Source: Tom's Hardware UK – Keywords: Microsoft, Windows, Vista
Categories: Hardware
Where to get a 64 bit Version
If you already use Windows Vista and are considering making the switch to 64 bits, you may find yourself wondering whether you’ll have t buy another software licence. Users that bought Windows Vista Ultimate need not worry, since the installation disc contains both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions of the OS.
For all other versions, you can order 64 bit installation discs directly from Microsoft and will have to pay only a nominal fee for shipping and handling. Beware though that this offer only applies to full retail versions of Vista.
If you are using an OEM version that came pre-installed on your computer, you are not eligible for this offer and won’t be able to order the installation discs. The same goes for system builder versions (DSP/SB).
| Windows Vista Version | Price | Way to Order |
|---|---|---|
| Ultimate Full Version | ca. £300 | 32 bit and 64 bit versions included in the box |
| Ultimate OEM | ca. £130 | No Upgrade Supported by PC Vendor |
| Business Full Version | ca. £200 | Upgrade Possible |
| Business OEM | ca. £90 | No Upgrade Supported by PC Vendor |
| Home Premium Full Version | ca. £190 | Upgrade Possible |
| Home Premium OEM | ca. £ 70 | No Upgrade Supported by PC Vendor |
| Home Basic Full Version | ca. £160 | Upgrade Possible |
| Home Basic OEM | ca. £55 | No Upgrade Supported by PC Vendor |
As you can see, while owners if a full version won’t have any trouble getting an upgrade, those with an OEM or a system builder edition are left out in the cold. Your only option in this case is calling your PC vendor’s support hotline. If that falls through as well, then you’ll have to buy a new software licence after all.
By the way, you won’t need a new product key to order a 64 bit upgrade. The one that came with your original copy will work for both the 64 bit and the 32 bit version.
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if you have an Vista Key just get an Vista 32 dvd or an vista 64 dvd
I've been using 8GB with Vista for a while now. I can play Crysis or CoD4 whilst simultaeneoulsy video encoding in the background without a single stutter... very smooth. Well worth the money IMHO.
so the essence of the story is, 8gigs of ram makes your computer run faster. theres a surprise
There should be a bench marks showing how big a performance increase you get as opposed to 1gb, 2gb and 4gb. Sure it might be cheap to do, but is it worth the hassle of spending the money, waiting for the order, installing the ram and doing the necessary tweaks?
I like the charts on the max supported ram per OS, but you need to show the user why they may need 8gb of ram, instead of "because you can" being the reason.
I agree with joedastuff, what I'd like to know is why getting 8GB is worth it when compared to 4GB, not 2GB or less. 4GB has been proclaimed the "sweet spot" for Vista a while ago, so why would we go for the extra 4GB, especially considering we'll have to re-spend our money on DDR3 if we decide to upgrade a year or two from now?
tsebbens' comment is pretty encouraging though. Encoding and gaming are two things I do quite often. But the fact that you can do both at the same time really a consequence of the 8GB or RAM or is it due to the processor (I'm guessing it's a quad?)?
(It's joedastudd, obviously. Sorry, Joe, this was not intended as a low blow to your masculinity
)
Hello, I'm new to the forum but have read articles on this board for years.
My question is, where does readyboost fit in. I have vista home premium 32bit with a Q6600, and a 2 GB USB for ready boost. About to swap it with a 4 GB readyboost stick, will an 8 GB USB make a difference??
there be no speed boost haveing more ram
what more ram does is prevent Slow downs due to running low on ram so pageing happens
allso one other Point that is an small error about going past 4gb on an 32bit program it cant happen
if it gets correted an 32Bit program can only allocate 4gb of VM space even with 8gb of ram No page file would be used at all as the program can only use 4gb of space (in games i have only seen this happen on Supreme commander when there is an High amount of units on the map can use quite alot of ram or allacate alot of Vm space taht can be fixed by patching the game.exe file to make it support Large mode so it can use upto 4gb {default is norm only 2gb})
readyboost sucks once you got more then 1gb of ram (2gb installed or more) as it does nothing to speed things up as ram is faster then Flash and allways will be the Readyboost can give slower performace
as an test on my pc readyboost makes my games judder when ever the flash drive is accessed
note for toms Please add an edit button, you gone as far as make this look an little more usefull with quotes and reporting bad posts but Cant you Re link this to the fourms agane as no one realy uses this comment system much, allso some USA content is missing on the UK web site as well i have to switch between USA and UK to get both content