XPS 710 just upgraded to 8GB PC2-6400 CL4 memory

On both of my X-Fi cards OEM and retail I get really bad shuttering with more then 2GB of ram on 64Bit Vista. I have tried both 2.15.0006 and 2.18.0004 drives. Should I install them together or something? I think the driver is unsigned. I played with 64bit last night but when I did a reboot the shuttering came back. Its like the driver breaks on reboot or if any setting is changed. Its not the cards, it has to be the driver. That's the only thing holding me back from 64bit goodness.

This driver says it supports 64 bit

Is this a Dell card or Retail?

I do see a performance increase when it comes to games, photo and video rendering. Everyday stuff like checking email and web surfing not so much. Remember any extra ram that is not used by the system will be used for video memory. Once Creative comes out with a working signed driver for 64bit I'm going to switch. Going from 4GB to 8GB is easy and it works. This memory is great.

 

Also phoronix.com review of  A-DATA Vitesta DDR2-800 Extreme stated that they can be over clocked to 1066MHz with 5-5-5-16 timings and are stable at that speed. They are a good buy.

 

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@ham77 wrote:

Remember any extra ram that is not used by the system will be used for video memory.

 

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Unfortunately this is not true. 

 

A 32-bit OS (and a 32-bit CPU) can only recognize a memory address that's 32 bits long.  2^32 = 4.2 billion.  Thus, a 32-bit OS can only refer to 4.2 billion memory addresses, that is 4GB.

 

In a 32-bit OS with 4GB of RAM the last memory addresses are unusable as system RAM as these addresses in the memory address space are allocated to address hardware components.

The amount of memory lost depends on the amount of memory in the installed hardware devices.  Generally the video card has the most. 

 

Thus, if your card has .5GB of memory on board, the OS reserves the last .5GB addresses for the video card memory and .5GB of RAM can no longer be accessed as system memory.

 

Ironically, the program gets worse as the video card in the system gets more powerful.  It is has 1GB of memory on board, the system loses access to 1GB of system RAM.

 

A 64-bit OS has 2^64 memory addresses or roughly 17.2 billion gigabytes.  This should handle any of our current memory needs.  :)

I just installed Vista 64 on my 730.  The Dell supplied Creative card is happy with the driver that the operating system found upon finding the hardware. 

 

USB audio CODEC, S/PDIF, ASIO, WASAPI . . . all up to 24/96 resolution and working well on all my audio applications, including audio mastering software.

 

A 64-bit OS is wonderful.  I highly recommend it.

Some more good INFO

I think the 730 has a different motherboard then the 710. The issue for me has to do with the motherboard + the memory and the driver. Using different cards didn't fix it. What if its using all four ram slots? Now that I have 8GB I could take 2 sticks out and see how it runs with two 2GB sticks.

The 710 does have a different MoBo than the 730, but this is not a MoBo limitation.  It's an issue of math (only so many unique addresses in 32-bits).

 

Using different video cards will only influence how much memory is available for the system v. how much memory is on the card itself.  A card with very little memory on-board will free up memory addresses for system memory.

 

The same amount of memory will be seen by the system whether you have 4GB or 8GB installed. This is because it cannot see more than 4GB no matter what.

 

Two modules may make because it easier for the system to see and use the 4GB however.  Thus, it is possible that it may actually run a little bit better with only two DIMMs installed than four.

OK, I was not talking about video cards. I was talking about sound cards. I just want my sound card to work in 64bit like it does for 32bit. Maybe with two sticks of ram the driver for my sound card will work.

Just tried X-Fi series Beta Driver 2.18.0006 on 64bit Vista. Still doesn't work...

 

 

If you haven't tried it already try changing the slot the sound card is in. and check your IROs for sharing.

 

Listened to your video this sounds like you have advance sound settings. What are your setting in the audio console?

That pax driver didn't help.

Have you tried uninstalling the card using Device Manager and then restarting the machine so that it can find the card once again?

This can help resolve the kind of conflicts that Dave is referencing.

I am taking a break from 64bit for the weekend. I will try that. I have never been able to keep the driver stable with more then 2GB of ram in 64bit. I do think now it is just a driver issue.