I know this question has been asked and answered by many, but I just have to ask again myself.
I'm looking to upgrade my system and wondering how the following would effect C7 Pro.

• I currently have an Intel Core 2 Duo (2.33 GHz) and want to upgrade to a Core 3 Quad (2.4 GHz).  Besides faster rendering, what advantages might this have.
• I currently have an NVidia GeForce 8500 video card.  Would upgrading this be of any use.  (I'm not a big gamer.)
• I currently have Vista 32-bit and toying with the idea of going to Vista 64-bit.  I realize going to 64-bit will allow all of my 4 GB Ram to be used, but would there be any other advantage to C7.  (I've recently activated the 3 gig switch in Vista-32, just to see if there's any improvement, but haven't noticed any changes yet.)

Thanks for any input!

I am a Carrara novice but systems are something I know a little about. The single greatest thing you can ever do to benefit your system is the add more memory. That's not only going to benefit C7 but anything else running on your system.

At this point in time I would never consider anything less than a 64bit system because of the fact you can go above the 3gb limit.

As far as a quad core vs a dual core system, now instead of two squares doing the work, you now have four on a render. probably going to make things a little faster.

The video card mainly effects things as they are redrawn on the screen. I don't think for working in C7 its going to make that much of a difference, but I will stand open to correction if soneone else has a different opinion. It will effect the playback of something like an animation I suppose but mostly its going to have an advantage for game play.

Given a choice with perhaps a limited budget I would spend money on processor and RAM.

Thanks!  I figure if I ever want to use more of the memory I have, I've got to go to a 64-bit OS.  My current board and processor will handle that, but I need to check the rest of my system to see if it can handle a 64-bit system.  (Programs and hardware.)