS to reside in the memory.

I found that using virtual CD/DVDs meant that the image was stored in my RAM and I was left wondering why my then 6GB were reaching 80% full.

I personally tend to try to max out my memory the board can take. I think with the i7 Intel are supporting the newer DDR3 which as yet as very little in the way compared to DDR2. Maybe there isn't anything yet that can utilise it fully.

Max your memory out and upgrade to Linux. Ubuntu is a good migration path from Vista.

3Gb and Windows 7 is your best bet. You don't need 9Gb for anything short of heavy-duty video editing, I should think. I have 8Gb in my machine and I never get close to using all of it.

I wouldn't recommend any version of Linux for gaming unless you're both technically-minded and bloody-minded. I like Ubuntu, it's certainly my favourite version of Linux and it has a nice user interface, but it isn't as nice or as polished as W7, and once you move away from "easy" functions like browsing the interweb and writing documents any version of Linux becomes considerably less straightforward to use than Windows.

From my calculations, 8GB would seem optimal on Vista for the next couple years. Windows 7 would double that with the same percentage of resources free at @ 16GB

Although, it is worth noting, without modification, Windows XP will only use 4GB RAM (before some of it is assigned to other devices) Windows XP's limit is 64GB RAM under 32bit because it has a 36bit bus register and only 32bits are used by default for addressing RAM.

Windows Vista's limit varies from 8GB to 128GB Windows XP x64 Professional Edition will peak at 128GB max. Windows Seven's limit is at 192GB. With the way technology is going, those limits will be reached very quickly. After all MS are limiting RAM usage in order to encourage you to buy their next software to use the latest stuff. Why not limit it to 16EB RAM instead...

Keep WIndows Vista and upgrade to 9GB Ram if on a 64-Bit OS. Then you can do a dual-boot with Ubuntu Linux 64-Bit. Only boot into Windows for stuff like gaming and leave all the useful stuff like net-surfing, actual-productivity and so on to Ubuntu. Have a 500GB HD and set a 200GB Partition to Ubuntu Aussuming that your Vista games take up a huge hunk of space Or if not a linux fan just take the RAM upgrade. 9GB of Ram will be much faster on Vista then 3 GB would on 7. Especially since your tripling the RAM.


F.Y.I- Why pay for WIndows 7. All WIndows is good for is GAMING. Every other productive purpose can either put Linux or OSX to use.

older operating systems can't see much above 3gig...and many older programs can't either...
If the Operating system and programs can see it; max it (if it's cheap enough).

My recommendation is to hold off. Neither of your choices will improve your gaming experience much.

Windows 7 feels better than Vista (to me as least), but not much is changed for gaming. I think you should try it out first. If you like the changes then buy it.

As for RAM, 3GB is ok for games now. As you already know, adding another 3GB may cost you more if you upgrade again. By the time more than 3GB is necessary, the price of 6GB may have fallen to the same level of 3GB now.

You didn't mentiton your display card. It is always the determining factor for gaming performance. It may be wise to save the $ to upgrade your GPU later.

Another thing to watch for is SSD. If you don't need large amount of disk space, then a SSD will likely improve your everyday experience more than RAM.

Hey! Thanks for all the replies.

I think I'm gonna go with the 3 GB/Windows 7 option.

As much as a lean, mean Linux based system appeals to me, it's not a good idea for a game machine! However, I do have an old laptop and after the warranty runs out, I think I'll set it up as a dual XP/Linux system.

I can get windows 7 cheap, so I might even go win7/6 GB! ...but I'll probably just do 3GB, DDR3 is really expensive right now.

A new video card.