How much RAM & CPU should I allocate for Windows 7 Ultimate?

I am in the process of setting up my new 27" iMac i7. I'm brand new to Apple computers so this is a learning curve for me! I have installed Parallels Desktop 5 so I can run Windows 7 side by side with Snow Leopard. Now I am trying to install Windows 7 Ultimate but I don't know how much RAM and CPU to allocate to my virtual machine. Has anyone done this and can anyone help? I have 8 gb RAM and 1 tb Hard Drive.
Thank you for your help!

Hello SwissCanuck,
Just FYI, with regard to 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7:
You will not be able to "upgrade" from a 32-bit version of Windows 7 to 64-bit -- the architecture between the two is too drastically different to allow such a change. To learn more about the differences between a 32-bit operating system and 64-bit please go to the following link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/32-bit-and-64-bit-Windows-frequ ently-asked-questions
Additionally, check out the requirements here for Windows 7:
If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it requires:
•1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
•1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
•16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
•DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
Obviously covered as per your hardware. Essentially, it is always better if you run Windows 7 as a "Native OS" you can do this with boot camp from Apple. Typically, the performance is not as fast in virtual environments
John M
Microsoft Windows Client Team

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