@Christian Marcussen said:

Sweet... becuase most of my slaves have 4x512mb. If I can do with 3,5GB taking out one 512 and a single 2GB ram peice would be enough.

If........................! My slaves work with paired memory, so that I can only get 3 or 4GB; not 3.5. They also have to fill all slots.[:(]

DG

Cant't you put whatever you want in them? In my 4 slots I can put any combination, but to take use of Dual-Channel it must be the same size ram. But the ram boost from dual channel shouldnt have any say on how many samples I can load

@Christian Marcussen said:

Cant't you put whatever you want in them? In my 4 slots I can put any combination, but to take use of Dual-Channel it must be the same size ram. But the ram boost from dual channel shouldnt have any say on how many samples I can load

No, unfortunately mine doesn't like anything but pairs of RAM.

DG

Sucky - admitedly I haven't tried. But in theory it should work. What mother board you useing - you know?

@Christian Marcussen said:

Sucky - admitedly I haven't tried. But in theory it should work. What mother board you useing - you know?

I'll email you the specs when I get a chance.

DG

How does this work on ones main daw, or regular word/gaming/office PC?

@Christian Marcussen said:

How does this work on ones main daw, or regular word/gaming/office PC?

Christian, is this question related to the original topic as such?

/Mattias

@Christian Marcussen said:

How does this work on ones main daw, or regular word/gaming/office PC?

Christian, is this question related to the original topic as such?

/Mattias

ummm, i would think so? I'm asking how this memory tweak affects ones non-slave computers. My main daw is the same one i use for things like writing/gaming/emails etc - So to me, and others in the same situation its quite relevant and related.... Maybe I'm not understanding your question correctly - I mean, how can it not be related?

Ok, I just wanted to check...now I understand your question perfectly. [:)] Basically the main DAW/office/gaming machine is course affected the same way your slaves are.

For your DAW it would mean that you can use more memory in that one as well. Depending on the sequencer you use you may need to LAA patch the exe of course.

For office use I don't see that it would change the performance much unless you're working with memory-intensive tasks and apps that are LAA.

For a gaming machine you could possibly run into issues related to graphics cards if you're using a high-end card as the drivers might require lots of kernel-mode memory.

Did that answer something??

/Mattias

Indeed it does. Thanks[:)]

I just wanted to publicy thank Mattias for all the help on such an important matter - increasing RAM for our VI machines. As I see it, there is no greater stumbling block - limits imposed by RAM.

Thanks Mattias for all your help.

Rob

Thanks for the kind words Rob!

/Mattias

Hi Guys.....

Jumping on on the tail end of this one..... I have a couple of quick questions on the whole RAM / PC thing.

I want to updgrade my setup and purchase some slave computers. I use a G5 for my Main DAW - the slave computers are either going to be PC's (for Pro Ed in Giga 3 or VI's in Bidule Plogue) or G5's (for VI's only)

Q1. Am I right in assuming that no matter if I am using on a slave PC running Giga 3 (for the Pro Edition) or Bidule Plogue (for VI hosting) I am going to run into this 2GB RAM limitation? In other words is a PC only capable of allowing ANY app (GIGA 3 /SONAR/CUBASE / Bidule Plogue) to see just 2GB of RAM - unless I do the system tweeks you are all discussing to get it up to around 3GB?

Q2. If this is the case - on one machine could I install Bidule Plogue and get this app. to access 3 GB with a couple of my VI Library and also install GIGA 3 and have this app also access 3GB (meaning a total of 6 - 8 GB of physical RAM installed??) - would the PC do this - (I am thinking of some of the higher end CARILLON computer range.)

Assuming I go the Slave MAC G5 route - apparently I will get access to 3 - 3.5GB (approx) of RAM with Bidule Plogue. SO just trying to weigh up which way to go

PC's would be cheaper but the Mac route gets me a slight edge on the 2 GIG RAM ceiling therefore more power.

Am I missing anything - Any thoughts???

Thanks for you input

PaulM

@Another User said:

Q2. If this is the case - on one machine could I install Bidule Plogue and get this app. to access 3 GB with a couple of my VI Library and also install GIGA 3 and have this app also access 3GB (meaning a total of 6 - 8 GB of physical RAM installed??) - would the PC do this - (I am thinking of some of the higher end CARILLON computer range.)
PaulM

Giga3 uses kernel memory, so the most you will get is about 1.1Gb. Having done the memory tweaks to make this possible there are users who are loading another 1.3Gb in applications such as V-Stack, although it didn't work for me (for various irrelevant reasons).

There is no point in trying to get more than 4Gb RAM (and the last GB is mostly useless) as you can't use more than about 2.8Gb for sample loading however you look at it. If you machine is going to be a slave and nothing else, then the specs don't actually have to be that high, as you're likely to run out of RAM long before the CPU complains. This decision can be made when you have finalised your choice.

DG

EDIT: I obviously didn't read DG's post before answering... [:)]

Q1: The default is a maximum 2GB per process period. With the /3GB boot switch and an LAA application (as discussed in the first post) you're able to get it up to 3GB per user-mode process. The process in this case is the host, so no matter how many instances of VSTi's you add in your host the theoretical maximum is 2GB (or 3GB of course).

