I am building a new system and plan on using Windows 7 64 bit and also Vegas 64 bit. I understand that the 64 bit version allows more than 2 Gig of memory to be used. I assume that the 64bit operating system will use more memory than the 32 bit system, so is 4 Gig at 64 bit the same as 2 Gig at 32 bit? What is the amount of memory required to start taking advantage of the 64 bit system?

it's not the amount of memory that OS can use, 64 bit os will use whatever you have, well depending on OS,
7 Professional and up -192Gb
7 Home Premium - 16Gb
7 Home Basic - 8Gb
it's about how much memory application can utilize, i have 12Gb, but never seen system going over 4 Gb and Vegas .exe going over 500Mb

It has been a while since I worked with machine code, but I thought that a 64 bit system would process a 64 bit word. If that is the way it is processed, then a 64 bit system would use twice as much memory as a 32 bit system.

I don't know if that is how it works in today's system. I am planning on purchasing 4 Gig at this time for a 64 bit system and wanted to be sure that I will have a greater capability as a 32 bit system with 2 Gig of Ram.

If that is the way it is processed, then a 64 bit system would use twice as much memory as a 32 bit system.

Not necessarily. The 64-bit system uses 64-bit registers, but it can use 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit and 64-bit memory integers. Under Windows the C (and C++) programming languages use a 32-bit "int" and a 32-bit "long", so any C/C++ program that was originally written for the 32-bit system and was simply recompiled for 64 bits will most likely use 32-bit memory variables for most of its data.

And if the sample code in the Vegas plug-in kit is any indication of the code within Vegas, it does use 16-bit and 32-bit memory variables.

Thanks, Again, I said it's been a long time since I worked with code at that level.

One other question, this computer will never touch the internet, as it is for editing only. Which version of Windows 7 do I need to buy? Are there capabilites in the Professional and Ultimate versions that I will need for editing in Vegas?

Are there capabilites in the Professional and Ultimate versions that I will need for editing in Vegas?

there are none :)

Chris, I am curious when you say your editing PC will never touch the internet, as I also try & adopt this approach. But I find with all the upgrades etc. it becomes inevitable that you have to connect, even if occasionally.

Then the fun starts, so you have to have a browser, antivirus, media player, pdf reader, various plugins & now with all their endless updates !

I only plug in the internet cable as necessary for these but it seems almost a daily chore.

Now only five minutes ago after I started to write this, I booted up my editing machine to save waiting, & opened Firefox to download Avid DNxHD after reading another post. It then immediately starting downloading an up date before it would open, so I carried on typing this. When I turned around a minute later, yes, it had hanged, - no mouse , no nothing, - not even Cntrl/Alt/Del., so I had to use the power switch. Now when I turn it on, it won't even get to the BIOS ! All that happens is the HDD going round in a loop, - GREAT ! All I wanted to do was download Avid DNxHD ! So now it does not look good for any editing this week !

For goodness sake, I'm stymied again. - I just don't figure how you guys can make a living out of all this. - If this business was like carpentry you'd spend 95% of your time sharpening chisels !!

Should we all get Macs ?? !!

RonC

Generally speaking, why SHOULD an editing machine touch the internet? You build this extremely powerful machine to edit - why does it need to be on the internet? Use the cheap - less powerful - machine for browsing and e-mail.

I tend to download updates on the internet machine, copy them over to a portable drive or pen drive or even burn a CD or DVD to carry to the editing machine. It doesn't need to be connected to the internet to get updates.

Edward,

You took the words right out of my mouth. I use a flash drive or cd to transfer any software to my editing system. I run the software through the virus scanning software prior to loading into the editing system. I agree with Edward - there is too much money (at least to me!) invested in my editing system to take a chance of losing the data I am editing at the time. Even though a large portion of my editing is Church services, I don't want to disappoint the elderly by missing a Sunday service.