32 vs 64 bit - pros & cons ?

will-3 wrote on 10/8/2009, 6:30 PM
OK, I'm sure I'm very late to this party but maybe some kind soul would give me a quick "catch-up" on the major pros & cons of 32 bit Vegas vs 64 bit Vegas?

As soon as Windows 7 is out we will be buying a new hardware system and upgrading to the latest Vegas Pro.

1 - Does 64 bit render faster?
2 - Does it require more system resources...
3 - Is it as stable and easy to run as 32 bit?
4 - Why is Sony Vegas offering boty?
5 - What are some of the leading pro's and con's for either?

I'm guessing I could search for older postings but I'm guessing that the latest Vegas Pro may have solved many of the earlier problems... so I'm wondering about current issues, etc.

Thanks for any help.

Comments

rmack350 wrote on 10/8/2009, 8:22 PM
1 - Does 64 bit render faster?
-- Probably not, but you can use more RAM and this sometimes makes the difference between completing a render and not completing a render

2 - Does it require more system resources...
-- don't really know

3 - Is it as stable and easy to run as 32 bit?
-- the ecosystem is less developed. There are fewer third party hardware drivers, and evidently fewer codecs available.

4 - Why is Sony Vegas offering both?
-- partly it's user demand, partly I think it's Microsoft pushing steadily towards 64-bit for several years now, partly I think that SCS realized quite a while back that Vegas was going to need to be able to use more memory. And they offer the 32-bit version because the 32-bit world is more mature and most users will be just fine with a 32-bit Vegas.

5 - What are some of the leading pro's and con's for either?
--Either what? Operating system?
--64-bit window can recognize a lot more RAM. A 32-bit OS recognizes about 3GB total, a 64-bit OS can recognize and use as much as you can practically install. i9-based motherboards are supposed to be able to use 24GB, for example.

This means that, even if you run 32-bit applications on 64-bit windows, there's potentially more physical RAM for each program you have running. Those 32-bit applications might limit themselves to 2GB but with 64-bit Windows that 2 GB will be more RAM and less Page File (hard disk space). And this will make things run faster. And if you have 10 programs running they would all get more physical RAM, assuming you have more RAM installed in the computer.

If you're asking about the pros and cons of 32-bit and 64-bit Vegas... 32-bit Vegas is more mature, there are more codecs and add-ons available, and in some ways it's more predictable. But it sometimes suffers and crashes because it can't get enough RAM.

Basically, I think you should be getting systems with 64-bit Windows, even if you're going to run 32-bit Vegas on them.

Rob Mack
will-3 wrote on 10/9/2009, 5:47 PM
Rob,

Thanks for the good update and info.

I like your last comment... get 64 bit Windows... even if we end up running 32 bit Vegas.

And, if we go with 32 bit Vegas we can always switch next year or when ever... after the 64 bit Vegas has been out a little longer.

Thanks again for the help.
hazydave wrote on 10/9/2009, 11:43 PM
> 1 - Does 64 bit render faster?

It seems to be a tad faster on my laptop, maybe 5-10% at most. In theory, conventional floating point is faster, since the compiler has twice as many registers, and other innovations, in native 64-bit mode. Anything bound by SSE, integer, hard drive, etc. ought to be about the same.

Memory is potentially an advantage, just because there's more available, if you have it. No matter what, an application gets a max of 2GB in 32-bit Windows. It can get much, much more in 64-bit Windows.

> 2 - Does it require more system resources...

Everything gets a bit larger. So, if you're right on the edge of having enough memory, stick to 32-bit. Or add memory. I don't think you'll find a dramatic different between 32-bit and 64-bit within a 64-bit OS, resource-wise.

> 3 - Is it as stable and easy to run as 32 bit?

Vegas 8.1 64-bit was rather flakey compared to Vegas 8. I haven't used 64-bit Vegas 9 quite as much... my desktop has grown faster than my laptop once again, and I'm still on 32-bit for the desktop (may go Win7, assuming Win7 proves usable).

> 4 - Why is Sony Vegas offering boty?

64-bit is a potential advantage when you're editing HD and eating up tons of memory. It's also in Sony's best interest... the world is moving to 64-bit, and unlike some of the competition (oh, I dunno.. Adobe, maybe), they're moving with it. That way, they get the bugs out, master any differences they need to in the 64-bit world, before users move from "wow, that's nice" to "hey, if you don't have a 64-bit version, I may have to go elsewhere" in their thinking.

> 5 - What are some of the leading pro's and con's for either?

I suppose you need 64-bit plug-ins for the 64-bit version, that's the most likely disadvantage. Assuming you use lots of plug-ins that don't come in 64-bit flavor yet.
CClub wrote on 10/10/2009, 3:11 AM
I'm in the middle of prepping to go with Windows 7 64bit when it comes out this month myself. Just realize It's a trickier jump than you'd think on the surface. I was assuming I could just load the new OS and get on with it. I suppose you could, but why go to 64bit if you don't have a lot of RAM to take advantage of it.

Here's the difficulty: If you're going with 64bit to get more RAM, you'll need to determine how much RAM your current motherboard can hold. Then while you're in there, you'll be looking at how quick your processor is. I decided that I may as well go with the i7 processor while I'm changing over to 64bit to get more access to RAM. One thing leads to another... with the i7 you need a new motherboard, then with a new motherboard, you'll need to change over to the DDR3 RAM. It's a domino effect.
rmack350 wrote on 10/11/2009, 9:57 AM
Will is upgrading an entire system or two so hopefully "upgrade creep" isn't a problem.

A lot of people who bought new motherboards over the last year or two can still upgrade to a 64-bit OS and 8GB of RAM. The 64-bit capability has been there for probably 4 years or more in most motherboards but many manufacturers weren't testing 2GB dimms, either because they didn't exist yet, or were astronomically expensive. So your documentation may not say that 2GB dimms are supported.

If you've got an older motherboard you might check for BIOS updates. They should include notes about what the upgrades provide. Some BIOS upgrades specifically add support for higher capacity dimms.