Q2: The short answer is...no. There are several hindering things:
1. 32-bit XP only recognizes 4GB to start with.
2. GigaStudio which is the exception here is a kernel-mode app and will suffer heavily from the 3GB switch as it will be on the losing side of the memory split.
3. With GS3 you're so far able to get a maximum of 1.1GB per machine whatever you do. The new VST implementation of GigaStudio, GVI, will change all this though as it will run completely in user-mode just like everything else and will thus benefit from the /3GB tweak.

Go with whatever you feel comfortable with is my motto. Personally being a zero as far as Macs go I'd get myself a PC with 64-bit hardware which will be possible to upgrade to 64-bit XP when the apps and not the least drivers are ready for it.

/Mattias

@Another User said:

Q2. If this is the case - on one machine could I install Bidule Plogue and get this app. to access 3 GB with a couple of my VI Library and also install GIGA 3 and have this app also access 3GB (meaning a total of 6 - 8 GB of physical RAM installed??) - would the PC do this - (I am thinking of some of the higher end CARILLON computer range.)
PaulM

Giga3 uses kernel memory, so the most you will get is about 1.1Gb. Having done the memory tweaks to make this possible there are users who are loading another 1.3Gb in applications such as V-Stack, although it didn't work for me (for various irrelevant reasons).

There is no point in trying to get more than 4Gb RAM (and the last GB is mostly useless) as you can't use more than about 2.8Gb for sample loading however you look at it. If you machine is going to be a slave and nothing else, then the specs don't actually have to be that high, as you're likely to run out of RAM long before the CPU complains. This decision can be made when you have finalised your choice.

DG

OK....thanks DG - that is useful info-

So - The MAC route looks more expensive but I get slightly more RAM usage whereas with the PC route I could possibly make up for loss of RAM usage by buying another machine with the money saved.....

I also have to say that I like the way you have your computers hooked up (FXTeleport) looks like a real elegant solution...I am on Logic 7 as a sequencer so MY DAW has to be a MAC....and seeing as there is no news about the OSX version of FXT I am a little snookered. - OK

Finally - one more for you - When the entire library (all 10 VI's) finally emerges will you still use GS3 on any machine (I presume you are now) to host your Pro LIbrary or do you think you will go completely VI for everything - just wondering....I am totally blown away by the VI's - so intuitive - amazing.

@Mattias Henningson said:

EDIT: I obviously didn't read DG's post before answering... [:)]

Q1: The default is a maximum 2GB per process period. With the /3GB boot switch and an LAA application (as discussed in the first post) you're able to get it up to 3GB per user-mode process. The process in this case is the host, so no matter how many instances of VSTi's you add in your host the theoretical maximum is 2GB (or 3GB of course).

Q2: The short answer is...no. There are several hindering things:
1. 32-bit XP only recognizes 4GB to start with.
2. GigaStudio which is the exception here is a kernel-mode app and will suffer heavily from the 3GB switch as it will be on the losing side of the memory split.
3. With GS3 you're so far able to get a maximum of 1.1GB per machine whatever you do. The new VST implementation of GigaStudio, GVI, will change all this though as it will run completely in user-mode just like everything else and will thus benefit from the /3GB tweak.

Go with whatever you feel comfortable with is my motto. Personally being a zero as far as Macs go I'd get myself a PC with 64-bit hardware which will be possible to upgrade to 64-bit XP when the apps and not the least drivers are ready for it.

/Mattias

Thank you Mattias - good advice - cleared up a few issues.....

So I am hearing that a combination of a 64XP and GVI would be pretty amazing as far as RAM access and future compatibilty is concerned - actually WHATEVER app I choose (Bidule Plogue / VStack etc etc) I am getting an uplift in RAM access due to 64bit XP seeing more physical RAM - correct?

thank you....PaulM

Any ideas on 'when' 64 bit will be commercially ready. I have some machines 6 months old - some 2.5 years old. Can they all convert to 64 bit OK?

I imagine that all four slots will be converted to 2 gig sticks?


Rob

@PaulM said:

So I am hearing that a combination of a 64XP and GVI would be pretty amazing as far as RAM access and future compatibilty is concerned - actually WHATEVER app I choose (Bidule Plogue / VStack etc etc) I am getting an uplift in RAM access due to 64bit XP seeing more physical RAM - correct?

Almost. When everything finally is 64-bit, that is OS, host apps etc you won't have to bother about the limits for a while so that's correct. If you're using a 32-bit host application in 64-bit XP and the host app is LargeAddressAware (as described in the top post) you will be able to load up to 4GB rather than 3GB like today as the OS itself won't have to squeeze itself into any 4GB XP limit as it is now... That requires that you actually have more than 4GB RAM of course.

/Mattias

@Rob Elliott said:

Any ideas on 'when' 64 bit will be commercially ready.

It is commercially ready given that you have the right components. The biggest problem right now is sound card drivers but they are coming out one after one now. There are other things like FXTeleport, MoL and things like that that can stop the show, but I THINK it's fully possible to use XP64 on slaves right now. Hosts are a problem right now, but the intermediary step with 32-bit apps and a 4GB limit should work fine. This is not anything I've tested so don't quote me on it... I actually planned to try it and I have XP64 and 64 bit hardware, but I don't have any sound cards with 64-bit drivers...

As far as 64-bit hosts go you're restricted to...Sonar right now I think. Sonar 5 which was released last fall includes both 32-bit and native 64-bit builds.

That said...you'll be living on the edge of technology if you go there now which is good and bad... I think the big 64-bit revolution will come when Vista is released.

/Mattias