32 bit or 64 bit

[Gerry]

Hi

Would be grateful for some tech advice.

I am currently running Cubase 7 on a dedicated 32 bit PC/Windows 7 that I have owned for a while. New Pcs are now mostly 64 bit systems.

Would I notice a significant improvement with Cubase 7 if I invested in a new 64 bit based PC / Windows version?

Is there any cheaper way to upgrade my existing PC to 64 bit?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Gerry

[filterfreak]

64 bit will allow you to handle what ever ram you have installed on your pc instead of being stuck with the 32 bit limit of 4 gig so if you have 16 gig then 16 gig of ram is what it uses which means your are never stressing or pushing your pc and cubase to the limit , it works floorlessly here on 64 bit and to me it was well worth the move to 64bit

regards
john

[Scab Pickens]

Would I notice a significant improvement with Cubase 7 if I invested in a new 64 bit based PC / Windows version

The main benefit of a 64-bit system is the ability to access more RAM.

Is there any cheaper way to upgrade my existing PC to 64 bit?

What is your existing PC? Depending on your hardware, it may or may not be worth investing in RAM, new OS software, etc.

[vinark]

Note THIS! You will only gain from extra ram (and thus a 64bit OS) if you use it. If you never have out of memory warnings, you don´t need more ram. The only situation you need large amounts of ram for is if you run many very heavy sample vsti´s like Kontakt, with again very large libraries loaded.
So load your most complex cubase project and look in taskmanager how much ram cubase uses.

[psvennevig]

Note THIS! You will only gain from extra ram (and thus a 64bit OS) if you use it. If you never have out of memory warnings, you don´t need more ram. The only situation you need large amounts of ram for is if you run many very heavy sample vsti´s like Kontakt, with again very large libraries loaded.
So load your most complex cubase project and look in taskmanager how much ram cubase uses.

That is not entirely true. Since the 64bit version of Cubendo can use a lot more RAM, it also uses more RAM for event handling etc. Save buffers, etc. etc. So it will run better than 32bit IF you have 8GB of RAM total (more are better).

NB! A project that was running close to memory limit in 32bit, after opened and saved in 64bit version might NEVER open in 32bit version.

Also make sure that all plugins are 64bit capable. bridge is ok for getting a project exported etc, but can't be compared to true 64bit plugins.
Even UAD is out with 64bit plugins now.

Pål

[HughH]

Of course, you can move to a 64bit OS and still run Cubase 32. And 64. On the same machine (though not at the same time - audio interface).

I still run Cubase 32 cause a number of my plugs were still 32bit, didn't want to mess with bridging (which uses processor cycles), and didn't really need the additional RAM - though I have 12G installed.

Running Cubase 64 doesn't really give you any more processing power - save that afforded by the RAM.

This is changing, though. Old plugs get used less and important ones are mostly 64, now. I may reassess soon.

[Gerry]

Thanks Guys.

Really helpful information - much appreciated.

Gerry

[neilwilkes]

64 bit will allow you to handle what ever ram you have installed on your pc instead of being stuck with the 32 bit limit of 4 gig

Hi John.
Sorry for the selective quote here, but the limit of a 32-bit system is 2GB of addressable RAM, not 4GB.
Whilst it is possible to install 4GB of RAM in a 32-bit system, no application will ever be able to access more than 2GB, and the switches added into the INI file are a fudge, probably leading to system instability in the long run as it will remove allocations made by the system for expansion cards & other devices.

@Gerry.
It is indeed true that the only difference is access to more RAM - however, and this is important, there are subtle implications that make this worthwhile even if you do not use large ROMpler libraries. Since the advent of 64-bit, programmers have got even lazier in generak as there is no longer any pressing need to optimize memory footprints so they simply quote ever larger amounts of memory needed as "recommended" or even "minimum" requirements.
Additionally you will find a general improvement in access times for a lot of things, plus you will find you can do more before hitting those brick walls of no more memory available. If you do go 64-bit, and I recommend it even though the actual audio is no better in terms of quality, there are things you need to look out for.
The main one is to ensure your VST2 plugin paths are not picking up both 64 and 32 bit versions of the same plugins.